FamilyMart looks to halt Asia losing streak after Thailand retreat

[BritManToo]

33 minutes ago, steven100 said:

you've been falling for that trick for years i expect ,  your probably down thousands.

Twice, I didn't shop there again after that.

[kickstart]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

 

TOKYO/BANGKOK -- For convenience store operator FamilyMart, the sign of trouble in Thailand may be traced back to its fraught rollout of Japanese oden stew pots to unfamiliar customers.

That is the problem in Thailand ,Thai's are far to conservative over food ,they  just like the same things, anything new does not go down well ,Family Mart did not do they homework before launching a new product .

A 7-11 near  me closed ,on a main road ,but bad parking , yet again  400 yards either way 2 more 7-11's.

PPS, Another 500 yard up the road ................a new PPT petrol station ,7-11 plus and a KFC, rumour  has it the owner builds most of the roads in the area , it is his second PPT and 7-11. 

[dddave]

18 hours ago, Curt1591 said:

No Family Mart. But, we have five 7/11s and a MaxValue within a few hundred meters of each other. Two of the 7/11 are directly across the street from each other. Anyone with a decent arm could toss a rock and hit a third! 

Gotta be talking about Suk.71  and the "Sevens" at Pridi 13/16; same owner for both.  A long term employee told my GF that he opened the 2nd one on the opposite side of 71  after a school kid was killed crossing it to get to the store. 

No way to know if the story is true but he did help pay for the rebuilding of the footbridge between the 2 stores when a truck jumped the curb and demolished the stairway on one end 8 or 9 years ago.

[Damrongsak]

7-11s were popular in the US when I was a kid.  Then they went downhill.  Pretty grubby. 

[Albert Zweistein]

18 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

7-Elevens (and "corner markets" and conveniece stores in general) in the US have a somewhat sketchy reputation, as they are often found in down-market areas and sometimes charge high prices for days old stock. Whereas in Asia, they are an integral part of the crowded urban landscape (as well as exurban and country areas) and feature a plethora of common everyday household and food items at competitive prices. In fact, in Asia, locals and travelers can satisfy all their food needs from the local Sevens and other convenience store chains (especially in Japan/Taiwan from my first hand experience).

in Asia, locals and travelers can satisfy all their food needs from the local Sevens. Funny but in the Sevens I usual visit 90 % of the clients are farang. Yes sometimes a Thai hop in to buy cigarettes. And what about the totally absence of fresh vegetables ?

[Curt1591]

6 hours ago, dddave said:

Gotta be talking about Suk.71  and the "Sevens" at Pridi 13/16; same owner for both.  A long term employee told my GF that he opened the 2nd one on the opposite side of 71  after a school kid was killed crossing it to get to the store. 

No way to know if the story is true but he did help pay for the rebuilding of the footbridge between the 2 stores when a truck jumped the curb and demolished the stairway on one end 8 or 9 years ago.

Different locale.

If he owns both franchises, possibly he is thinking just as much on business. On a busy street, with plenty of customers, people may not be inclined to do a U-turn to reach the store. They may just head down the road to the next convenience store. With opposing stores, he covers both directions of travel. 

Another thing I have noticed about Thai business "sense", if someone opens, let's say, a hardware shop, suddenly a half dozen neighbors will also open a hardware shop! 

[jaideedave]

On 8/10/2020 at 6:29 AM, Colabamumbai said:

7 11 has franchise stores and corporate. If your franchise is real busy, they open a corporate store metres away. 

Cola,I have personally observed this very event in South Pattaya several years ago. There was a very popular 7 near my moo ban...one day a new 7 one popped up exactly 2 doors down same side of the road.

Within 3 years they were both shuttered.lol They <deleted> all involved.Well done! lol idiots.

[alexth]

On 8/10/2020 at 4:47 AM, pookondee said:

"I dont like the fish smell" commented another.."

