Based on the data released in the “2021-2022 China Automobile Circulation Industry Development Report” by the China Automobile Dealers Association, there are more than 2,200 new energy vehicle stores in China. Nearly 70% of them are concentrated in 20 major cities, among which the number of stores in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing has exceeded 100.
There are even many insiders who feel that since Tesla opened its first store in 2013, new Chinese automakers have followed suit in the past decade, and various brands of stores seem to have replaced Starbucks, Uniqlo, Watsons, and Sephora as new landmarks in many commercial and living areas.
Is this really the case?
It is clear that there is a sneering hierarchy behind the new energy/automaker brands’ landmark stores in the past two years.
First is the site selection.
Taking Shanghai as an example, newly opened high-end shopping malls in recent years are more popular, while top shopping malls that have existed for more than ten years are not within the calculation of the new force brands.
The former is not within the calculation range of the new brands, especially the Henderson Plaza in Puxi and the Golden Center in Pudong which are out of the cost range.
NIO House is hidden in the basement of Hong Kong Plaza in Xujiahui, and Polestar is hidden in the Kerry Center in Jing’an Temple. K11 in Huaihai Road and Lujiazui Center in Pudong both have a Tesla store. There was also a Tesla store in the Kerry City in the past, but now it is the Cadillac Pure Electric IQ space…
Basically, the top shopping malls in Shanghai can accommodate at most one new energy vehicle store or one new Chinese automaker.
It is easy to understand: in a group of Chanel, Hermes, LV, Cartier, Bulgari, and Rolex, there is a Tesla, BYD, or NIO… The latter may make a name for itself, but the actual cost is incomparable with luxury brands, and the rent is absolutely unbearable.
On the other hand, even if money can make the devil turn the grindstone, you have to see if these grinders are willing to be pushed. The shopping malls are not afraid of the luxury uncles being unhappy, but they also have to consider the key point of the luxury uncles splurging their money.
The latter, such as Lujiazui Center and Meiluo City in Xujiahui, are not within the calculation range of new brands, even if they are famous locations.
First, their skeleton and body are like that, even if they are completely renovated like Harbour City, they cannot create new vitality. The snail shell cannot provide the dojo that new energy brands need. Second, their status, temperament, and connotation are incompatible with new energy brands. Even if they have landmarks and famous stores like Heytea and Taotaoju, they are not suitable for new energy brands.
In summary, the former cannot afford new energy brands, and the latter cannot bear new energy brands.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as the Long Dream in Changning. The underground second floor of this old mall used to be a famous white goods department store in the city center. Now it has 15 new energy brands.
However, I believe that normal people who have been there will not regard it as a real battle place for electric vehicle brands. It is a fascinating and beautiful new landmark in the magic city. Because the mall just vacated the original white goods department store, and did not make any changes to the hardware such as lighting, ventilation, and floor height.
Therefore, all kinds of large-sized new cars are cramped in a narrow environment, plus the bleak lighting and strange smell… no matter how you look at it, they are not like the high-end mall stores, but more like large-scale shopping malls and supermarkets. Basically, every passerby walks away with a frown, and most of the shop assistants have eyes full of expectation and helplessness.
There is also a special case in the exception-Byd’s store still has customers looking at cars…
#
So which malls do most new energy/new forces like to go to now?
It’s very simple, it is the super-sized shopping malls with both CBD and industrial parks, and also gathering large areas of middle and high-end residential areas.
Most of them are important commercial and living sub-centers in each district, such as Putuo Global Harbor, Minhang Bailian Southern, Nanxiang Impression City, Wujiaochang Heshenghui, Zhangjiang Changtai Plaza… basically every district has at least one huge consumption plaza/city, which not only occupies a very important transportation hub or subway station, but also has a large number of popular online celebrity stores and old brands, which can accommodate high, medium and low-level consumption levels and meet the needs of various families and groups.
The size and coverage of various sub-center shopping malls also directly determine the number of new energy stores. For example, the huge Putuo Global Harbor has 6 new force stores including XPeng, RisingAuto, BYD, Ai Chi, Voyah and Zeekr. The Changtai Plaza, which specializes in serving the four high-tech blocks of Zhangjiang, Lianyang, Biyun and World Expo, has 6 new energy brands with different audiences and consumption levels, including Gaohu, NIO, Mercedes-Benz EQ, XPeng, Volkswagen ID, and Voyah.# Size 小一号的 Shopping-Mall
Shopping-Mall, such as Changning Raffles City or Little Lujiazui International Century Plaza, generally accommodates 3 to 4 stores, and so on.
