Chengdu has opened more than 20 Korean coffee shops in the past two years. There is a big contradiction among the franchisees.

Like Professor du's coat, Chin Songyi's high heels and handbags, in those years, with the help of one or two popular South Korean dramas, a number of related products are bound to become the new darling of thousands of viewers. Now, following the popularity of movies and TV dramas and clothing in mainland China, there is also a "Korean wave" in the coffee shop market.

A few days ago, RET Ruiyide China Commercial Real Estate Research Center released the first "Korean coffee shop China Development trend Research report". Data show that Korean coffee shops have expanded rapidly in the mainland in recent years, opening nearly 600 stores in the last two years alone.

Take caffebene, South Korea's largest coffee chain, as an example. It has been in the mainland for only two years, but it has opened 407 stores and is still expanding at a high speed. As a result, the industry has raised the saying that "Korean coffee challenges Starbucks."

In Chengdu, more than 20 Korean coffee shops have been opened in the past two years. However, the reporter found that there are hidden worries behind the rapid expansion of Korean coffee shops, and the contradiction between brands and franchisees is becoming increasingly prominent.

Related report

Wuhan has 16 coffee shops to accompany you, only one is a direct operation store, the rest is a franchise store, the operation effect of these franchise stores is not ideal. Garden Road Coffee to accompany you the relevant staff said that the daily operating cost is as high as 6000 yuan, but the turnover is only maintained at about 4000 yuan, in a loss state.

A the way of expansion

Coffee accompanies you to open a shop, Super Star Buck.

Large floor-to-ceiling windows, idyllic decoration style. Korean coffee, famous for its original ecological style and comfortable environment, has gradually covered the corners of many cities in the mainland. RET Ruiyide China Commercial Real Estate Research Center has tracked the development of 12 representative coffee shop chains in the mainland in the past 17 years, with emphasis on the development of Korean coffee shops. The report shows that Korean coffee shops are expanding rapidly, opening nearly 600 stores in the mainland in the past two years.

According to statistics, among the European and American brand coffee shops, Starbucks, which entered the mainland in 1999, expanded fastest. At present, it has 1164 stores, with an average of 77.6 per year. Shangdao Coffee is the leader among Taiwan brand coffee shops in China, which entered the mainland market in 1997 and currently has 1016 stores. Among the Korean brand coffee shops, coffee accompany you is the most outstanding. It has opened 407 stores in the mainland in just two years, and is still expanding at a high speed.

Coffee accompany you is the largest coffee chain in South Korea. It was founded in Seoul in 2008 and now has more than 900 stores in South Korea. In March 2012, coffee accompanied you into the mainland market and quickly blossomed in first-and second-tier cities. The pace of expansion is closely followed by Zoo Coffee, which was founded in South Korea in 2009 and entered the mainland market two years ago and has now opened nearly 80 stores. In addition to the above two, the more common Korean coffee brands in the mainland market are Man Coffee, Hollis Coffee, Road Coffee and so on.

According to the RET Ruiyide China Commercial Real Estate Research Center, 24 Korean coffee shops have opened in Chengdu, of which coffee accompanies you far faster than similar brands, reaching 14 as of the time of the report, followed by Zoo Coffee, which has six stores in Chengdu. In Chengdu, Korean coffee shops are mostly located in urban shopping centers, such as R & F Square, Jinniu Wanda Square, Global Center and so on.

B key to success

Promote marketing with the help of the star effect of Korean TV dramas

The reporter came to a Korean coffee shop on Shuncheng Street last week. At the entrance to the glass door, there are portraits of two Korean TV stars, with spacious sofas and chairs, many wishing lights in the corner, and books around the walls. Many details create a leisurely and romantic atmosphere.

Wang Qiang, a senior researcher at the forward-looking Industrial Research Institute, believes that Korean cafes take women as the main consumer group. In recent years, South Korean TV dramas are very popular, with a large number of fans, especially young women. The decoration of Korean cafes is partial to the garden style and invites Korean stars to endorse them, which is precisely captured by the mainstream coffee consumers like young women.

Wang Qiang said that taking advantage of the influence of the Korean entertainment industry in China is the key to the success of Korean coffee. For example, coffee accompanies you to invite star Kim Soo-Hyun as the spokesman in China, and uses popular South Korean TV dramas to plant a large number of brands, prompting a large number of South Korean TV series fans to come to spend in order to feel the atmosphere and atmosphere of South Korean TV dramas. "the star effect has played an important role in the promotion of Korean coffee shop brands."

In the past two years, Korean coffee shops have expanded at an alarming rate in the mainland, showing a tripartite situation among Europe and the United States, Taiwan and Korea. Li Jing, president of the Sichuan branch of Zoo Coffee, told reporters that the brand currently has nearly 80 stores in the mainland, which is expected to reach 130 by the end of the year, and there are about three plans to expand stores in Chengdu this year.

Mr. Zhang, who co-invested in a coffee franchise with several friends in Chengdu, believes that the domestic coffee market is far from saturated, but coffee culture still needs to be cultivated. "in our store, those who really consume coffee do not account for a high proportion of the turnover. Judging from our business situation, coffee accounts for only 10% to 20% of revenue, and more consumers will choose beverages, desserts, such as ice cream and pastries. "

Wang Qiang also said that in China, where tea culture prevails, it should take a slow process for coffee to be used as a daily drink, or to release consumers' preference for coffee.