 

Direct proof that something weird is going on in Thailand if a Thai said this. 

CP leased the country, it’s a no brainer that they will eliminate as much competition as possible. In the meanwhile, the flock is commenting the RedBull dude who killed a cop, most likely a dirty one (Thong Lo police station...), while CP and the rest of their puppets kills the entire population...BRAVO!

[scorecard]

On 8/10/2020 at 10:21 PM, Redline said:

I never liked Family Mart, and I was surprised to find it was Japanese.  The other Japanese supermarket chain Aeon is Japanese, and it’s expensive, and not so good either.

it seems these two are simply after the lower class cash at inflated prices-and the Aeon credit thing is a big scam also aimed at fleecing the not so well to do

Family Mart is quite big in Vietnam, and 7/11 not so many stores. The FM operation is clearly run by a clever franchise holder, everything impresses the customer.

 

Maybe 3 years back I was lecturing in Ho Chi Minh City, I needed a new shaver I put the old one in my bag and at lunch time I went to the nearby FM, couldn't find any shavers. A very young smiley nicely groomed male employee came to me and reading from his smartphone screen he said 'I help?' 

 

I showed him the old razor, he instantly took out his smartphone and took a photo, quickly some data on his screen (I'm guessing he submitted the photo to a distribution centre or similar), then he quickly typed on his screen in Vietnamese and translated it to English 'today 5.00 afternoon, OK?

 

I responded 'yes please' I went back just after 5.00 pm, he quickly greeted me with 1 packaged shaver in one hand and a pack in the other hand, I took the pack. I bought other stuff and the same boy was waiting to do the cashier process. As I left he read from his smartphone screen 'come back teacher please'. (Nearby in that district there's 4 or 5 universities, all with many western lecturers.)

 

All indicators that the franchise operator is switched on.

 

In VN FM have a very big focus on hot snacks, a big variety of fresh sandwiches, plus small packs of typical fresh Japanese snacks, a variety of hot coffees and the other typical mini mart products.

 

In all their stores they have 3 or 4 tables and chairs for customers to sit and eat their snacks, always cleaned up very quickly. And all aspects of their stores always extremely clean.

[Grumpy John]

43 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Family Mart is quite big in Vietnam, and 7/11 not so many stores. The FM operation is clearly run by a clever franchise holder, everything impresses the customer.

 

Maybe 3 years back I was lecturing in Ho Chi Minh City, I needed a new shaver I put the old one in my bag and at lunch time I went to the nearby FM, couldn't find any shavers. A very young smiley nicely groomed male employee came to me and reading from his smartphone screen he said 'I help?' 

 

I showed him the old razor, he instantly took out his smartphone and took a photo, quickly some data on his screen (I'm guessing he submitted the photo to a distribution centre or similar), then he quickly typed on his screen in Vietnamese and translated it to English 'today 5.00 afternoon, OK?

 

I responded 'yes please' I went back just after 5.00 pm, he quickly greeted me with 1 packaged shaver in one hand and a pack in the other hand, I took the pack. I bought other stuff and the same boy was waiting to do the cashier process. As I left he read from his smartphone screen 'come back teacher please'. (Nearby in that district there's 4 or 5 universities, all with many western lecturers.)

 

All indicators that the franchise operator is switched on.

 

In VN FM have a very big focus on hot snacks, a big variety of fresh sandwiches, plus small packs of typical fresh Japanese snacks, a variety of hot coffees and the other typical mini mart products.

 

In all their stores they have 3 or 4 tables and chairs for customers to sit and eat their snacks, always cleaned up very quickly. And all aspects of their stores always extremely clean.

"In all their stores they have 3 or 4 tables and chairs for customers to sit and eat their snacks, always cleaned up very quickly. And all aspects of their stores always extremely clean."  That's a bonus.  Would rather sit and eat in air conditioned comfort than on the steps with the soi dogs.

