Notice of the Ministry of Commerce on Promoting the Brand Chain Development of Convenience Stores

Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce on Promoting the Brand Chain Development of Convenience Stores
Commercial circulation letter [2019] No.223

The competent commercial departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities under separate state planning and Xinjiang Construction Corps:

In order to implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and the deployment of the Government Work Report, adapt to the trend of consumption upgrading, improve the convenience of commercial facilities, improve the convenience of consumption and the quality of life of residents, adhere to the people-centered principle, and meet the people’s growing needs for a better life, the Ministry of Commerce decided to promote the construction of brand chain convenience stores throughout the country. The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

First, attach great importance to the development of brand chain convenience stores

Convenience store is the retail format closest to the lives of ordinary people, and it is an important carrier to meet people’s convenient consumption needs and serve people’s livelihood. In recent years, China’s brand chain convenience stores have accelerated their development, ranking in the forefront of retail formats for many years in a row. However, there are still problems such as insufficient total number of brand chain stores, unreasonable layout, imperfect service functions, and weak management ability. Promoting the development of convenience store brand chain is conducive to improving consumption convenience, improving consumption quality and stimulating consumption potential, which is an important livelihood project. All localities should raise awareness and put the development of brand chain convenience stores into an important work agenda, as an important starting point for implementing the consumption upgrading action plan and promoting the transformation and upgrading of physical retail, and continue to promote it in a planned and step-by-step manner.

Two, combined with the actual situation to determine the key to promote the city

The development of brand chain convenience stores is promoted by cities. According to the working steps of "overall deployment, key promotion and gradual extension", the development of brand chain convenience stores in municipalities directly under the central government, cities with separate plans and provincial capitals should be started first in 2019. On the basis of focusing on promoting these cities, all localities can choose some other cities to promote them in combination with the actual local economic development.

Three, pay close attention to the development of brand chain convenience stores.

Local competent commercial departments should guide the relevant cities to combine the existing work basis, promote branding, chaining and intelligence according to the spirit of the National Conference on the Development of Brand Chain Convenience Stores and the requirements of the Compilation Points of the Work Plan for the Development of Brand Chain Convenience Stores (see Annex), pay close attention to the study and formulation of work plans, and clarify work objectives, work priorities and safeguard measures. It is necessary to organize consulting institutions, think tank experts, industry associations and business representatives to participate in the formulation and demonstration of the plan, so as to improve the pertinence and operability of the plan. Municipalities directly under the central government, cities with separate plans and provincial capital cities should submit their work plans to the Ministry of Commerce before the end of July, and other cities should submit them before the end of September.

Fourth, improve the policy system to support the development of brand chain convenience stores

In view of the outstanding problems affecting the development of brand chain convenience stores, all localities should learn from the practices of Beijing, Xi ‘an, Fuzhou and other cities, focus on deepening the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform and optimizing the business environment, promote the introduction of policies to support the development of brand chain convenience stores, and provide support from the aspects of store location, registration, business license, technology application and supply chain construction, so as to create a good business environment for the development of convenience stores. We must do a good job in the implementation of the policies that have been introduced.

V. Strengthening organizational guarantee

The Ministry of Commerce will establish a three-level linkage working mechanism among departments, provinces and cities, study and formulate the development indicators of brand chain convenience stores from the aspects of convenience store layout, development quality, policy environment and working mechanism, and focus on guiding and promoting municipalities directly under the central government, cities with separate plans and provincial capitals, and make quarterly statistical summary and feedback on the progress and problems. The provincial commerce departments should strengthen the supervision and guidance of relevant cities, clarify the timetable and phased results, compact the work responsibilities, and put the work plan in place. Relevant cities should establish an inter-departmental coordination mechanism and give full play to the role of relevant functional departments and grassroots governments such as districts, counties and streets; Establish a normal communication mechanism between government and enterprises, and listen to and solve problems encountered in enterprise development in a timely manner.

Six, timely summary and promotion of typical experiences and practices.

The Ministry of Commerce will organize the compilation of the development report of brand chain convenience stores, adopt various communication methods, and summarize and promote the typical experiences and practices of promoting the development of brand chain convenience stores in various places. Local commercial authorities should actively organize the media to carry out publicity and reports, use various channels to carry out exchanges and cooperation, and create a good public opinion atmosphere for the development of convenience stores. Relevant work progress and opinions and suggestions shall be reported to the Ministry of Commerce in a timely manner.

