With the improvement of people's consumption level, the trend of changing eating habits from family consumption to catering hotel consumption is becoming more and more obvious. Coupled with the special functions and consumption characteristics of catering channels, it has increasingly become a battleground for wine manufacturers to transport the market.
The following is divided into seven parts to make a detailed analysis of the operation of hotel channels.
I. Functions and characteristics of hotel channels
As a window for FMCG sales, the hotel channel has the following five functions and characteristics:
1. Hotel channel is the most effective place to communicate products with consumers. Compared with outdoor tasting in the street or community, the unique consumption environment in the hotel can provide the most adequate and effective communication between products and consumers. Most of the good products were drunk by the hotel. Generally, drinks or beverage products with a capacity of about 500ml per bottle or package must sell well in the hotel channel if the terminal price is above 20 yuan in prefecture-level market and above 15 yuan in county-level market, otherwise it will be difficult to start supermarkets and distribution channels. Therefore, most manufacturers often regard catering as the starting point for new market development of high-end products.
2. Core hotels are the concentration places of high-end consumer groups and consumer opinion leaders in various regional markets. Starting the small market of core hotels will play a very good role in promoting the start of the whole regional market. See the article "Detailed explanation of dishes operation in liquor market" for details.
3. Hotel channel is a closed channel, and consumers have the lowest sensitivity to product prices, and it is also the only terminal place integrating sales and consumption. Supermarkets and circulation mainly realize the sales and transfer of products, while catering channels realize the synchronization of sales and consumption. Different from the open self-service shopping in shopping malls, in the closed catering channel, the floating space of commodity prices is larger, and consumers are less sensitive to prices. In hotels, sales are mainly formed through the intermediary of waiters or promoters, and consumers passively choose products, so waiters and promoters become very important links in hotel sales.
4. The hotel channel mainly adopts the terminal-based market operation mode. Different from the network distribution of circulation channels, the catering market is dotted, mainly based on terminal market operation, and the promotion in hotels mainly focuses on all aspects of leading terminal store operation.
With the development of catering industry and the rise of modern retail channels, the operation of modern hotel channels is becoming more and more difficult. There are some operating conditions, such as high entry threshold, easy deposit and difficult settlement. There is even a saying in the wine industry that "he who eats and drinks wins the world".
The second is the analysis of the fixed membership of the hotel terminal and its interest points.
As a special sales place, the hotel has its regular members. Hotels vary in scale and division of labor among members, but the overall situation is as follows:
1. Hotel owner. Keyman, the operator of small and medium-sized hotels and restaurants, is the main target of all negotiations. Confirming who is the boss is the first issue in hotel negotiations.
2. Hotel procurement. Commonly known as "hotel buyers", it is the main target of hotel negotiations. Hotel purchasing mainly exists in mid-to high-end hotels, especially restaurants headed by state-owned and government departments. The position is set as the manager of purchasing department or business department, which is mainly responsible for hotel meals. In small and medium-sized hotels, hotel purchases are basically done by the boss or his relatives.
3. Hotel finance: Hotel purchasing is responsible for the purchase of goods, and hotel finance is mainly responsible for the settlement of payment. Hotel finance generally exists in middle and high-end hotels with the nature of general taxpayers, and it is the main object of recovering payment. To improve the hotel payment rate, we should handle the relationship with finance.
4. Hotel Bar: As the window of hotel product display, hotel bar has the power of product display, product recommendation and back cover supervision by waiters. The relationship with hotel bars is directly related to the image display effect of products in restaurants.
5. Hotel Attendant: In this special closed terminal of the hotel, the waiter completed the face-to-face communication between products and consumers. In the promotion of new products, the waiter is one of the very important links in the catering terminal, and the relationship with the waiter is directly related to the sales volume and trend of the products in the hotel. In order to make up for the shortage of this work, many manufacturers have adopted the way of sending full-time promoters directly to hotels to increase the promotion of products.
6. Catering Supervisor/Restaurant Manager. As the manager of the waiter, the catering supervisor can influence the sales of the waiter's products by exercising the system right. Proper emotional lubrication can often affect the sales of products. When it is not clear that the box cover of the hotel is "explicitly returned or secretly returned", we should pay more attention to communication with the catering supervisor.
7. Hotel proprietress. The proprietress is an indispensable role in the catering terminal, and her words and deeds can often influence the decision-making of decision makers. Proper investment in the proprietress will often lead to unexpected gains. This is more prominent in small and medium-sized restaurants.
As members have different positions in catering organizations, they have different needs for their points of interest, as shown in the following table:
Third, the channel investigation before the hotel enters the store
The basic information survey includes the person in charge and background, the ownership of the hotel, the person in charge of the main department, the location and traffic conditions;
Scale survey includes business area, number of private rooms and scattered tables, and number of employees;
The grade includes decoration, tableware quality, parking space and operating cuisine;
The management level includes whether the clothing is uniform, whether the service is standardized, and whether there are security personnel;
Credit status includes whether the account is settled on time and whether there is any account dispute;
Operating conditions include monthly and annual wine sales, average consumption capacity of guests, attendance rate and the number of repeat customers;
The competition includes the main sales of drinks, whether there are manufacturers to buy and transfer, whether there are several promoters, and whether there are manufacturers to jointly engage in promotional activities;
Fees include admission fee, mixed promotion, special promotion, buyout of wine supply right, secret promotion, etc. At present, the hotel entrance sales mainly have the following types:
(1) Only enter the market for sale: the products are sold in the hotel, only displayed at the bar in the store, and no promotion investment such as personnel is made. This method is generally aimed at B stores and C stores, as well as A stores and quality stores that have regulations that cannot be promoted. This way of entering the store is to pursue product coverage and expand product influence.