[Saraburi121]

Loved Family Mart when we lived in Japan, especially the egg salad sandwiches and beer selection. FM Japan has quite a selection of tasty snacks and excellent coffee.  Here in Thailand FM is my least favorite convenient store, even the kids tell me wait till we find a 7-11 when traveling.   Found FM same when we lived in Hawaii, disappointing. 

[scorecard]

On 8/10/2020 at 11:03 AM, Pattaya Spotter said:

An operation on the vast scale of something like Seven in Thailand must surely be down to expertise in distribution and logistics...how they track inventory and restock all these thousands of outlets with fresh and perishable stock daily is truly amazing. Also, I dont know if the master franchisor is Seven in Japan or the USA...but the concept of Seven in the United States and the Japanese/Asian-Thai versions is completely different and serve totally different markets.

Above: "

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  On 8/10/2020 at 10:46 AM, scorecard said:

Good summary and good question.

 

But is it more to do with how clever the marketing folks are at 7/11, especially their strategies to get people through the door. About 5 years back I tasked my Thai MBA students, in small teams to study and define the step by step marketing strategies of 7. The Case Study labelled the 7/11 Supply and Value Chain.

 

Ninety % of the students weren't enthused and thought it would be a boring study. It didn't take long for them to realize what they were finding was very very clever, including the step by step strategies/methods 7 uses to take potential customers through the door, look at various products and buy, and how they have a range of strategies to get started / get the old and the potential customers through the door. 

 

But of course 7 in Thailand is a franchise from the master brand owner abroad. My students also discovered the master policies and regulations imposed by the master brand owner are very clever, all cleverly designed to bring good returns for: the brand owner, the franchisee and the customer.

 

 

Above:  "An operation on the vast scale of something like Seven in Thailand must surely be down to expertise in distribution and logistics...how they track inventory and restock all these thousands of outlets with fresh and perishable stock daily is truly amazing..."

 

True, and it all starts with scanning the item being purchased at the till, sets many further actions to start for the 7 distribution people and for many products the data goes to the manufacturer who use it to ensure they are not manufacturing too much stock which, perhaps, only has a short 'best by' date, etc. 

 

But also true, 7 (in Thailand and many other countries) uses clever algorithms to activate further actions. Simple example, when bread sales reaches a certain point butter/margarine is automatically added to the store stock, also 1 jam or a variety of jam.

 

But it doesn't stop there, whether the butter/margarine, jams sells is also monitored automatically. It doesn't sell it goes back to the distribution centre. Or if it does sell the time to sell is also analysed. Too long to sell means that cash (cash has a cost) to buy the product is not generating enough revenue and margin and/or not quickly enough. Plus if these products stay on the shelves too long it's preventing the chance to increase brands/sizes of products that do sell. So the computer makes a decision, no more stock of the item that takes too long to sell goes to that store.

 

Beer could be another example, some 7s have a smaller number of big bottles, and more small bottles and cans. Why? 7s marketing people are continuously analyzing local wealth/spending power of the people living in that area. Could be that many locals can't afford big bottles so why but them in the 7 fridge, better to use that space to increase the variety of drinks / try new drink brands/varieties to see if they sell. 

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, scorecard said:

Above: "

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Posted August 10

  On 8/10/2020 at 10:46 AM, scorecard said:

Good summary and good question.

 

But is it more to do with how clever the marketing folks are at 7/11, especially their strategies to get people through the door. About 5 years back I tasked my Thai MBA students, in small teams to study and define the step by step marketing strategies of 7. The Case Study labelled the 7/11 Supply and Value Chain.

 

Ninety % of the students weren't enthused and thought it would be a boring study. It didn't take long for them to realize what they were finding was very very clever, including the step by step strategies/methods 7 uses to take potential customers through the door, look at various products and buy, and how they have a range of strategies to get started / get the old and the potential customers through the door. 

