What is the amount of "mao" in it?, 35 yuan for two, long queue at the store, Maotai chocolate is online! E-commerce platform "second empty"
Recently, the popular products in the consumer market have been dominated by Maotai.
After the Maotai Latte ignited the market, at 15:30 p.m. on September 16, the "Maoxiaoling" liqueur chocolate jointly launched by Moutai and Dove Chocolate was officially launched in some Maotai ice cream stores, Tmall Dove flagship stores, Tmall Maotai ice cream flagship stores, Tmall Supermarket, and Tiktok Maotai ice cream flagship stores, which attracted market attention again.
Securities Times reporters have found through on-site investigations at Shenzhen Maotai Ice Cream Shop and major e-commerce platforms that the "Maoxiaoling" liquor chocolate sold this time comes in two sizes: 2-pack and 12 pack. According to the product introduction of Defu Tmall flagship, there is still a 60g pack of "Maoxiaoling" liquor chocolate, but this specification of "Maoxiaoling" liquor chocolate has not been launched today. From the perspective of store sales, many consumers have already been waiting for the official release of "Maoxiaoling" in offline physical stores, and some even bought more than ten boxes at once. On e-commerce platforms, the chocolate was sold out just a few minutes after its launch.
The reporter found that at present, many well-known liquor enterprises such as Kweichow Moutai, Luzhou Laojiao, Guyue Longshan, Yanghe, and Shede Wine have opened cross-border businesses, including ice cream, ice cream, coffee, chocolate, etc. As a leading player in the liquor industry, how effective is Maotai's frequent cross-border efforts? What kind of "calculations" are liquor companies making behind their cross-border ventures?
Online "second empty" offline store queuing
On the afternoon of September 16th, the reporter visited a Maotai ice cream shop located in Shenzhen and found that there were promotional posters for this chocolate displayed inside the shop. Many consumers had already waited for the official release of "Maoxiaoling" in offline physical stores, and there were already queues on site. Some even bought more than ten boxes at once.
Consumers who have tasted this chocolate told reporters that the taste of the wine is relatively light and not as strong as the sauce flavored latte. From the perspective of packaging and selling price, buying as a gift is a good choice, but if it is for daily consumption, it may only be a try.
According to the product introduction, there are two types of chocolates jointly launched by both parties: classic liqueurs and sugar reducing liqueurs. Among them, the classic liqueur includes two flavors: mellow dark chocolate and milk chocolate, while the sugar reducing liqueur includes two flavors: mellow soy sauce aroma and sunny sea salt. In terms of packaging, there are 120g/box, 60g/box gift box shared packaging, and 20g/box tasting new packaging, respectively.
According to the picture, each joint chocolate is added with 2% 53% vol Kweichow Moutai. Regarding whether the chocolate can be driven after consumption, the anchor of Maotai Ice Cream Flagship Store stated that it is necessary to rest for at least 15 minutes before driving.
In terms of price, the classic wine heart model in 20g packs costs 35 yuan/box, and the sugar reduced wine heart model costs 39 yuan/box; A classic 120g bottle of liquor is priced at 169 yuan/box, while a sugar reduced liquor is priced at 179 yuan/box.
In terms of online channels, the reporter noticed that the after-sales service was launched at 15:30, and the co branded chocolate in the online channel was almost empty. At 15:35, only two products sold in combination with ice cream at the Maotai ice cream flagship store were still available. 15: 45. All liquor and chocolate related products in this flagship store have also been sold out. It is reported that from September 17th to September 20th, Tmall will continue to restock and release at 10am and 8pm every day.
However, upon checking the sales data, the reporter found that the online channel of this liquor heart chocolate has not had a large quantity of products. The sales volume of this product in Tiktok Maotai Ice Cream Flagship Store is about 3000, that in Tmall Maotai Ice Cream Flagship Store is 400+, and that in Dev Tmall Flagship Store is 2000+.
Why is it Defu?
