new economic observation丨"internet + car maintenance" strikes down the traditional model and turns community auto repair into a "4s shop"
2024-08-29
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cover news reporter meng mei and ouyang hongyu
"when i was a body repair technician in someone else's shop, i thought it was difficult to open an auto repair shop. in fact, with the help of the internet, even people without experience can do it." this is the advice huang jianqing gives most often to friends who ask him for advice on the "business secrets" of auto repair shops.
huang jianqing, 32 years old this year, has more than ten years of experience in the auto repair industry. back then, he came to chengdu from other places to look for a job, started as a body repairer, and gradually had his own auto repair shop. in 2021, due to adjustments in environmental protection policies, his store needed to be relocated to the suburbs, and by chance, he transformed into a chengdu franchisee of tmall auto maintenance. less than half a year after the first store opened, it broke even; in august this year, he invested in a second store.
from a front-line technical worker to an excellent franchisee, huang jianqing used his personal experience to interpret the true meaning of "choice is greater than hard work". on the stage of tmall auto maintenance, he not only found a new development direction, but also achieved a successful transformation of his career.
it is also because of tmall’s successful breakthrough in car maintenance that it has attracted “headhunting” from peers such as jd auto maintenance. these two old rivals in the e-commerce field continue to fight in the car maintenance field.
talk about mode:
reject "small, scattered, and chaotic"
we are the "4s store" in the community
"it costs 500-600 yuan to do maintenance in a 4s shop, but only 300-400 yuan here, and the auto repair technicians are more responsible. i should have come here earlier." mr. liu, a chengdu citizen, is a regular customer of huang jianqing. since huang jianqing opened a tmall auto maintenance shop next to his home, he has never been to a 4s shop again. "although this is a new shop, i know the tmall brand and it is clean. i can trust it to become a member and do maintenance here." he said.
mr. liu's idea actually coincided with that of huang jianqing, who was looking for a direction for transformation at the time. in 2021, at the crossroads of business transformation, after an in-depth understanding and comparison of many parties, huang jianqing was deeply attracted by tmall auto maintenance's vast development space, unique business model and good reputation. "the primary reason for choosing tmall auto maintenance is that the brand is good and the name tmall is a household name." huang jianqing revealed that in the early days of opening the store, many passers-by came into the store specifically to learn about the situation because of the word "tmall." "in the past, traditional auto repair shops relied on word-of-mouth recommendations from acquaintances. tmall is well-known, so everyone recognizes this store."
different from the traditional car repair shops which are small, scattered and messy, "tmall" + "car maintenance" is inherently equipped with the temperament of o2o local life services. walking into huang jianqing's tmall car maintenance shop, you will find a clean and tidy repair shop, a warm and comfortable waiting room, free tea and candy, etc. it is hard to associate this with a community car repair shop.
huang jianqing believes that the traditional auto repair business is difficult to do, largely because of inadequate service. in particular, car owners subconsciously feel that there is an information gap and are afraid that the store owner will "seek the customer's taste" and arbitrarily set prices. "the internet is meant to break the information gap. when car owners place orders on the app, the price and service are unified, no matter where they are," he said.
huang jianqing showed us the tmall auto care app, which allows users to submit online orders for car washes, maintenance, beauty services, and other services, and then go to any offline tmall auto care chain store to enjoy the service. in the order, all price details, from materials to labor hours, are presented in different categories. "this eliminates the possibility of auto repair shops making random quotes from a business model perspective."
taking the replacement of car engine oil as an example, after the vehicle arrives at the store, the technician only needs to scan the vehicle frame number, and tmall car maintenance's big data will automatically match the required oil type number according to the model; the car owner only needs to place an order on the tmall car maintenance app to enjoy maintenance services.
"the motor oils we use are from big brands like mobil, and our prices are compared across the entire internet, so it's impossible for us to cheat customers." huang jianqing said that in terms of service, we will also use big data to accurately calculate the specific capacity of motor oil required for some models that require adding multiple bottles of small barrels of motor oil. stores will also match them with large barrels of motor oil based on actual conditions, thereby helping car owners save money.
in huang jianqing's view, the standardization, specialization, branding and digitalization capabilities of tmall's car maintenance stores are something that others cannot learn; and without the endorsement of a big brand, consumers will not easily pay for membership cards. "before this, i believe that many car owners thought that the maintenance industry was dirty, messy and poor, but with the expansion of offline stores on the internet, consumers have been refreshed. not only are our services better than before, but the platform and store prices have also launched more preferential activities, which has benefited consumers and given them more choices," he said.
talking about business:
mature model empowerment
you can open a car repair shop even if you have no experience
in fact, huang jianqing did not have a smooth time in the early days of opening the store. when he joined in 2021, it coincided with the epidemic, and the fluctuation of customer sources also made him always walk on the edge of losses.
