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Young people who are driven crazy by the single-day-off policy really need to relax.

However, Internet cafes and KTVs have been declining, and traveling is putting a strain on wallets. In addition to the fast-paced life, young people need a place to rest.

The best place to rest is at the pedicure shop on the street.

In the past, pedicure was the most despised consumption by young people. The pedicure shops on the street with outdated decoration and rustic storefronts were crowded with uncles suffering from onychomycosis and aunties tired from shopping for groceries.

Because of the style issues, young people once stayed away from pedicure shops, but fortunately, with the enthusiastic support of countless uncles and aunts, the pedicure shop business has gradually formed a secret empire.

Brother Dao has observed the leading brand in the pedicure industry, Zheng Yuanyuan Pedicure Shop. Zheng Yuanyuan, which came out of the rural area of ​​Shaanxi, has now opened branches across the country.More than 8,000 stores, conservatively estimated, the brand’s annual revenue can easily reach tens of billions.

Under the leadership of top star Zheng Yuanyuan, the scale of the entire pedicure market reached 585.9 billion yuan as early as 2022, and the number of users reached 435 million.

Among these more than 400 million users, in addition to the elderly people who are the main customers of pedicure shops, young people have also become the fresh blood of the pedicure army.

Meituan data shows that young people aged 20 to 35 account for 75% of the consumers in pedicure shops. Zheng Yuanyuan, where 70% of the consumers were once uncles and aunts, has now become a check-in destination for young people.

On Xiaohongshu, pedicure has become a new way to relax after City Walk and special forces travel.

How come this shabby "senior citizen paradise" suddenly caught the attention of young people?

8,000 chain stores of LaoTouLe,

Almost sent to the market by young people

Young people started to love pedicures after they got tired of walking in City Walk.

In Changsha, a "net celebrity city" that is highly sought after by young people, everyone who comes to City Walk is bound to experience the three-piece set of "food + internet celebrity landmark + pedicure".

Some media have exaggeratedly described Changsha as "half of the country's population runs to Changsha, and half of Changsha's population runs to get pedicures."

Young people returning from Changsha brought the pedicure habit to all parts of the country. Over time, young people began to flock to the inconspicuous pedicure shop downstairs.

Some people say: Pedicure is not for any problems with the feet, but just to enjoy the feeling of not looking at the phone for two hours and having someone specifically massaging you.

Online, buying an annual pass to a pedicure shop at the age of 23 and achieving "pedicure freedom" has become an achievement worth showing off.

In May last year, the National Bureau of Statistics released the "China's Better Life Survey", which showed that health care venues have become the top three places that Chinese young people aged 18 to 35 are keen to consume, among which low-priced pedicures account for a large proportion.

To get a glimpse of how popular pedicure is, we can look at the salary of pedicure masters.

There is a question on Zhihu: "What kind of job is not decent but makes money?", and someone recommended his friend's old job below.

Maybe there is some bragging in the answer of this pedicurist, but pedicure is indeed one of the categories in the service industry that emphasizes "small profits but quick turnover" the most.

A chef at Zheng Yuanyuan's store in Shanghai said that his store can receive an average of more than 70 customers a day, with the average customer unit spending at around 84 yuan. The chef gets a commission of 30 yuan for each order, and the rest is handed over to the company.

Nowadays, when a haircut costs more than a hundred yuan, it is really attractive for young people to get a "foot refreshment" and a two-hour full-body massage for less than a hundred yuan.

According to this data, each pedicure master can bring nearly 3,000 yuan in profit to the store every day, and more than 100,000 yuan a month.

It is precisely because there are such small shops all over the country that Zheng Yuanyuan’s huge “pedicure empire” can be supported.

As early as 2016, Zheng Yuanyuan launched the "10,000 Stores Plan". If there had not been three years of obstruction due to the special period, he might have achieved the goal long ago.

