In China, most of convenience stores operate 24/24 and 7/7. You will find convenience stores everywhere in the city: nearby residential compounds, commercial areas, travel terminals and tourist attractions, schools and hospitals. No wonder why “it is estimated that the average Chinese consumer enters a convenience two to three times a day“!
China Convenience Stores Market
In China, leading players Convenience Stores are regionally based and there is no national leader. Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen Convenience Stores market leaders have relatively high market share: Leading Convenience Stores per region are Meiyijia (Guangdong province), Hongqi (Sichuan province), Chongkelong (Chongqing), Easy Joy (Beijing), Quik (Shanghai).
Foreign Convenience Stores chains are expanding nationally (therefore present in most main cities) while domestic enterprises are mostly regionally focused: Lawson (Japan: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Dalian and Chongqing), Family Mart (Japan: Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Shenzhen), 7-Eleven (Japan: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chengdu)…
Product offering in convenience stores
Convenience stores try to differentiate their offering and propose added value services. However most of them will offer the following daily household items – either from national and multinational FMCG brands or private label.
On-site catering services (Chinese food), the food being prepared in central kitchen and reheated in the store. Convenience stores are even considered as canteen by some consumers – mainly scholars and students. People even rank the convenience store depending on the quality of the seating area. - Lunch boxes, such as Sushi, pasta, salad…
- Sandwiches, bakery items and cakes
- Fresh fruits
- Drinks (water, soda, fruit juices, yoghurt, alcohols…)
- Snacks and sweets
- Health and beauty care such as shampoo, shower cream, tooth paste, tooth brush, sanitary napkin, condom …
- Magazines – only Chinese language
- Batteries, cigarettes,
- Mobile phone recharge...
Besides, some of them are offering added value services such as:
- Self-service kiosk for bank account balance enquiries, home electronics recycling service, payments of bills for credit cards and utilities, money transfers and movie ticket orders…
- Mobile payment services
- Pick-up services for online retailers (online-tooffline (O2O) loop)
- Courier companies: in cooperation with courier companies, some convenience stores serve as collection points for parcels and posts.
- Online platform (own platform (7-Eleven) or in partnership)
- Membership programs, offering special offers and promotions
- Social media presence to alert customers of their new products and latest promotional activities
Beijing Convenience stores
| C-Store chain | Website | # of stores in Beijing |
| 7-Eleven | http://www.7-11bj.com.cn/ | 232 (including Tianjin) |
| Hi-24 | http://hi24.cn.globrand.com/ | 200 |
| Easy Joy | http://bjoil.sinopec.com/bjoil/domain/convenience_store/ | 500 |
| Lawson | http://lawson.jp/en/store/oversea/ | 19 |
| Wumart | http://www.wumart.com/index.php/5383fd600a?city=bj | ? |
Sources:
http://daxueconsulting.com/convenience-store-in-china/
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150309000015&cid=1102
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