How did Sam and Costco shape the city?

How did Sam and Costco shape the city? 

01

Observing Mall: How Sam’s and Costco are shaping the city?

Nanjing, another fire. At the end of May, Sam’s and Costco, two top international supermarkets, opened one after another, and both shoppers on the opening day triggered a wave of shoppers comparable to the Spring Festival. At present, Nanjing has become the only city in China with five major membership supermarket chains: Costco, Sam’s, M Club, METRO and Hema X Club. Undoubtedly, the attractiveness of Nanjing will make more and more Sam’s and Costco grow. At the same time, as important shapers of urban culture, social structure and spatial layout, they are also changing cities.

They are changing the consumption landscape of the city of Nanjing. Nanjing’s first Sam’s Club Yuhua Parlor Store, the sales performance in 2023 will account for more than 70% of the total sales performance of the entire Yuhua Parlor. The future Costco will undoubtedly push Jiangning Fangshan to one of the top commercial positions in Nanjing. Behind this, it is their efficient global supply chain system, business model innovation, localization exploration of goods and services, and profound brand advantages, which not only bring diversified consumption choices to local consumers in Nanjing, but also have a trendy demonstration effect on other local supermarkets, accelerate the innovation and upgrading of consumption patterns, and become a new force to rewrite Nanjing’s consumption pattern.

New ways of living, shopping and communicating are also being transformed. In the past few years, the emergence of membership-based supermarkets has changed people’s shopping habits. In order to meet the one-stop shopping needs of family users, membership supermarkets focus more on the refinement of goods, rather than fast or more. They have also created a culture of punching in and out of the crowd. For the elite middle class, Sam’s is a supermarket; For many young people, Sam’s and Costco are a theme park with the theme of middle-class life.

They also amplify the consumption siphon effect of the city of Nanjing. Nanjing is not only the provincial capital of Jiangsu, but also an important transportation hub city, forming close ties with surrounding cities and regions. The radiation brought by this geographical location makes Nanjing the first choice for residents in the surrounding areas. Many people from neighboring provinces and cities will choose to buy high-quality goods and enjoy high-quality services in Nanjing, which in turn promotes the consumption level and consumption strength of Nanjing.

02

Nanjing New Vision: Jumping out of the view and not sticking to the formula

View Formula Cafe, sounds a bit special, why the name? The owner, U Thant, said that jumping out of the conventional view, not sticking to the formula, and keeping the love to live is the real view formula.

In 2019, U Thant was hesitant to quit his job to open a specialty coffee shop. It’s always been her dream. In an inconspicuous part of Phoenix West Street, the View Formula Cafe opened. In 2022, U Thant came into contact with the hearing-impaired, and in addition to sympathy, she always felt that she wanted to do something, so she decided to recruit the hearing-impaired as a barista. The decision is simple, but it is difficult to do, which means that all the simplest processes and procedures to the average person will take a lot of time and energy, and any step will require long-term training. Later, Wu Dan was pleased to discover that hearing-impaired baristas have a very unique advantage, they are not disturbed by the outside world, they are more focused on the task at hand, but can improve the quality of coffee making.

U Thant added the word “silent” to the original name. It’s a pun, but it also exudes a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, and spiritual brightness. Perhaps U Thant didn’t fully figure it out herself, but she did it neatly, blending factors such as cafes, young people, hearing-impaired people, and quality creation to create a very bright and positive spirit.

The view formula also deeply reflects U Thant’s original intention: not to stick to the formula, but to live with love. This is true for everyone. Nanjing, which has a population of more than 10 million, now has nearly 4,000 coffee shops, which is equivalent to one café for every 2,500 Nanjing people. A large proportion of them are independent coffee shops, and the owners are also very young, and they integrate their understanding of coffee, and even their life experiences, stories and emotions into this small coffee. People drink coffee as well as an atmosphere and a story. Nanjing is a city where ancient and modern, east and west, north and south meet, and there is a mixture of practicality and romanceThere is a difference between elegant literature and the local atmosphere, and there are many interesting things born here, with original qualities. Many firsts can start from Nanjing, and I hope that young people can find their dreams here and do them boldly.03

Maker Commune: This company focuses on breaking through the “stuck neck” technology

In 2013, a company was in trouble due to a large number of engineers leaving their jobs, and then turned to Weituo Technology for help. VTO Technology has tailored a set of technical solutions for it, which has greatly improved work efficiency through digital means.

Founded in 2006, the industry-wide acclaimed company officially moved to China (Nanjing) Software Valley in 2015. After 18 years of unremitting efforts and development, the company has become a national-level specialized and new “little giant” focusing on the research and development of domestic industrial software”At the same time, the company is also a demonstration unit for the integrated development of a new generation of information technology and manufacturing industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and has developed a TRIZ innovative R&D platform and 3D CAD software with independent intellectual property rights, as well as a MOM system for the digital transformation of industrial clusters. Break through the bottleneck of industrial software. In March 2022, the company completed the B round of financing of hundreds of millions of yuan, and recently, Weituo Technology also won the C round of financing of hundreds of millions of yuan led by the National Fund.

Digital transformation has always been an important trend in the development of China’s manufacturing enterprises. How to help enterprises turn around efficiently and economically under the wave of digitalization is a problem that VTO has been solving for 18 years. According to founder Yang Songgui, the government has carried out a number of pilot projects to promote the construction of smart factories, lighthouse factories and smart workshops, so that the digital transformation of industry leaders has penetrated to the core level. However, the small and medium-sized enterprises that are supporting the link are stuck in the problems of capital and technology, and the digital transformation is still in its infancy.

In response to this pain point, VTO Technology provides two solutions: one is to make the factory transparent through digital means, so that equipment and data can “speak”, provide decision-making basis for the boss, and effectively reduce costs. The second is to assist small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their image and strength and attract more orders. When potential customers come to visit, enterprises can show the whole process from order to production and quality control, and win the trust and favor of customers.

China is moving from a manufacturing country to a manufacturing power, and this transformation is inseparable from the active leadership of leading enterprises and the firm support of small and medium-sized enterprises. As an important link in the industrial chain, small and medium-sized enterprises are very important to ensure the quality of the products of leading enterprises. VTO helps these small and medium-sized enterprises to successfully achieve digital transformation, which not only provides a strong guarantee for the overseas expansion of leading enterprises, but also helps Chinese enterprisesDemonstrate faster and stronger competitiveness on the international stage.