Since the Spring Festival this year, Pangdonglai in Xuchang, Henan has once again ignited local consumption: more than half of the customers from other places came here for fame, and the highest daily revenue exceeded 100 million yuan, surpassing the popularity of Qingming Shanghe Garden, the hottest 5A level scenic spot in Henan. Netizens have reposted a large number of videos of customers queuing up, calling Pangdonglai a "6A level scenic spot that is not listed", and even shouting "When will it open to my doorstep?" In the current situation where physical supermarkets are generally "not doing well", Pangdonglai has risen to fame against the trend, like a mirror, reflecting both the "ice and fire" of the retail industry and the huge consumption potential of Chinese society. Why can a supermarket selling goods become a 5A level scenic spot? What password is hidden behind the popularity of Fat Dong? Can this success be replicated and promoted? During this year's Spring Festival, Pangdonglai continued to break industry conventions by closing stores for 5 consecutive days starting from New Year's Eve. By the time we opened for business on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, customers from all over the world had already been queuing for hours in the cold wind. They either drive long distances or take trains multiple times, with the purpose of 'visiting here'. Customers express their love and recognition for Fat Donglai through this' stubbornness'. On February 2nd, at the Fat East Angel City store, customers were queuing up on the square to enter the supermarket. According to data released by Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wang Yongtao), from the fifth to the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the total passenger flow of Xuchang Pangdonglai was nearly 1.8 million. In these three days, more than 750000 people from other places stayed in Xuchang for more than 4 hours every day, with nearly half of them staying near various stores in Pangdonglai. This has directly led to a double increase in the occupancy rate and turnover rate of surrounding restaurants, and some nearby hotels are even struggling to find a room. According to data from the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, during the Spring Festival holiday, the daily revenue of Pangdonglai exceeded 100 million yuan, which is basically the same as the total revenue of the most popular 5A level scenic spot in Henan for 8 days. Due to its popularity far exceeding that of most scenic spots in Henan Province, many netizens refer to Pangdonglai as an "unlisted 6A level scenic spot". The popularity of Fat East is in stark contrast to the difficulties faced by some retail companies in the same industry. In 2024, Pangdonglai's revenue reached nearly 17 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.5%, with a profit of over 800 million yuan. At the same time, some large chain supermarkets occasionally report the closure of their stores, constantly shrinking their business layout. Pang Dong is on fire! Many companies come to "learn from experience". Everyone understands that the traditional retail business model has reached the time of transformation and upgrading, but many physical supermarkets are not clear about how to upgrade and where to transform. So, learning what to learn from Fat East is the key to obtaining the "True Scripture". In addition to the common experience of strict quality control and supply chain management, the most remarkable aspect of studying Pangdonglai is its corporate culture of "exchanging genuine products for genuine ones"; The second is to focus on the supply side, using "high-quality supply" to drive "high flow consumption". Many people want to learn the Fat Donglai model, but what they should learn most is our corporate culture According to Yu Dong, the founder of Pangdonglai, in order for a company to gain a competitive advantage and achieve significant development, it must rely on quality rather than scale, and must transform from conventional operations to quality management. On February 2nd, at the Fat East Angel City store, customers were queuing up to enter. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wang Yongtao) focuses on adding value to serving customers and enhancing the attractiveness of supermarkets. Introducing heartwarming services such as chauffeur parking, free herbal medicine decoction, pet storage, and humanized mother and baby rooms, making customers feel that coming to Pangdong is not just about shopping, but also an upgrade and enjoyment of their quality of life. Reduce incentives for employees and upgrade humanized management. Closed during the Spring Festival and every Tuesday; It is not allowed to make work phone calls to employees after work; Establishing an unreasonable '10 day unhappy leave'... Continuously cultivating 'internal skills' to enhance competitiveness through improving employee happiness and service quality. Faced with the tide of online shopping malls and online shopping, in the extremely "competitive" retail industry "Red Sea", Fat East has "invited" consumers from home to supermarkets, relying on providing customers with comprehensive and high-quality services, and thus reshaped people's consumption behavior - "shopping, not just shopping". Some people have summarized that Fat East has broken industry conventions by adopting a fair and humane business model, driving the enterprise towards a more relaxed and free operating state, making business more transparent and sincere, and thus gaining the favor of customers. Pang Donglai is not a "textbook". Simply copying homework cannot truly turn losses into profits. But the reason for the success of Pangdonglai is clear: people's consumer demand for a better life has never been absent, and what is delayed is that the market has not yet provided better goods and services that appeal to consumers and are willing to pay for them. From the supply and marketing cooperatives in the era of planned economy, to the kiosks and small shops in the early days of reform and opening up, to Carrefour and Wal Mart after China's accession to the WTO, each iteration and upgrade on the supply side will set off a wave of expansion on the consumer side. Today, when more and more people move their fingers on their mobile phones and wait for delivery to their homes, the good days of large chain stores such as Carrefour and Wal Mart that "count money and get soft" are probably gone forever. The business model of "Pangdonglai is shopping, not just shopping" indicates that when the consumer side shifts from rigid demand to improved demand, the upgrading of the consumer side depends on the upgrading of the supply side; High quality supply not only satisfies people's pursuit of a better life, but also guides and creates new consumer demands. Pang Donglai's services of driving and parking, free herbal medicine preparation, and pet storage may not seem related to shopping, but they accurately provide customers with "emotional value". When the consumer market shifts from rigid demand to improvement, the demand for the "heart to price ratio" of emotional value and experiential value is often not lower than or even higher than the "cost-effectiveness" demand of goods. Whether it is possible to create new consumer products, create new consumer scenarios, create new consumer hotspots, boost consumer willingness, and elevate consumer levels is a test that cannot be taken lightly for the supply side of the consumer market. This is an aerial photo of Pangdonglai Angel City store on February 2nd. According to Xinhua News Agency (photo by Li Xuguang), Pang Donglai has gone viral, with netizens shouting "When will we be able to reach my doorstep?" This is the reality of the scarcity of high-quality supermarkets around us, as well as consumers' expectations for higher quality supermarket supply. It is also a proof of the enormous potential for social consumption. In the surrounding cities of Xuchang, where Pangdonglai is located, a group of emerging supermarkets imitating Pangdonglai, such as Taoxiaopang, Huayu Baijia, and Xianfeng Life, are rising. Some of the top physical supermarkets such as BBK Group and Yonghui Supermarket have also introduced the Fat East operation model, resulting in significant growth in customer traffic, revenue, and profit margin indicators. Since its reopening at the end of last year, the first Yonghui Supermarket store in Beijing, which was independently adjusted by "Learning Fat East", has seen a several fold increase in customer traffic and sales, and has become a popular consumer center in the surrounding area. Through consumer trend analysis, we have found that consumers' demand for higher quality goods and services is increasing The manager of a Yonghui supermarket in Beijing said. (New Society)