"fortunately, tmall's car maintenance policy is very good to franchisees, especially for newcomers." according to huang jianqing, unlike traditional internet car service chain brands, tmall's car maintenance has a lower franchise fee. in 2021, after he completed the contract, the management fee was waived for the first 6 months; after 6 months, the platform divided the profits according to the store's basic management fee and 1% of the monthly turnover. "generally speaking, when a new store opens, it is not familiar with the surrounding environment, and it is difficult to estimate the profit cycle. it is this management fee-free policy that allowed me to get through the most difficult period of operation in the early stages of opening the store."
in august this year, huang jianqing opened his second tmall auto shop, and the two shops have a combined gross profit of about 260,000 yuan. knowing that the tmall auto shop huang jianqing invested in was doing well, many people around him asked him how to invest in a community auto repair shop. "in fact, the biggest problem these people face is that they only know how to repair cars or have no knowledge of the auto repair industry, let alone how to run a car shop well," said huang jianqing.
in fact, the introduction of internet technology has greatly lowered the investment and franchising threshold for auto repair community stores.
"when i first opened a traditional auto repair shop, i spent a long time figuring it out. in addition to hiring technicians, i also needed to take care of finance and administration. but now, to manage a tmall auto care store, i just need to follow instructions." huang jianqing said as he showed the management backend of the tmall auto care app. on the platform, the system has automatically generated the store's financial data, even including project management information such as material procurement and employee salaries. "now i can manage the store by myself, which not only saves employee salary costs, but also avoids the problem of chaotic material management."
after connecting to the internet, not only the management cost is reduced, but also the customer acquisition cost. "tmall auto care will invest hundreds of millions of resources to help franchisees embrace new traffic." at the tmall auto care 2024 franchise conference held in march this year, tmall auto care general manager li yi said that tmall auto care will continue to consolidate its in-depth cooperation with the four major platforms of taobao, douyin, meituan and gaode, and for orders placed online and delivered offline, it will insist on sharing profits with stores to achieve long-term operations with franchisees.
it is this empowerment that allows huang jianqing's stores to attract more people born in the 1990s and 2000s, and even female car owners. they are often attracted by online channels such as douyin, meituan, and autonavi. including mr. liu, they often stay because of the good environment and high-quality service of the store.
"i don't have to go far to the 4s store. i can maintain my car near my home, and it's the same at tmall car maintenance stores across the country. i would definitely prefer to come here," said mr. liu.
talking about the future:
continuous transformation and change
create a better future with tmall auto maintenance
at present, quick repair, maintenance, car wash, film pasting and light modification are still the core businesses of community auto repair, and are also the main services provided by huang jianqing. however, recently, he has also been paying attention to the dynamics of the new energy auto repair industry.
according to the latest statistics released by the ministry of public security, by the end of june 2024, the number of motor vehicles in china will reach 406 million, including 310 million cars and 10.01 million new energy vehicles. according to statistics from the china automobile association, the age of new energy vehicle owners is mainly concentrated between 31 and 40 years old; female owners account for 29.4%, 1.4% higher than fuel vehicle owners. this means that the characteristics of the customer base of the auto repair industry have changed.
huang jianqing believes that the trend of younger customers has brought about a series of chain reactions, which are mainly manifested in two aspects. first, they are becoming more and more "knowledgeable", and unprofessional stores are easily "blacklisted" by car owners; second, they like to compare prices online before consumption, read other customers' sharing and comments, and then combine the comprehensive scores given to stores by third-party platforms to determine whether to place an order.
when car owners repair and maintain their cars, they tend to choose online platforms. in essence, in their view, the evaluation system on the app can make the status of buyers and sellers more equal. choosing a store with a high score can avoid "pitfalls" with a high probability. at the same time, the internet breaks the information gap that "mechanics are parts replacement workers", and with the strong offline control of service chain stores, it also accurately caters to the experience needs and "picky" habits of young car owners. this is also the reason why huang jianqing chose to transform from the traditional auto repair track to a tmall car maintenance store.
"the after-sales market has reached a turning point, with sales of new energy vehicles surpassing fuel vehicles and the market shifting from offense to defense." cong long, head of tmall auto maintenance's innovative business department, previously stated that in 2024, tmall auto maintenance will help traditional stores convert new energy workstations and provide technician certification training to help more stores take on new energy maintenance business.
"big data knows people better than they know themselves", and the same is true for cars. as the number of new energy vehicles continues to increase, only technology and data can better explore user pain points. the "china automotive aftermarket white paper" released by deloitte points out that in the future, the key to winning in industry changes depends on who can use technology to achieve deep adaptation of digitalization and business based on a deep understanding of the industry; in addition to digitalization, consumer-centric business thinking is also the key for companies to gain an advantage in the new round of competition.
"choice is always better than hard work," huang jianqing said firmly. although he knows that the road to entrepreneurship is full of challenges and uncertainties, he firmly believes that as long as he chooses the right platform and provides good services, he will be successful. "in the process of entrepreneurship, choosing the right partners and platforms is crucial," huang jianqing said. he thanked tmall auto for providing him with such an excellent entrepreneurial platform and broad development space. he believes that on the tmall auto platform, he can continue to give full play to his advantages and potential and create a more brilliant future with the platform.
