What is the end of the universe?
In addition to Tieling, there is also sales.
Recently, many netizens have reported that Dingdong Maicai delivery personnel promote membership card opening services during delivery, causing certain difficulties for consumers.
These days, even the delivery guy has a sales KPI on his back?
Dingdong, a grocery delivery worker, works part-time as a salesperson?
Several people on social media have reported encountering "delivery guy sales members" multiple times within a month, claiming that the simple pickup process has also added "social pressure". Some netizens even expressed that due to the delivery guy claiming to have a card opening quota during sales, they felt a "moral kidnapping".
Blue Whale reporter learned from several Dingdong grocery delivery personnel that the site has indeed issued membership renewal related targets recently. A certain site in Shanghai requires each person to complete 20 membership renewals within 20 days. "Our target is to complete 20 within the event period, whether it is completed in one day or in 20 days. It's only a few days now, and I still have some unfinished tasks. Sometimes, salespeople are very dissatisfied, and we feel embarrassed to speak up about this a few more times."
More than one deliveryman stated that the reward for promoting card opening is basically 10 yuan per member. A deliveryman from a central urban area in Shanghai told Blue Whale reporters, "If you open a member, we will reward 10 yuan. If you fail to meet the target, it will not be a punishment, but the system may reduce the order allocation."
The sales KPIs of delivery personnel vary slightly depending on the different sites. Some sites have developed more detailed reward policies, such as "We offer a reward of 20 yuan for 3-5 promotions per day, 30 yuan for 6-8 promotions, and 45 yuan for 9-12 promotions. However, it is generally not easy to promote 6-8 promotions."
The delivery staff at a Dingdong station in a central urban area of Shanghai said, "The main reason should be that the station owner is under pressure, because there will be rankings and competition between different stations. If other stations open hundreds, your station will definitely not look good with only a few dozen." It is understood that not only Shanghai, but also stations in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other regions have similar sales behavior.
The reasons for Dingdong's crazy promotion of cards when buying groceries can be seen in the financial report.
On the evening of May 13th, Dingdong Maicai released its performance report for the first quarter of 2024. Although GMV and profit both increased, some specific data in the financial report also revealed Dingdong Maicai's anxiety.
According to the financial report, Dingdong Maicai's revenue was 5.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%, of which product revenue was 4.944 billion yuan. In the same quarter of 2023, it was 4.938 billion yuan, and neither the year-on-year revenue nor the quarter on quarter revenue of 4.922 billion yuan achieved much growth. On the other hand, the service revenue for the quarter was 79.8 million yuan, compared to 59.7 million yuan in the same period of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 33.7%. This significant growth is mainly due to an increase in the number of customers who have subscribed to the Dingdong membership program, as well as an increase in delivery fees charged as the order volume increases.
From the above data, it can be seen that with limited growth in various businesses, membership business seems to have some room for imagination.
How many cards do Dingdong still have in the new round of elimination competition for fresh e-commerce
In recent years, Dingdong Maicai has been comprehensively shrinking its battlefield.
According to reports from First Financial and Southern Metropolis Daily, since 2022, Dingdong Maicai has withdrawn from multiple cities such as Xiamen, Zhuhai, Tianjin, Zhongshan, Chuzhou, Tangshan, and Xuancheng. In May 2023, it withdrew from Sichuan and Chongqing. Starting from January 30 this year, a total of 38 stations in Dingdong Maicai's Guangzhou and Shenzhen areas have ceased operation.
The expansion pace of Dingdong Maicai has slowed down, so it is particularly important to gain more advantages in the existing battlefield.
Blue Whale reporter found that Dingdong Maicai currently has layout in 25 cities including Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Beijing, with 18 cities located in East China, 5 cities in South China, and 2 cities in North China. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai have always been advantageous regions for Dingdong to buy groceries, and have strong purchasing power.
Therefore, behind the salesperson's promotion of membership cards, it is actually a strategy of Dingdong Maicai to enhance user stickiness in the advantageous areas of East China through membership renewal, thereby increasing the GMV of existing stores. According to the financial report, the GMV of Dingdong Maicai's existing stores increased by 4.4% year-on-year in the first quarter. Dingdong Maicai stated that it will continue to expand its coverage and penetration in the Jiangsu Zhejiang Shanghai region this year.
Although Liang Changlin, founder and CEO of Dingdong Maicai, stated at the performance meeting that for the fresh food industry, the traditional principle of obtaining scale through low prices and then reducing procurement prices and operating costs through scale in the traditional chain is now ineffective. However, expansion and penetration inevitably require consideration of the impact of prices.
Last year in the second half of the year, Hema launched a grand "price move" and engaged in a price war with products similar to popular Sam's products, with the intention of expanding on a large scale. In terms of price, Dingdong Maicai is at a disadvantage.
The Blue Whale reporter selected 16 products for price comparison on Dingdong Maicai, Hema APP, and Xiaoxiang Supermarket, and found that 50% of the products had the highest price on Dingdong, and even multiple products had a price difference of nearly 10 yuan.
In addition, from the perspective of member price ratio, although Dingdong Maicai is lower than Hema APP, it is higher than its competitor Xiaoxiang Supermarket, and there is not much advantage in membership rights.
In 2024, the fresh food e-commerce world is in turmoil, with rumors of Hema selling everywhere. Sam is making efforts in e-commerce, while Xiaoxiang Supermarket and Park Park Supermarket are becoming increasingly competitive in terms of prices... The new round of elimination competition for fresh food e-commerce has begun, and how many cards do Ding Dong still have?