C join the ledger

Most of them pay more than one million to the brand merchant.

In the way of brand expansion, European and American coffee shops often have strong financial support, so they mostly use the model of direct stores to expand, with an average proportion of 92%. The expansion mode of Korean coffee brands is different, and joining accounts for a large proportion. Wang Qiang said, "relevant data show that Korean coffee mainly adopts franchise mode, accounting for 60%; the proportion of direct stores is about 19%, and the proportion of cooperative operation is about 21%."

The reporter combed and found that coffee accompany you and zoo coffee are mainly in the way of joining. For example, there are three main modes of opening a zoo coffee shop: direct marketing, joining and entrusted management cooperation mode, most of which are joining mode.

So how much money does it take to join a Korean coffee company?

A franchisee who accompanies you with coffee in Chengdu revealed, "the upper and lower storefronts of about 700square meters will initially invest about 3 million yuan. In addition to the franchise fee of 350000 yuan, there are also decoration fees and material fees, which are mainly designed and purchased by the company. The total cost to the company is about 1.8 million yuan." A number of franchisees of the brand said that the price of coffee with your brand is generally higher than the market price, if according to the market price, only about half of the fee.

According to the zoo's coffee official website, taking 200sqm of 100seats as an example, the franchise fee is about 300000 yuan, and the membership performance deposit is 100000 yuan (return from the termination of the contract). Plus 100000 yuan for design and on-site supervision, 2900 yuan per square meter for interior decoration, 100000 yuan for indoor and outdoor plaques and image decoration, 580000 yuan for kitchen equipment and 120000 yuan for furniture, the total cost is 1.88 million yuan.

D worries about operation

Operation and management ability of franchisee quality doubtful brand

Behind the rapid expansion of the joining model, the development of some brands of Korean coffee has hidden worries. Coffee accompanies your franchisee, Mr. Zhang, to open a shop in March. "I wanted to be lazy, so I invested in a franchise store, but I didn't expect it to be a worry." Mr. Zhang said that the brand has many problems in management, material charging, personnel training and so on. "personnel need their own training, salary and management systems have to be established on their own, and the company does not have a unified standard."

"Coffee accompanies you in addition to the unified store image, many other projects reflect different standards in different franchises." Another franchisee feels the same way: "the most difficult thing for a chain franchise is how to implement the standard process management of the store." If there is no standardization, the significance of chain will not be great. Just imagine that if the same brand has different stores, customers will eat different products and receive different services. Can this still be regarded as the same brand? "

In terms of material supply, Mr. Zhang believes that the materials supplied by coffee with you are generally higher than the market price. "A small ice maker costs 16000 yuan, but it turns out that the market price is only about 4000 yuan." He believes that the decoration cost of opening a store is also due to the requirement of unified purchase from the company, the cost is nearly twice as high as the market price.

In the rapid expansion of the brand at the same time, the business capacity of franchisees is not optimistic. "the rent is 280 yuan per month per square meter, and the monthly rent for a store with more than 700 square meters is more than 200,000 yuan. The average monthly salary of each of the three shop assistants is about 3500 yuan. In addition, the cost of materials also accounts for 40% of the cost. If revenue is to be balanced, it is necessary to achieve an operating income of 12000 yuan a day." Mr. Zhang said, but now the average daily income is only about 5000 yuan. He believes that the brand devotes most of its energy to opening a store, but the ability of store operation and management seems to be behind. For this reason, he has no confidence in the operation of the coffee brand with you, and reveals the idea of creating another brand.

In fact, many media have questioned the rapid expansion of coffee with you since the beginning of this year. On April 16 this year, the Beijing Business Daily pointed out in a report entitled "Coffee accompanies you to raise questions in a rapid circle" that in less than two years, coffee has opened 31 stores with you, but the managers of many stores reflect that the operation situation is not satisfactory. If the staff of the international trade store introduce that the daily rent is more than 8000 yuan, but the operating income can only reach 5000 to 6000 yuan, it is in a state that the income cannot make ends meet.

For the above questions mentioned by the franchisee, the Chengdu Business Daily reporter contacted the person in charge of Coffee to accompany you in Sichuan and sent an interview outline to the company as required, but as of the press release, there was no reply. Yesterday, a person from the Brand Department of Coffee's Shanghai headquarters in China said, "due to the current internal adjustment of the company, the people who used to dock with the news media and were in charge of crisis public relations have been transferred to other departments, and the new leader has not yet been determined. I can't answer the relevant questions for the time being."

Li Jing, president of Zoo Coffee Sichuan, said that at present, six stores in Chengdu have adopted the entrusted management cooperation mode, because after the early rapid development, the company has realized the management and control risks brought by the joining model by mid-2012. and decided not to consider joining the markets in the West and South China that have not yet entered. The entrusted management cooperation mode is different from the traditional joining mode, in which the partner only has the right to provide funds and owns all or part of the shares of a store, while the integration of management, recruitment and marketing is completed by the company.