 

But of course 7 in Thailand is a franchise from the master brand owner abroad. My students also discovered the master policies and regulations imposed by the master brand owner are very clever, all cleverly designed to bring good returns for: the brand owner, the franchisee and the customer.

 

 

Above:  "An operation on the vast scale of something like Seven in Thailand must surely be down to expertise in distribution and logistics...how they track inventory and restock all these thousands of outlets with fresh and perishable stock daily is truly amazing..."

 

True, and it all starts with scanning the item being purchased at the till, sets many further actions to start for the 7 distribution people and for many products the data goes to the manufacturer who use it to ensure they are not manufacturing too much stock which, perhaps, only has a short 'best by' date, etc. 

 

But also true, 7 (in Thailand and many other countries) uses clever algorithms to activate further actions. Simple example, when bread sales reaches a certain point butter/margarine is automatically added to the store stock, also 1 jam or a variety of jam.

 

But it doesn't stop there, whether the butter/margarine, jams sells is also monitored automatically. It doesn't sell it goes back to the distribution centre. Or if it does sell the time to sell is also analysed. Too long to sell means that cash (cash has a cost) to buy the product is not generating enough revenue and margin and/or not quickly enough. Plus if these products stay on the shelves too long it's preventing the chance to increase brands/sizes of products that do sell. So the computer makes a decision, no more stock of the item that takes too long to sell goes to that store.

 

Beer could be another example, some 7s have a smaller number of big bottles, and more small bottles and cans. Why? 7s marketing people are continuously analyzing local wealth/spending power of the people living in that area. Could be that many locals can't afford big bottles so why but them in the 7 fridge, better to use that space to increase the variety of drinks / try new drink brands/varieties to see if they sell. 

Missed a key point, in addition to the above 7 has on-going clever marketing and sales polices, processes and actions to take the final step ; customer buys the product.

 

In another view, shop can look attractive, lots of good attractive products on the shelves but until customers make a purchase there is no revenue, no margin, and no business success.

 

In a simple marketing 101 view, in the past people opened shops then sat and waited for a customer to come into the shop and many shopkeepers didn't know what to do to get the customer to buy.

 

Or advertise in the newspaper with a telephone number then wait for the phone to ring but nothing more.

 

Nowadays many/most business owners have competition/very clever competition who will achieve 90% of the sales and the 'sit by the phone' operation get 10% of the sale if they are lucky.

 

As said, 7 knows well how to 'close the sale' relative to mini mart operations. 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by scorecard

[Redline]

21 hours ago, scorecard said:

Family Mart is quite big in Vietnam, and 7/11 not so many stores. The FM operation is clearly run by a clever franchise holder, everything impresses the customer.

 

Maybe 3 years back I was lecturing in Ho Chi Minh City, I needed a new shaver I put the old one in my bag and at lunch time I went to the nearby FM, couldn't find any shavers. A very young smiley nicely groomed male employee came to me and reading from his smartphone screen he said 'I help?' 

 

I showed him the old razor, he instantly took out his smartphone and took a photo, quickly some data on his screen (I'm guessing he submitted the photo to a distribution centre or similar), then he quickly typed on his screen in Vietnamese and translated it to English 'today 5.00 afternoon, OK?

 

I responded 'yes please' I went back just after 5.00 pm, he quickly greeted me with 1 packaged shaver in one hand and a pack in the other hand, I took the pack. I bought other stuff and the same boy was waiting to do the cashier process. As I left he read from his smartphone screen 'come back teacher please'. (Nearby in that district there's 4 or 5 universities, all with many western lecturers.)

 

All indicators that the franchise operator is switched on.

 

In VN FM have a very big focus on hot snacks, a big variety of fresh sandwiches, plus small packs of typical fresh Japanese snacks, a variety of hot coffees and the other typical mini mart products.

 

In all their stores they have 3 or 4 tables and chairs for customers to sit and eat their snacks, always cleaned up very quickly. And all aspects of their stores always extremely clean.

