County-Level New Retail Group Store Model: One Year from Closure to 13 Profitable Branches
Looking at this without going too deep, the core business model uses fresh products to drive traffic and white-label goods to generate profits (it works mainly because county-town incomes are low while pricing is high, making the cost-performance advantage of white-label products very apparent). Operationally it’s the same as current group-buying platforms: pull people into WeChat groups, post ads there, drive store visits via group deals. Usually when someone comes to the store, they’re not alone — typically one person brings another along.
Based on this model, within a year this supermarket was brought back from the brink of failure, then they launched a franchise model (company provides the supply chain). Franchisees pay 20,000 RMB, the headquarters also puts in 20,000 RMB, and the franchisee receives a monthly base salary of 2,000 RMB plus a 0.5% commission and equity dividends, bringing their total monthly take-home to about 3,500 RMB — meaning monthly revenue needs to exceed 300,000 RMB. Most of these franchisees are former employees who worked here for a while, then opened their own branches as a franchise. They’d recruit an assistant store manager, let them learn the ropes over a few months, and then open another branch. They opened 13 stores in one year, all profitable.