In 2022, it was rumored online that Zheng Yuanyuan Pedicure was preparing to raise funds for an IPO. Although the news finally came to nothing, for Zheng Yuanyuan, who makes money like water, there is no need to go public to make money at all.

Coincidentally, in addition to Zheng Yuanyuan, another large pedicure chain, "Pengshi Pedicure", is also a super chain with more than 4,000 stores and annual revenue of tens of billions.

As the "most down-to-earth" business, pedicure has never lacked a market.

Young man who is tired of rolling:

Ditch the coffee and get a pedicure

The pedicure shop is called the old man's version of "Starbucks".

Elderly people go for pedicures not only to make their feet more comfortable and healthy, but also to find a place to chat with old neighbors for an afternoon and pass the time.

But now, the "Starbucks" for the elderly is crowded with young people.

The first demand of young people when going for a pedicure is a consumption experience that combines medical treatment with socializing.

According to statistics, the incidence of paronychia in my country is around 1.7% to 27%, and young people who like sports are a high-risk group for paronychia.

The first group of young people who flocked to pedicure shops were mostly sports buddies who hung out together on weekends.

Young people who suffer from paronychia find it troublesome to go to the hospital, but it is too uncomfortable to hold it in. Therefore, pedicure shops with low costs and a wide range of services are regarded as their happy hometown.

After sports or traveling, getting a pedicure together has become a new leisure activity for young people today.

A netizen shared that his company chose a pedicure shop as the location for a team building event, which resulted in the highest participation and employee satisfaction in the company's history.

Although the demand from young people is particularly strong, pedicure shops are not sitting still and waiting for opportunities. Instead, they choose to cater to their needs to attract young people.

The charge for pedicure itself is not expensive, but in order to highlight the "cost-effectiveness", pedicure shops still pile on a lot of extras.

When Zheng Yuanyuan's pedicure shop was expanding its territory, in order to attract customers, it once launched a 19.9 yuan package of "pedicure + massage + foot bath", which was simply good news for the poor.

Having this completely unprofitable package is not enough. Zheng Yuanyuan will also take the initiative to cooperate with local hamburger and milk tea shops. In some small shops in some areas, customers will receive free hamburgers or milk tea when they come in for a foot wash.

Many young people come to the store to experience the good deals, but as soon as they enter, they are "bound" to pedicure.

The effect of giving away milk tea and hamburgers was very significant. According to statistics, 240,000 consumers went to Zheng Yuanyuan to make purchases during the event, and the redemption rate was as high as 88%.

Led by Zheng Yuanyuan, other pedicure shops also began to get involved in the catering industry.

Golden Impression, a chain brand in Changsha, has been hailed by netizens as the "Haidilao of foot baths" because of its delicious food. It has become an Internet celebrity restaurant thanks to its delicious food and has also attracted top store bloggers to visit the store.

Near Sanlitun in Beijing, there is also a pedicure center called "Liangquan Foot Massage" which is famous for its Sichuan cuisine and has also become popular for its taste.

In Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha and other places, about 30% of foot massage shops are already providing food and entertainment services in addition to foot massage. If this continues, coffee shops may really be out of business.

Of course, in addition to Xiu Jian's unconventional approach to catering, pedicure masters even put aside their "prejudices" in order to provide better service.

In the past, pedicure was divided into two schools, northern and southern.

The Northern Pedicure originated in the north and focuses on curing diseases. It emphasizes "one knife to cure everything". Young people who have paronychia will go to the Northern Pedicure to prolong the life of their feet.

The Southern Pedicure, which originated in Yangzhou, focuses on exquisiteness, and is known as "six knives with clear division of labor". Young people who love beauty will go to the Southern Pedicure in the summer to give their feet a full SPA.

But faced with the surging army of young people, the two factions in the north and the south tacitly chose to merge.

The Northern-style pedicure, which used to be a hardcore treatment, has now added massage, aromatherapy, manicure and other services, with the main goal of making customers not want to leave once they come.