Attachment: Key Points of Working Plan for the Development of Brand Chain Convenience Store

General office of Ministry of commerce
July 1, 2019

attachment

Key points of compiling the development plan of brand chain convenience stores

All localities should scientifically plan the general idea of developing brand chain convenience stores on the basis of in-depth investigation and extensive consultation, combined with local consumption level, consumption characteristics and convenience business development, fully embody the principles of government guidance, market operation, focusing on people’s livelihood and diversified development, organize the preparation of a good work plan, and clarify development goals, main tasks and safeguard measures. The work plan shall be prepared by the competent department of city commerce and approved by the local people’s government. The work plan shall include but not limited to the following aspects:

First, the foundation of development

Focus on the basic situation of the city’s economic and social development, residents’ consumption and convenience business development, and find out the basic base of the main chain brand enterprises of convenience stores in this city. Basic data such as the number of existing brand enterprises, the number of stores, and the basic layout should be fully grasped (the data is as of the end of June 2019) as the baseline for evaluating the progress of the work, and clearly reflected in the work plan in the form of a list.

Brand chain convenience stores refer to convenience stores that operate directly or by joining, with unified image identification, unified store management and control, unified facilities configuration, unified service standards, unified commodity procurement and unified logistics distribution. Enterprises with unified trade names and logos and low standardization in other aspects are not included in the statistical scope of brand chain convenience stores.

Second, the development goals

The development goals are planned in three years, with the end of June 2019 as the benchmark, indicating the goals achieved in each year. Goals can be set in both quantity and quality. In terms of the number of development, it is necessary to make clear the two quantitative goals of brand enterprises and brand chain stores, and at the same time, set the structural development goals from the dimensions of community, distance or population around building a "quarter-hour convenient life service circle" in combination with local reality. It is necessary to highlight the organization and scale orientation, and focus on developing brand chain enterprises with more than 50 chain stores and high reputation and integrity. In terms of development quality, it should reflect the achievements of convenience stores in improving service functions, improving service capabilities and upgrading modernization level.

III. Main tasks

Clear the main tasks of developing brand chain convenience stores, and explain the measures taken in optimizing the layout of convenience stores, improving the convenience service level and strengthening the application of information technology.

Optimize the layout of convenience stores. This paper focuses on the measures to be taken in increasing the resources of convenience stores, expanding the network of brand chain convenience stores and cultivating leading enterprises. According to the situation of commercial facilities, consumption level and consumption habits in different regions, the allocation standards of convenience commercial facilities such as convenience stores should be studied and formulated. Increase the applicable store resources of convenience stores through multiple channels, promote the implementation of the requirement that the area of commercial and comprehensive service facilities in newly-built communities accounts for no less than 10% of the total construction area of the community, and strengthen the security of convenience stores. It is necessary to combine the renovation work of old urban communities, and use the space resources that have been withdrawn from rectification to encourage brand chain convenience stores to settle in. Promote hospitals, universities, stadiums, parks, scenic spots and other public service places to open store resources to brand chain convenience stores. Encourage brand chain convenience store enterprises to transform and upgrade old small shops, grocery stores, canteens and other decentralized convenience stores. Encourage the introduction of well-known brand chain convenience store enterprises with cross-regional development.

Improve the level of convenience services. This paper focuses on the measures to be taken to support convenience store enterprises to expand their business scope, improve service standards, strengthen logistics and distribution capabilities, and transform and improve service environment. It is necessary to support convenience store enterprises to develop their own brand products, expand the sales of fresh food products, provide on-site manufacturing and selling services such as simple meals and drinks, and carry various kinds of convenience life services. Encourage the extension of convenience store business hours and support the opening of 24-hour convenience stores. Support brand chain enterprises to build their own or adopt third-party logistics services, implement joint distribution and centralized distribution, and build an intensive and efficient logistics distribution system. Encourage qualified enterprises to develop food and fresh products production bases and central kitchens, and establish a whole cold chain distribution system. Guide enterprises to benchmark leading enterprises in the industry, establish high-level service standards, optimize processes and enhance service experience. Advocate the concept of green consumption.

Strengthen the application of information technology. This paper focuses on the measures to be taken to support the digital transformation of brand chain enterprises and promote the intelligent and intelligent development of chain operations. Encourage enterprises to integrate chain store resources and online traffic resources, and carry out online and offline integrated operations. Support chain enterprises to apply technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and establish a smart supply chain driven by consumer big data, such as commodity procurement, inventory management and order management, to improve operational efficiency. We will promote payment technologies such as self-service settlement, code scanning payment, and face-brushing payment, and encourage the use of commodity management technologies such as digital shelves, electronic price tags, and wireless radio frequency, so as to improve the level of service intelligence and optimize the consumer experience.

Fourth, safeguard measures

In accordance with the requirements of the work notice, safeguard measures are formulated from the aspects of organization and leadership, working mechanism, policy system, follow-up evaluation, etc., the specific division of labor is defined, the work responsibilities are implemented, and the system guarantee is effectively strengthened. Specific encouragement and support policies can be formulated separately after the work plan is determined, but the basic direction should be clearly defined in the plan, and all localities should be encouraged to extend the existing financial support projects to qualified convenience store enterprises. According to the needs of work, all localities can form a "1+N" work system, that is, a work plan, N supporting measures such as encouraging and supporting policies, community convenience business allocation standards, and brand chain convenience store construction guidelines.