(2) Mixed venue promotion mode: that is, the admission mode of carrying out personnel promotion activities in a hotel together with other competing products. This access method is aimed at super-class, A-class hotels that want to buy special events and the input-output ratio cannot be calculated. Second, the market cost is not much, and manufacturers who want to be super-class and A-class hotels often adopt the access system. In addition, if you make your own products at a certain price segment, you can also use this admission method.
(3) Buy-out special sales promotion method: that is, the store guarantees that there is only one way for its own products to carry out promotional activities such as personnel. The advantage of this admission method is that it can avoid similar competing products from competing with themselves in the same hotel to the maximum extent, and facilitate them to better publicize their products and product culture (because hotels with special promotions generally allow themselves to display relevant promotional materials and promotional props), which can establish a good sales image and sales model hotels for themselves in a city. However, the cost of this check-in method is quite high, and the buyout fee for the slightly better hotel special promotion is more than 10,000 yuan, and some even reach hundreds of thousands. Therefore, in a provincial capital city, this kind of entry method generally only chooses the most influential and largest twenty or thirty stores to operate, hoping to drive the sales of other hotels.
(4) Package sales mode: that is, according to the agreement, the hotel will complete a certain sales volume within a specified time (usually one year), and the manufacturer will give the store a certain proportion or a certain fee once or in stages after completing the sales target. This way of moving in can be said to be the most willing way for manufacturers to cooperate with hotels, because in the first three ways, manufacturers usually have to pay the corresponding fees to the stores when signing the agreement, and the stores will not care about the sales situation of the manufacturers, nor will they actively mobilize the store staff to help promote your products. The way of guaranteed sales is to pay the expenses in proportion after the store reaches the sales target, so that the manufacturer can guarantee reasonable profits and reduce risks. Third, the store will mobilize service personnel to complete the sales on their own initiative. However, with the increasingly fierce market competition, hotels, like hypermarkets, have been spoiled by most manufacturers and are unwilling to accept this sales method that requires sales volume to get fees.
⑤ Dark promotion mode: This admission mode is aimed at hotels where others have bought special promotions or the hotel promotion quota is full, so the manufacturer and the store have reached an agreement. In order to avoid attracting the attention of manufacturers who have bought special activities, the store will appoint 1-2 waiters to help promote your products, and the manufacturers will bear the responsibility for the store after completing the basic monthly sales tasks (equivalent to 1-2 promoters' salaries).
6. Buy-out liquor supply right sales method: This method is generally an access method adopted by businesses with strong strength and comprehensive business varieties. That is to sign an agreement with the hotel, all drinks sold by the hotel can only be purchased from their own homes, and at the same time, they are guaranteed to have sufficient supply and pay a certain admission fee. This way of staying can reduce the purchase cost for the hotel; For dealers, the overall sales volume can be guaranteed; For manufacturers, they can also share the cost with other kinds of dealers, which is what all three parties are willing to do, and it is also an optimistic way of hotel cooperation now.
2. Matters needing attention when entering the hotel
(1) No matter how to enter the market, it must be based on a comprehensive understanding and analysis of the hotel.
(2) If the storefront is small, it is advisable to adopt the way of only entering the store or packaging sales.
③ When making special promotions, we must consider the display of promotional materials, and make it clear that competitors are not allowed to promote or promote in our store in any way, and do not let competing products take advantage of their own loopholes.
(4) When signing a mixed promotion, it must be clear that the promotion of similar products in the store cannot exceed a certain amount, because some hotels only charge fees now, regardless of the manufacturer's income. If the promotion exceeds a certain amount, the effect of mixed promotion will be quite poor.
(4) The package sales method is generally less binding, and the task setting should be reasonable. If it is too high for the store to finish, they will turn their energy to other competing products.
6. After all, dark promoters are waiters in the store, so we must find opportunities to train them about the company and products, so that they can really become promoters and propagandists of the company.
7. Dealers who buy out the right to supply drinks must ensure that they have the strength to meet the needs of hotels for different drinks products. If buying out a hotel's right to supply drinks can't meet other people's demand plans, the store will find another source of goods, and in the end, it will draw water with a sieve. There are not many kinds of drinks in general hotels (especially high-end hotels), so you'd better limit the types of drinks operated by the store when signing the agreement on the right to buy out drinks.
The admission fee charged by hotels is still controversial because it involves the taxation of fees, so many stores will not provide formal invoices after collecting fees, most of them are receipts, and some even will not provide receipts. In order to strengthen the monitoring of fees, it is best to send two business personnel to participate in the negotiation of hotels (especially hotels with high fees).
9 The admission fee can be paid directly in cash, or by providing products with the same value, providing shop signs with their own product promotion to the hotel or other decoration methods.