Serious customer service!  It doesn’t seem that way in Thailand 

[Fex Bluse]

Nobody will ever compete with 7-11 as CP owns almost the entire food chain. It's impossible to compete with CP in Thailand. 

[Maha Sarakham]

1 hour ago, Fex Bluse said:

Nobody will ever compete with 7-11 as CP owns almost the entire food chain. It's impossible to compete with CP in Thailand. 

That's what my wife says, she does all her banking through 7-11 now too.  They do literally everything, just need a 7-11 themed gogo next.

[johng]

With Tesco and Family mart withdrawn from Thailand consumer choice and competition is much reduced..I'm not even sure who owns Big C now ?

[Fex Bluse]

3 hours ago, johng said:

With Tesco and Family mart withdrawn from Thailand consumer choice and competition is much reduced..I'm not even sure who owns Big C now ?

The ethnicity of Thais who dominate business don't play by any rules. In fact, wherever they are in the world, they seem to almost uniformly cheat. Just like we are seeing now with the global backlash against them. 

 

In this case, the Thais cheat and run western owned and foreign Asian owned businesses out of the country, keeping the assets. 

 

Hopewell, Kin gsgate, Tesco, Big C, so many others. The Thais deserve a destroyed economy, and they will have it very soon. Foreign tourists are done for at least a couple years, and it will take 10 to rebuild IF we have a efficacious vaccine in the next couple years. 

 

Thailand will hurt. ????

[ben2talk]

On 8/10/2020 at 9:00 AM, Pilotman said:

they could start by selling more than the same stuff that is sold in 9,000 7/11s, 4,000 Big C MIni, 5,000 Tesco MIni.  There is no differentiation in Thai mini marts, so I can't see how they can all make a profit. Same old, same old. 

Funny perspective - I thought most folks use 7-11 to pick up milk/eggs/bread. Tesco has it's own brand bread and some unique product lines (and not so highly priced quite often) but BigC never got my loyalty - be it mini or full supermarket.

 

Family mart always seemed shoddy to me - 20 years ago I still preferred Tesco and 7-11.

[wotsdermatter]

On 8/9/2020 at 7:30 PM, spidermike007 said:

There are appropriately 10,000 7/11`s in Thailand.

Are you sure you mean "appropriately" because that is "suitable for the occasion or circumstances?"  Would "approximately" be a more appropriate word to use?

'nuf sed.

[spidermike007]

On 8/17/2020 at 8:44 PM, wotsdermatter said:

Are you sure you mean "appropriately" because that is "suitable for the occasion or circumstances?"  Would "approximately" be a more appropriate word to use?

'nuf sed.

Forgive my error. Please. Mistakes are something I rarely make. LOL. 

[ChipButty]

On 8/17/2020 at 11:54 AM, ben2talk said:

Funny perspective - I thought most folks use 7-11 to pick up milk/eggs/bread. Tesco has it's own brand bread and some unique product lines (and not so highly priced quite often) but BigC never got my loyalty - be it mini or full supermarket.

 

Family mart always seemed shoddy to me - 20 years ago I still preferred Tesco and 7-11.

On top of all them here in Phuket we have another chain "Supercheap" even though some of the stores are new it's still a slum

[CANSIAM]

On 8/9/2020 at 2:53 PM, RichardColeman said:

Maybe Thailand's problem is having a convenience store every 30 ft of road

And massage every 100 ft..

[sturdyd]

The Family Mart I used to go to was not very professionally run. Certainly not as compared with 7-11. The one I frequented was poorly stocked and seemed to be staffed by the owner and her family. More like a Mom & Pop operation than a corporate franchise. I won't really miss it.

[Oldie]

On 8/17/2020 at 11:54 AM, ben2talk said:

Funny perspective - I thought most folks use 7-11 to pick up milk/eggs/bread.

Do they really sell other things than booze and cigarettes? Will have to look next time. 