In fact, Maotai's chocolate making has long been premeditated. As early as November 2020, at a Maotai powder gathering with the theme of "Maotai Future Laboratory", Maotai cocktails, Maotai liquor heart chocolates, Maotai cultural and creative products were showcased; On July 29th this year, five new Maotai ice cream products, "Xiaoqiaozhi," jointly launched by Maotai and Zhongjie 1946, made their debut, including chocolate flavors; On September 10th, at the fourth stop of the "Happy Encounter · Maotai 1935" cultural tour and the "Maotai 1935 · Renewal Gift" packaging upgrade press conference, Ding Xiongjun, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Maotai Group, stated in his speech that Maotai will innovate its delicious food products such as Maotai ice cream, sauce flavored latte, liquor chocolate, and Maotai banquet
Various signs indicate that Maotai has already incorporated chocolate into its culinary product portfolio. So, why is it Defu? Firstly, it is not difficult to see that from the past Maotai co branded brands, they have two characteristics: first, high market share, especially reaching a large number of young people; The second is that they are not the leaders in specific fields, and can only be considered as the second or third.
Looking at Delphi, its parent company Mars Group has the largest market share in the Chinese chocolate market, accounting for nearly 40%. Delphi, M&M, and Snickers are the three major players under its umbrella, while the higher priced Ferrero has a market share of only 17.8%, which has opened up a significant gap compared to the former. Defu clearly fits the characteristics of high market share.
In fact, in terms of price, the most well-known bar shaped 43 gram Dove chocolate on the market has a retail price of only around 8 yuan. However, the chocolate gift box jointly launched by Maotai and Defu this time has a unit price of 14 yuan/piece to 17 yuan/piece for liquor chocolate, which seems to be not an acceptable price for ordinary consumers. Therefore, industry experts analyze that this is more focused on gift attributes rather than consumer attributes.
The reporter saw at the Defu Tmall flagship store that out of the three co branded chocolates sold today, except for two tasting packs, the other two are all packaged in gift boxes.
Alcohol analyst Cai Xuefei told reporters that Maotai does not pursue specific sales value, but rather achieves efficient outreach to young consumer groups through joint efforts. "Defu is a well-known lifestyle consumer brand that has a high level of discussion among young consumers. The young group also has a high acceptance of new things and a certain level of consumption ability. Moutai is a social type of liquor, and both have a certain brand awareness and consumption foundation. Moutai, in collaboration with Defu, can promote the taste and taste of sauce wine represented by Moutai to young people, positioning itself among young consumers." Cai Xuefei said that Defu is a multinational enterprise, and it is not ruled out that Moutai has borrowed Defu's international channels to cultivate and promote overseas markets.
How effective is frequent cross-border cooperation?
After the hot sale of Maotai liquor heart chocolate, the entry "Dear Fu has only cheated 0 times and countless times" appeared on a social media hot search. Netizens frequently post jokes, "Luckin: Dear Fu, infidelity has only occurred 0 times and countless times." "Maotai: In the past, cars and horses were very slow, and I could only love one person for a lifetime. Now, I love sixty people in just half an hour on 5G." "I thought Luckin married into a wealthy family, but I didn't expect Maotai to start accepting concubines. Before they even started, the new couple entered.".
First was ice cream, then sauce flavored latte, and now there is a new type of liquor chocolate. Moutai has repeatedly entered young people, showcasing a trendy, fashionable, and energetic Moutai. How effective is this painstaking layout now?
Let's take a look at Maotai ice cream first. At the end of December 2022, Ding Xiongjun revealed to the public that since its launch on May 29, 2022, about 3.4 million people have purchased and tasted Maotai ice cream, and about 400 million people know and know about Maotai ice cream. Ding Xiongjun also revealed at the 2023 market work conference that Maotai ice cream is expected to achieve a revenue of 262 million yuan in 2022. According to the 2023 semi annual report of Kweichow Moutai, the revenue of hotel business and Moutai ice cream business is 220 million yuan.
Looking at the sauce flavored latte aspect, on September 5th, Luckin Coffee's official Weibo account announced that the sauce flavored latte broke the record for a single product, with first day sales exceeding 5.42 million cups and first day sales exceeding 100 million yuan. For Maotai, which has an annual revenue of over 100 billion yuan, the sales revenue brought by ice cream and coffee is obviously just a drop in the bucket, but Maotai does not use this as a measure of cross-border value.
