Build retail brands through the implementation of automation technology
According to the “2019 New Tea Drinks Consumption White Paper” data, the potential market size of China’s new tea drinks in 2020 is about 50 billion yuan. At the end of 2019, the number of newly-made tea shops has reached 500,000. When the competition in the tea market gradually heats up, how to grasp the new consumption and new direction has become the core of the new tea brand to establish a brand. In this track, the little monster in the tea chooses to cut in from the automation technology.
The Little Monster in Chali, established at the end of 2018, is an unmanned milk tea shop. In previous reports on the little monster in tea, it was mentioned that its first-generation concept store was tested and operated in Xuhui, Shanghai in January 2019. Milk tea The workstation appears in the form of a fully enclosed transparent glass room. A six-axis robot with an arm length of 1.8 meters completes the process of making milk tea and supports 18 SKUs.
In the 14-day pop-up of the first-generation concept store, more than 2,000 orders were received. In July 2019, Chali Little Monster received an angel round financing of RMB 23 million from the overseas private equity fund Invus.
Little monster in tea
Robot Milk Tea Station Version 2.0
Co-founder Gao Ziliang told that consumer feedback on the original concept store is good, On the one hand, because the robot makes milk tea itself has novelty, on the other hand, the little monster in the tea chooses the same supply chain as Heytea and other brands on the raw materials, ensuring the freshness of the raw materials, and the transparent production process is also Improved consumers’ confidence in food safety, but the first-generation machines were slower in making tea.
In May 2020, the 2.0 version of Chali Little Monster was operated as a pop-up store in Joy City, Jingan, Shanghai, with an average daily order of 200 orders. Compared with the first-generation concept store, the 2.0 version robot adopts a dual-arm design, and basically covers tea products other than fruit tea in variety, reaching 24 SKUs. At the same time, the new generation of machines is more effective in raw material ratio and temperature adjustment. The accuracy has also been improved.
Co-founder Gao Ziliang said that the team wants to build a retail brand through the implementation of automation technology. Therefore, the little monster in the tea is positioned on the tea drinking track. Through independent research and development of production modules such as tea extracting machine, pearl machine and liquid filling, it is for Really serve C-end consumers and provide more cost-effective and higher-quality products.
Chali Little Monster Store
The current customer unit price of the tea monster is around 18 yuan. The target is the stall-shaped milk tea shop, and the return period can be reduced to 4-5 months. Another advantage is reflected in the staff ratio. The average stall-shaped milk tea shop has about 10 employees, while the tea little monster is only equipped with 1 person in the stand-alone operation shop of the mall. In addition, Chali Little Monster will add surrounding sales and IP interactive experience areas in the planning of large flagship stores, while small stores can easily enter traffic hubs, schools and other scenes.
In the portrait of the target customer group, the consumers of the tea monsters are generally 16-24 years old, distributed in first- and second-tier cities, pursuing trendy culture, so the main channels for promotion will be social channels. The team stated that The Little Monster in Tea is not just a machine that sells milk tea. The core is to create a brand culture that highlights the narcissistic, funny, and free attitude. By combining the characteristics of young people’s personality, aesthetics and curiosity, it becomes a harmonious A trendy tea brand that consumers grow together. Therefore, the little monsters in tea will not only reflect the “weird” and “tide” in the store and packaging/p>
Little Monster in Tea Store
The little monster in tea is not only interested in the tea market, The team said that it will look at the company’s future direction from the light catering industry combined with automation strong>. Compared with the “heavy” catering category, the large-scale replication of light catering is relatively easy. With the support of robot-related software and hardware, the early fixed cost of store opening is close to zero cost, so the problem is more focused on site selection.
After the 2.0 concept store, the 3.0 version of the tea little monster is planned to be released in November this year. The team plans to operate at a fixed location after a new round of pop-ups and put it into mass production next year. The team said that after mass production, the little monster in Chali will use the method of direct sales + urban partners to quickly lay the market, seize the opportunities for traditional retail brands to expand stores, and through the digital operation of offline chain retail brands and e-commerce The service operation system realizes online real-time service and feedback according to the needs of different consumers.
Currently, the little monster in Chali is seeking a new round of financing.