On a hot summer day, at the convenience store downstairs on the roadside, I wanted to buy an ice cream to cool down. In the corner of the freezer, I randomly selected a bottle that looked attractive in packaging. When I checked out, I saw that it was dozens of yuan more, and my heart instantly felt cold. The ice cream had already been relieved from the heat before I even took it into my mouth.
Entering July, Ice Cream Assassin is popular . Those ugly ice creams lying in the freezer will stab you hard at the checkout. Today’s consumers use various ice cream assassin literature to express their dissatisfaction. However, high-priced ice cream has actually been around for a long time. Why has it caused such a big stir on the Internet this year?
Why the price of ice cream is getting higher and higher
The price increase of ice cream is actually understandable. According to industry insiders, in the past 10 years, the cost price of raw materials for ice cream such as milk and light cream has increased by approximately 80%. The rise in raw material prices will inevitably drive up the price of ice cream.
Nowadays, when channels are becoming more and more diversified, and the scenarios covered by individual channels are becoming more and more dispersed, whether it is channel construction costs or brand marketing expenses , their growth rate will not be lower than that of raw materials. . These costs will eventually be reflected in the price and borne by consumers.
In addition, and transportation costs should not be underestimated.. For example, many consumers have raised questions about Snow Lotus, which is known as the guardian of ice cream, saying that they cannot find products of this brand whether online or offline. In response to this, the brand responded that the current product price of 50 cents cannot afford the transportation costs in the larger market. Therefore, the channels for its products are limited to those around the place of origin.
High-priced ice cream is not a new phenomenon only this year. Why has it triggered hot public opinion?
High-priced ice cream is not a new phenomenon only this year.. Why did it cause so much noise this year? Since the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020, global economic activities have been severely restricted, which has had a certain impact on residents' income. Consumers have become increasingly price sensitive.
This price sensitivity is not only reflected in ice cream, but also in other catering tracks. The retaliatory consumption that many caterers have been obsessed with has not yet arrived, which has brought great challenges to the entire catering industry. It is foreseeable that as long as the uncertainty of the epidemic still exists, consumers will not fully open their wallets, and ’s consideration of product prices will play an increasingly important role in their consumption decisions.
In addition, many catering categories have adopted substantial price reduction strategies this year to promote consumption. Like the new tea drinks that are similar to the ice cream track, its leading brands, including Hi Tea and Nayuki's tea , have made significant price reduction strategies. The price of a single cup of products has been directly reduced from around 30 yuan to 15-15 yuan. It is less than 20 yuan. Under such a negative ratio, it is reasonable for consumers to criticize high-priced ice cream.
Many consumers complain about Ice Cream Assassin. The most direct reason is the opaque price . From the perspective of profitability, the channel side considers that ice creams of various prices are mixed in the same freezer, and there is no clear price mark. Consumers do not know the price until they pay the bill, but because of fear of trouble or embarrassment, they Forced to pay. This kind of unknowing lying down will certainly bring a bad consumption experience to consumers. From this point of view, the first thing to do now is to return the right to know to consumers so that consumers can make a clear purchase.
The demand for high-priced ice cream exists objectively
Under the guidance of consumption upgrades, the existence of high-priced ice cream has its own rationality, and has an objectively existing consumer customer base. Especially in recent years, driven by new consumer trends, high-end products have spread across all consumer categories.
China has a huge consumer market of 1.4 billion people. Even if there is only a small proportion of high-end consumers, its absolute value can support a considerable market size. In 1987, when KFC opened its first domestic store in Beijing, the price of a set meal was about 7-10 yuan. At that time, the monthly income of ordinary working people in Beijing was only about 100 yuan. Although the price was quite high, the KFC stores at that time There are always long queues, and there is no shortage of consumers willing to pay for them.
Let’s compare the milk tea track, which is most similar to ice cream. From fragrant , Youlemi for one or two yuan to about ten yuan, to Yidiandian, Coco, and then to Heytea\Nayuki's tea, which once broke the 30 yuan unit price, it is very much like the current ice cream price range. However, for consumers, when they want to drink one or two yuan of brewed milk tea, they can go directly to the convenience store downstairs; when they see the store size and decoration of Heytea and Nayuki Tea, they can definitely expect It's not cheap. Therefore, the issue of Ice Cream Assassin itself is not about price, but through image or channel, to lay the groundwork for consumers to accept price. In the final analysis, consumers still have to make a clear decision.
The Ice Cream Assassin is not without a solution. Starting from July 1st, the "Regulations on Clearly Marked Prices and Prohibition of Price Fraud" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation has been officially implemented, which clearly requires: Operators should clearly mark prices in a conspicuous manner. Clearly indicate the goods or services to which the price corresponds. Clearly marked prices should be based on the characteristics of goods and services, industries, regions, etc., and should be true and accurate, with goods labels aligned and labels eye-catching. At the same time, operators must indicate or significantly weaken the price conditions that are unfavorable to consumers or other operators to induce consumers or other operators to conduct transactions with them. Under the new regulations, the Ice Cream Assassin will no longer be able to be invisible.
In fact, whether it is the old-fashioned popsicles that consumers remember as high-quality and low-priced, or the high-priced ice cream with obvious differentiation characteristics that is sought after by new consumer groups, each has its own corresponding customer group. From the perspective of product iteration needs, the consumption upgrade of ice cream is inevitable for business development. The iteration of products requires more work on the quality, image, differentiation, consumption scenarios, and brand scalability of products to make improvements that consumers can perceive. Only in this way can we achieve sustainable development of the industry and better meet the needs of consumers.
