Internet cafe + coffee = Internet cafe

"this year, many Internet cafes around the school have been renovated and upgraded, and the environmental facilities have been optimized." Chen Zuyue, a student at Zhejiang Art School, said that it can not only surf the Internet, but also provide milk tea and coffee, with a unique taste of petty bourgeoisie. "

Recently, after a visit, the reporter found that a new type of Internet cafe with a "leisure card"-Internet cafes, appeared in bustling business circles, near colleges and universities and around communities.

Some people in the industry believe that most of the traditional Internet cafes have entered a bottleneck period, and the homogenization competition in the Internet bar industry is becoming more and more serious. the loss of customers, rent and labor costs are increasing year by year, forcing traditional Internet cafes to constantly explore new models. Although Internet cafes are not the final product of the transformation, they more or less represent the changes of the industry.

Internet cafes are quietly rising in Hangzhou.

Yesterday evening, the reporter came to an Internet cafe in the Trade Union Commercial Building. "Welcome. How many are you, please? What kind of seats do you need? do you want to get a membership card? " A shop assistant greeted the reporter warmly.

Comfortable seats, green potted plants designed against the wall, exquisite West Point, wide points exchange area, bell-to-order service. If it is not an eye-catching "Internet cafe" sign, reporters will mistakenly think that they have come to Starbucks.

According to the foreman, there are more than 140 computers here, all of which are Apple all-in-one. "in addition to the open area of the hall, there are couples, friends' booths divided into cubicles, and Japanese-style boxes with tatami mats."

Looking ahead, there are all green plants, and some potted plants are affixed with trendy online buzzwords such as "white rich beauty" and "pure man". The decoration style is neat and fresh.

"when I bought clothes with my little sister nearby, I saw that the environment of this shop was very good, and I could get something to eat on the Internet. Anyway, when I was tired of walking, I found a store to sit down and have a rest." Miss Zhang believes that traditional Internet cafes often give people the impression of miasma. "I'll never go in there. It smells like smoke. And it gives me the impression that it is more like a leisure clubhouse. "

In a "Gera Internet Cafe" on Wulin Road, the reporter met Mr. Zheng, who was on a business trip in Hangzhou. "I left the hotel at noon, and the train was at 6 o'clock in the evening. I didn't know where to go this afternoon, so I came here to sit down and watch the game and drink coffee. I enjoyed it."

Coincidentally, there is also a "Internet Fish Internet Cafe" on the stadium road, which is under intensive renovation and is expected to meet with "net worms" soon.

According to the reporter's understanding, the business model of Internet cafes has been popular in Europe and the United States for many years, commonly known as "internet cafe", mainly to provide a comfortable and fast Internet environment for business people. Because of its advantages such as standardized management mode, good service, tobacco control and good environment, Internet cafes have become popular in many big cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou.

According to rough statistics, there are more than 30 Internet cafes in Hangzhou at present, and this number is still increasing day by day. " Said Huang Baisong, director of the office of Hangzhou Internet Bar Industry Association.

Internet cafes mainly attract middle and high-end consumers.

"in 2013, Internet cafes already had a small outbreak in Hangzhou. We will open about 30 Internet cafes in the province by the end of this year. " Zhang Zhicheng, head of the operation department of Jera Internet Cafe, which already has more than 10 chain stores in Hangzhou, said, "the brand will enter a period of rapid development, and we welcome more colleagues to join us to make this cake bigger and work together to break the bad impression left by traditional Internet cafes."

"compared with traditional Internet cafes, Internet cafes are committed to attracting white-collar workers and business people who have a certain spending power and pursue a quality life, mostly between the ages of 20 and 35." Zhang Zhicheng said frankly that the current charge for traditional Internet cafes is still three or four yuan an hour, while the temporary consumption of Internet cafes (that is, no membership) can reach a maximum of about 20 yuan per hour, which would have been astronomical if you thought about it a few years ago.

The reporter learned that this "Gera Internet Cafe", which is open in Wulin Women's Street, is committing itself to currying favor with "her consumption." In more than 300 square meters of space, light green curtains, lotus-shaped chandeliers, yellow retro window panels, mini succulent plants …... With the flowing music and the fragrant smell of coffee, the fashionable and feminized atmosphere is approaching step by step. At the same time, the store will also irregularly introduce preferential policies for female customers, such as female customers who come with male partners can enjoy the half price of the second drink.

"this (chain) store is in a special location, at the northernmost end of Women's clothing Street, and our target customers include women with a certain level of income." Zhang Zhicheng said, "it was roughly estimated that when the number of female customers more than doubled, store sales would increase by 5 to 10 points."

As far as I could see, the reporter saw that there were indeed many female customers, some accompanied their boyfriends to play games on the Internet, some were shopping on Taobao, some were watching South Korean dramas while drinking milk tea, and there were female college students playing League of Legends with a group of friends.

It is not a unique instance, but has its counterpart. An Internet cafe near the China Academy of Fine Arts and Zhijiang Cultural and Creative Park has attracted a large number of young people to shop for consumption because of its unique decoration art and aesthetic style. An Internet cafe near West side Square is dedicated to the theme of the game, which is designed to attract customers who like the team atmosphere. This store will hold e-sports competitions frequently, once a week when it is dense. The winner will receive a very big prize.

Most of the traditional Internet cafes are on the brink of life and death.

Zhang Zhicheng, who has been in this industry for more than a decade, said that the scenery of Internet cafes is not as good as it used to be.

"four or five years ago, the return on investment cycle of Internet cafes was about 1.5 to 2.5 years. In other words, the worst 3 years could be paid back. But in the past two years, the average return on investment in Internet cafes is 2.5 to 3.5 years, but it should be noted that computer equipment is generally upgraded in two to four years, that is to say, if it takes you three and a half years to get back to your capital, but at this time your computer needs to be updated again, but you have no money to replace it, so you have to go out of business. " He said.

Huang Songbai also agrees with this view. "according to the latest statistics of the city's new bureau of culture and broadcasting, there are currently more than 1200 Internet cafes in our city with Internet service licenses, but less than 1000 are really operating, of which nearly 30% are losing money. About 30% have reached the bottom line of survival and barely operate, while the rest have a monthly profit."

"now is the era of big data, in my opinion, the living space of Internet cafes is still very large, but also limited, it is impossible to accommodate more than 1200 Internet cafes to survive at the same time. If you want to survive, you can only transform and upgrade." Huang Songbai said, "this is not to say that after the transformation and upgrading, we will abandon the consumer groups of traditional Internet cafes, but with the growth of the income of Internet bar customers, the change of consumer demand, and the rapid popularization of home broadband and mobile smart terminals." the living space of traditional Internet cafes that purely provide broadband services and equipment is very limited. "

"the birth of Internet cafes is the product of adapting to the changes of the times. the reason is that youth is the eternal theme of Internet cafes, and these people have high requirements for coffee taste and seating environment. So the popularity of Internet cafes is not accidental, it is inevitable. " Huang Songbai said, "at present, Internet cafes with Yueying are mainly divided into four types, one is leisure Internet access, which is mainly aimed at white-collar workers and business people, the price is on the high end, and most of them are located in prosperous commercial areas; one is e-sports, mainly for young people who like to play games, mostly near office buildings or higher education parks. The other two are online purchasing agents and social education, which are mainly aimed at the owners of the community. The former is the cooperation between Internet cafes and some large e-commerce platforms, the Internet cafes provide pickup services for owners, and the latter is the cooperation between Internet cafes and the community. For the purpose of supporting community work, most of them provide online skills training for middle-aged and elderly friends in the community. "