Cai Xuefei believes that at present, traditional Baijiu consumption is still dominated by gifts and social activities of middle-aged business people. However, considering the arrival of an aging society in China and the low preference of young people for Baijiu, as a leading brand in the industry, Maotai needs to popularize and promote traditional Baijiu for young people, which is of positive significance to the minds of young consumers, the cultivation of taste preferences, and the future development of Maotai and Chinese Baijiu. From this perspective, the achievements of Maotai are commendable.
Cross border search for increment under the squeezing of stock?
Since last year, liquor companies have accelerated their cross-border efforts. According to the reporter, in addition to Moutai, there are also well-known Baijiu enterprises such as Luzhou Laojiao, Wuliangye, Shanxi Fenjiu, Guyue Longshan, Yanghe Shares, Shede Liquor Industry, as well as newly emerging Baijiu "stars" such as Jiangxiaobai. From their cross-border products, they are mostly concentrated in the fields of ice cream, ice cream, chocolate, tea drinks, and coffee. In terms of liquor heart chocolate, in addition to Maotai, Shanxi Fenjiu has also launched "Fenjiu Liquor Heart Chocolate" with Denmark's Eaton Borg, and Jiang Xiaobai has also launched liquor heart chocolate ice cream with Mengniu.
In addition, many liquor companies are eager to give it a try. At the performance briefing held on September 11th, Jiugui Liquor stated to the public, "Cross border cooperation is a beneficial way to increase brand attention and cultivate new consumer groups. The company will actively explore based on comprehensive consideration of brand positioning, product target audience, and other factors."
Behind the cross-border transformation of liquor enterprises is the development dilemma that the Baijiu industry has to face at this stage. According to the Report on Market Status Analysis and Investment Prospects Planning of Chinese Baijiu Industry from 2023 to 2029 released by Zhiyan Consulting, the market concentration of Baijiu industry in China has increased year by year. CR5 of Baijiu industry has increased from 33.20% in 2019 to 40% in 2021, an increase of 6.8 percentage points in two years, and the market sales of the industry continues to move closer to leading enterprises.
That is to say, behind the seemingly prosperous Baijiu industry, the top brands still contribute the most, while more small and medium-sized liquor enterprises are being accelerated to withdraw, and the survival situation is becoming more difficult. From the data of the China Liquor Industry Association, it can be seen that in 2021, out of 965 enterprises above designated size, there were 130 loss making enterprises; As of the end of December 2022, out of 963 enterprises above designated size, there were 169 loss making enterprises. The loss area increased from 13.47% at the end of 2021 to 17.55%. Most liquor companies are facing problems of high inventory and slow sales.
In the first half of this year, Kweichow Moutai remained the "first brother" of Baijiu shares. According to financial report data, during the reporting period, the company achieved a revenue of 69.576 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.76%; The net profit was 35.98 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.76%. However, even though its performance and stock price have remained high for many years, Maotai has always maintained its momentum. In Ding Xiongjun's words, whether it's ice cream or coffee, they are not just simple consumer goods, but strategic products. Maotai deeply realized that seizing young people is seizing Maotai's future.
"After the upgrading of the consumption structure of China's liquor industry, under the trend of strong differentiation, the industry is facing a trend of diversified consumption. The cognition of young consumers on Baijiu determines the growth direction of Chinese Baijiu's liquor in the future, so in the current stock squeeze market environment, cross-border is indeed an important means for some enterprises to find new incremental markets, carry out brand transformation and break through market segments." Cai Xuefei said.
Jin Yufeng, an expert on Baijiu, believes that in order for both sides to benefit from cross-border cooperation, the following points need to be met: First, both sides are in the same position in their respective industries; Secondly, the target consumer groups overlap or complement each other; Thirdly, the channel information does not conflict and can be coordinated; Fourthly, their abilities in event marketing and public relations strategies are relatively consistent.