[theWTD]

Anyone notice how since FamilyMart sold out, you can't buy beer after midnight anymore?

[josephbloggs]

On 8/17/2020 at 9:57 AM, Fex Bluse said:

The Thais deserve a destroyed economy, and they will have it very soon. 

 

Thailand will hurt. ????

Oh great, here comes Fex Bluse again to lighten things up with his random nasty and bitter wishes upon an entire nation of people for no good reason!!

What a horrible outlook you have, truly awful. I wonder what made you like this.   

You hope the economy caves in.  You hope Thailand hurts.  You hope Thai Airways goes under and everyone loses their jobs.  Never come across anyone as bitter and nasty in my life.  How could any one wish to celebrate such catastrophes that effect good common people?  "Thailand will hurt" with a thumbs up.  

I hope one day you can get better, maybe find a friend or a companion, maybe try being nice to someone and see what happens.

Edited August 19, 2020 by josephbloggs

[josephbloggs]

On 8/10/2020 at 6:29 AM, Colabamumbai said:

7 11 has franchise stores and corporate. If your franchise is real busy, they open a corporate store metres away. 

I have heard this many many times and it could well be true,  But does anyone have any first hand evidence of it?  Not "look at how close together the stores are" as often these are owned by the same franchisee, but "a franchisee opened and did well and CP opened a corporate store nearby to kill them".  Any solid case studies any one has?

 

It's easy to perpetuate an internet myth.  On one hand I can believe they would do it, but on the other how are they ever going to attract new franchisees if everyone knows within a year of success they will come and screw you?  No one would invest.  So I don't know.  See it repeated often though so surely someone can back it up?

So, you made the comment, what is it based on?  Have you heard any real world examples?

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

I have heard this many many times and it could well be true,  But does anyone have any first hand evidence of it?  Not "look at how close together the stores are" as often these are owned by the same franchisee, but "a franchisee opened and did well and CP opened a corporate store nearby to kill them".  Any solid case studies any one has?

 

It's easy to perpetuate an internet myth.  On one hand I can believe they would do it, but on the other how are they ever going to attract new franchisees if everyone knows within a year of success they will come and screw you?  No one would invest.  So I don't know.  See it repeated often though so surely someone can back it up?

So, you made the comment, what is it based on?  Have you heard any real world examples?

 

I've had MBA students study 7/11 and the mini mart industry several times.  It seems very clear to me that 7/11 and probably all the other operators are very focused on long-term profitable business and are very unlikely to take actions (as mentioned in the post above) that would damage their chances of long-term profitability and sustainability.

 

A side point, the 7/11 brand owner has many rules, regulations, strategies regarding actual operation of franchised stores and they continuously monitor that franchisees are 100% following the rules, regulations, strategies, and they don't hesitate to bring it to the attention of the franchisee and if the franchisee doesn't get back to the 7/11 rules etc., very quickly they cancel the franchise. And all of that applies no matter how big the franchisee is.

 

Why? Because they want a standard impressive and professional brand image and operation which brings good returns for all the players, and they've developed a model which they believe will sustain profitable business and grow the business long-term. Grow the business obviously includes selling more profitable franchises. 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by scorecard

[Fex Bluse]

7 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Oh great, here comes Fex Bluse again to lighten things up with his random nasty and bitter wishes upon an entire nation of people for no good reason!!

What a horrible outlook you have, truly awful. I wonder what made you like this.   

You hope the economy caves in.  You hope Thailand hurts.  You hope Thai Airways goes under and everyone loses their jobs.  Never come across anyone as bitter and nasty in my life.  How could any one wish to celebrate such catastrophes that effect good common people?  "Thailand will hurt" with a thumbs up.  

I hope one day you can get better, maybe find a friend or a companion, maybe try being nice to someone and see what happens.

No idea what you're on about. I'm quite happy. What makes you think I'm unhappy?