text | Fan Cheng
How "convenient" is your city? Recently, China Chain Business Association released the "2022 China Urban Convenience Store Development Index". Its core data are the saturation of convenience stores in 39 key cities, the growth rate of total stores, the proportion of convenience stores in 24 hours and the business environment. According to the comprehensive results, the convenience store development index of Xiamen , Taiyuan, Dongguan , Guangzhou and Changsha ranks in the top five.
In recent years, my country's urbanization has progressed rapidly. At the end of 2021, the urbanization rate of my country's permanent population was 64.72%, while this data was only 36% in 2000. To put it in a smaller scale, this is a direct data result of my country's social development in recent decades; to put it in a larger scale, this is a historic leap for the Chinese to shift from rural civilization to urban civilization.
If you see the development of the city from the perspective of convenience stores, it is actually a very interesting and valuable perspective. In 2021, the scale of convenience store stores in my country reached 253,000; in terms of urban convenience store saturation, Dongguan and Changsha ranked first and second with an average of 2,052 people and 2,076 people/stores, surpassing Japan, which is famous for convenience stores.
At present, people are paying attention to convenience stores because it represents the most basic indicator of urban quality: The convenience and comfort of life. Professor Guo Yi from the School of International Economics and Management of Beijing University of Technology and Business believes that cities are an important spatial carrier for people's lives to modernize; urbanization allows people to have lower-cost public infrastructure and share higher-quality public services.
The size of a city is not only due to its high-rise buildings and well-connected buildings, but its inclusiveness and comfort in the details. When you are tired, you can look up and find stone benches, wooden chairs, and pavilions to rest; when you are thirsty, you can search on your phone and find a convenience store or convenience store to buy a bottle of water in the surrounding area; when you are anxious, you can look up and see the sign. It’s convenient to find the bathroom successfully...
These extremely lifelike scenes are the basis for the goodwill of citizens, tourists, and migrant workers to a city. When you come to a city, and infrastructure such as convenience stores, public toilets, and parks are reasonably surrounded by you, you will feel that this city is taking the initiative to take care of you and has a kind of warmth and comfort of home. This is the city. soft power.
Strictly speaking, the convenience of a convenience store is not planned, but grows spontaneously, and is spawned by the inner connections of the city. If urban managers can exert their subjective initiative and help them for this growth, they are to carefully create a friendly, healthy and sustainable micro-enterprise business environment.
A very simple truth: If a convenience store wants to "stay", its operating income must always be profitable, right? The costs of rent, taxes, etc. cannot be too high, right? If we want to maintain long-term vitality, the surrounding demolition and construction plans must always have a certain degree of stability, giving merchants a visible expectation of continued operations, right? These are the soil for convenience stores to grow naturally. The administrative department cannot open a convenience store in person, but it can cultivate this soil.
Of course, convenience stores do not mean that the more the better, it is related to factors such as a city's population base, population density, and residents' consumption habits. As the name suggests, convenience store is to provide people with convenience in life. It should focus on the actual needs and personal experience of the people, and should pay more attention to practicality rather than flashy ornamentality.
Therefore, the pursuit of small infrastructure like convenience stores cannot be just about being large and comprehensive or "high-end". One-sidedly believes that beauty, dazzling and high-end represents urban civilization. Some overly luxurious stores often discourage ordinary consumers. When the public's purchase rate is insufficient, it will in turn limit the development of these stores. As for convenience stores, after all, they should be popular and down-to-earth.
People often say that the steel and cement in cities are cold, but aren’t the food smell, the noise and liveliness of people’s speech emitted by the small shops on the street just a trickle of warmth? Convenience stores are wisps of fireworks in the city. They not only store the interaction between people, but also exude the interaction between people, conveying a strong atmosphere of humanity and human feelings.
text: Fan Cheng
pictures: Xinhuanet, China News Network
Recitation: Wang Qian
Editor: Wang Yuanfang
Editor: Sun Dai Xing Yanyan
Editor: Sun Dai