Southern-style pedicure has also begun to expand the skills of its pedicure masters, adding treatments, moxibustion, Chinese medicine foot baths and other medical services.

Demand is the primary driving force behind the industry.

No matter how good the "money prospects" are, they can't withstand two big pits

With a strong base of middle-aged and elderly customers and the young population at large, the pedicure industry seems to have opened up its Ren and Du meridians, and has unlimited financial prospects.

But contrary to the grand occasion reflected by the data, searching for pedicure on the Internet will find“Avoid mines and step into pitfalls”Still is the key word.

Many customers go for pedicures with great expectations, only to leave with empty wallets and feet riddled with wounds.

In general, pedicure shops have not yet completely transformed from their past grassroots form.

To go a step further, the pedicure industry also needs to solve two major problems:

The first big pitfall is the “income trap” in the service industry.

Many people who go for a pedicure will find that the pedicure technician is holding the knife in his hand while nagging you to apply for a card.

The fears that used to be dominated by barbershops and gyms are being reawakened.

To put it bluntly, the recharge and card application system is the fastest, simplest and most brutal way for every offline service industry to increase revenue.

Peng Shixiu Jiao has 4,000 chain stores. Although the price of the stored-value cards is between 200 and 1,000 yuan, which is not particularly expensive, Peng Shixiu Jiao's annual income can reach 6.8 billion yuan thanks to the stored-value cards.

In 2023, a small shop called Yangbo Ear Cleaning and Pedicure in Hangzhou suddenly closed down. Some consumers complained that they had more than 800 yuan left on their stored-value cards and had not yet spent them, so they were cheated.

I avoided the gym bankruptcy and the barber shop running away, but I still got ripped off by the 800 yuan pedicure shop.

In addition to tricking people into signing up for membership cards, another major point that pedicure shops are criticized for is that they push their products too hard.

Since most people are not familiar with foot diseases, they are often told by pedicure masters about the dangers of diseases such as paronychia and onychomycosis, and then recommended a bunch of medicines and health products.

According to analysis, the profit from foot repair itself is not very high. The reason why Peng Shixiujiao and Zheng Yuanyuan can make so much money is because of the medicines and health products in the store, which have a gross profit margin of about 70%.

Some netizens complained that when they went to a pedicure shop for a pedicure, the price of the 48 yuan package was raised to 480 yuan. This is not to cut off the thorns in the flesh, but to gouge out the flesh of the customers.

The second big pitfall is that the level of professionalism cannot keep up with the speed of opening a store.

For this grassroots service industry based in the market place, professional and technical workers are always in short supply.

Unlike dishwashers and waiters, pedicure technicians need to have very high professional standards and even certain medical knowledge.

More upscale pedicure shops will highlight the professionalism of their pedicure masters. For example, at Pengshi Pedicure, all practitioners must undergo systematic traditional Chinese medicine training before they can take up their posts.

But unlike big brands that have their own training systems, most of the unknown pedicure shops on the market either have a trusted master in charge or are staffed by inexperienced new practitioners.

In recent years, pedicure has become popular, and the practitioners are also mixed.

Some customers went for pedicures, but because of poor hygiene, they contracted fungal infections, and suffered from onychomycosis and athlete's foot;

Some customers have also found that pedicure technicians will "intentionally" make ordinary paronychia more serious, just to make money from you later;

I went to a pedicure shop and found that I would have to get my feet done endlessly. This was also called the "pedicure cycle trap" by netizens.

The young people's newly ignited enthusiasm for consumption may very likely be overdrawn by these chaos.

The resurgence of pedicure shops proves that even an outdated industry can accommodate new ways of playing and become popular again.

However, the lack of regulatory supervision in the industry and the lack of recognition of major brands also make it difficult for new gameplay to penetrate every corner.

If we really want to turn the industry from a small fire to a big fire, pedicure masters must also pay attention.

No matter how down-to-earth the business is, experience cannot give way to profits.

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