How to look at this chain of contempt, it looks like a small section of a sine curve: the zero point is the city center and top commercial district, the X-axis is the distance, and the Y-axis represents the number of people or the coverage of the population. In short, the more complete the coverage of the population, the more able to gather a group of new energy supermarkets, the more consumption centers in the sub-central area.
Besides the selection of locations in the chain of contempt, the mall shops are also step by step to win.
After all, the area is certainly not as good as the 4S shop, but the rent is not worse than the 4S. Therefore, some stores’ uses are comparable to some public accounts’ donkey operation, which is not only a showroom, but also an offline gathering center or an appointment test drive point. It is also an important way to enhance brand exposure and collect user demand.
Therefore, in order to quickly gather popularity, many stores try to add one or two small decorations while displaying the exhibition vehicles (there are definitely not many) – for example, a small children’s space, an afternoon tea area, or a display of the hottest camping equipment to increase the chances of love at first sight.
Of course, there are also mall stores that are indeed not enough space. They deliberately squeezed in the middle of several net red shops, quietly enjoying the worldly people of the city center.
For example, NIO of Century Plaza and Cadillac’s pure electric IQ space of Changning Raffles City.
The former faces and sides of Lele Tea and Starbucks respectively; the latter is close to Piye Cafe and Xicha, facing the boutique chain coffee shop M Stand. No matter which one, there is an illusion of being ripened by coffee or milk tea, and it saves large-scale deployment of coffee machines and afternoon tea areas requiring additional space. After all, everything is available to be found at the right turn out of the door.
There are also places where they have chosen the wrong net red landmark, such as Ziyoo Home in the underground of Century Plaza.
Although it is next to a net red bookstore, it is actually located in a dead corner of the mall and the flow of people is not as good as that of NIO on the first floor facing Lele Tea – it is only occasionally to see people taking photos and leaving, even without asking.
Fortunately, the two male salesmen in the store are quite proactive, constantly playing the role of customers getting on and off the car, and asking each other various questions to test whether the other’s language is fluent and skilled, otherwise the coldness could rival the first singularity car that entered this mall a few years ago.To be honest, it is difficult for new force shopping centers to completely replace traditional internet-famous landmarks. After all, most people are accustomed to drinking coffee for around 30 yuan, wearing trendy clothes for 300 yuan per piece, and taking subways that cost 3 million yuan per carriage. As for new energy vehicles costing 300,000 yuan per car, they are definitely not as familiar to consumers as to car enthusiasts.
In reality, around 90% of Chinese car consumers still prefer 4S dealerships when it comes to buying and test-driving cars. Just like for house hunting, it is impossible to fall in love with and place an order for a car on the spot. A sense of ceremony is necessary.
Card Teacher, a senior “guardian” of NIO, once said that when he bought the ET7, he had a lot of feelings because looking at, test-driving, purchasing, and repairing the car are all done in different places. In fact, the role of a shopping center is not as great as people think.
Once while I was shopping, I met a girl who wanted to test drive a NIO. She asked a shopping center employee for directions to the NIO space, and then immediately sent a voice message to her friend, saying “Let’s meet at Lele Tea, and directly across from it is the NIO car!”
Therefore, it cannot be said that the new forces have no hope at all in gaining a foothold in large and small supermarkets and even surviving as new landmarks. Considering the situation in Shanghai, there is a small chance, mainly focused on Huawei and Tesla.
There is no need to explain the former. I once visited several Huawei supermarkets with cars on a weekday afternoon and found that consumers at each store were asking about cars.
As the cornerstone of the shopping center store, Tesla has started to leave those top supermarkets that helped it become famous. For example, not long ago, foreign media reported that Tesla was evaluating ways to sell in the Chinese market and was continuously closing exhibition halls in top supermarkets in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. For instance, the store in Hong Kong Plaza and the Jiading Kerry Center have been given to people in greater need, and it is beginning to radiate to mid-range supermarkets with lower costs.
Yes, they are referring to the “New Energy Supermarket Street” at Long Dream, Changning District, which also has Tesla.
It has already earned the traffic and voice it wants, and has a comparable objective position to Rome worldwide, so there is no reason to keep spending large sums of money on further expansion.
They have already become a solar system-level internet celebrity and are about to become a landmark even on Mars.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.