Ali’s life service turmoil has started again： Box Horse started the supplier’s ＂knockout＂, and small and medium-sized players complained that it was difficult to enter the game.
Source: Time Finance.
This article Source: Time Finance Author: Xu Xiaoqian
Image source: the idea of the worm
Ali’s life service business has been somewhat unsettled recently.
On August 12th, it was reported in 36Kr that Li Yonghe, CEO of Alibaba’s local life company, resigned because his subordinates were involved in the "sexual assault scandal", and Yu Yongfu, the general manager of the local life service section, took over the post urgently. This is the third time that the local life company has changed coaches in the past two months.
The aftermath of the "807 incident" was not smooth, and the new retail format of Alibaba’s reconstruction of offline supermarkets-Box Ma Xiansheng was also involved in another storm. On the evening of August 11th, the blogger "Beijing-Zhao Yong", who claimed to be the supplier of "Beijing Box Horse" owned by Ali, issued a document in Weibo, accusing Box Horse of "bullying customers". It said that since the cooperation with Box Horse in 2017, it has supplied more than 8 million yuan to Box Horse in four years. Not only did it not make money, but it lost more than 600,000 yuan due to various overlord clauses of Box Horse.
On August 13th, Box Horse told Time Finance that the problems reflected by the supplier were still being handled, and it was communicating with the supplier and verifying some details in order to give a proper solution. Box Horse Club takes the incident seriously, and is also optimizing the contract terms and supplier feedback mechanism to prevent similar phenomena from happening again.
The supplier accused Box Horse of "store bullying", and the insider said that the payment had been settled.
Previously, the supplier issued a document saying that the loss of more than 600,000 yuan was not a normal business loss, but was "pitted" by the box horse. He said that during the supply period, the supplier orders placed by Boxma must be supplied in full according to the quantity they require, and if the quantity is less than 95%, a fine will be imposed.
According to the information provided by this person, the operating pressure mainly comes from fines and platform returns. He said that he had negotiated with Boxma and reminded that there was a problem of excessive cargo, but Boxma required sufficient supply as required, which led suppliers to borrow money and loan to supply Boxma. However, some of the goods with large purchases were not sold in time, and Box Horse forcibly returned the goods to the supplier, who could only bear it. "After all, there are still a lot of payment in the hands of Box Horse."
This situation lasted for more than 4 years, which eventually led to a total loss of more than 600,000 yuan from the supplier’s return plus fines.
In addition, the blogger also mentioned another "overlord clause" of Box Horse: after the supplier delivered the box horse to Tianjin warehouse, the warehouse refused to allow the supplier to unload the goods himself, and forced the warehouse loading and unloading team to unload and deliver the goods. Each party (intended to refer to the unloading and delivery party) charged 18 yuan’s fees and paid 200 yuan another bill for delivery.
Original text of supplier Weibo
The blogger said that when he chose not to renew the contract when the contract expired in 2021 for the above reasons, Box Horse did not have the personnel to handle the account clearing process, did not give the final payment and could not find a docking person. He also said that under the epidemic, dealers are already struggling, and I hope that Box Horse will not "bully customers" and leave a way for suppliers.
On August 12th, Time Finance contacted the supplier, and the other party refused the interview, and said that it was being negotiated with Box Horse.
"Suppliers are not willing to ferment this matter. After all, there are affiliated companies in this circle. Today, the box horse paid the other party, and this matter is over. " An insider told Time Finance on August 13th.
The above-mentioned insiders said frankly that the attitude of the supplier also represents the current situation of most suppliers in the fresh retail industry. "They are not willing to make a big deal, fearing that they will have a bad influence in the industry and break the future business."
Suppliers who bow to the platform: the living space is compressed, and it is difficult for small and medium-sized players to enter the game.
Time Finance learned from an interview that many suppliers have complaints about box horses.
Huang Tao (pseudonym) has been a box horse supplier for more than one year, and can maintain a gross profit margin of 10%-15%. Its supply scope is mainly for more than 20 fresh box horse stores in a second-tier city. "The supply volume is relatively fixed, with an average daily supply of more than 10,000 kilograms on weekdays, 20,000 kilograms on weekends, and delivery to the central warehouse three times a week."
However, Huang Tao also felt that the supplier’s living space was gradually compressed. "We can only provide small-scale seafood, and the categories of large-scale seafood have been taken back by the box horse for collection. For example, the explosion of seafood single product Portunus crab has become a box horse."
"The leading enterprises in every city have basically been signed away by the platform, and it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to squeeze in. The right to speak on the platform is still very large, and suppliers can only be selected." The national supplier of another box of horses told Time Finance.
On May 31, 2021, Box Horse announced the establishment of a new brand incubation center-"Box Horse X Accelerator" to open up internal and external resources such as investment and financing, product research and development, supply chain support, marketing and promotion, and to incubate and accelerate potential new brands, product lines and commodities and make strategic investments.
Hou Yi, CEO of Box Horse Fresh Life, even put down the swear words: "If you are willing to go, go with Box Horse. If it is unreasonable, even the number one supplier in the world will be eliminated."
In fact, the elimination of Box Horse has long been hidden in the supplier assessment mechanism. According to Huang Tao, once the performance rate is unqualified for three consecutive months, the supplier qualification will be cancelled. "Seafood suppliers need to pay special attention to specifications, box temperature and activity. If you can do a good job in performance and product quality control, you can maintain a relatively stable income. "
"It is a chore to supply box horses." Some insiders in the retail industry told Time Finance that "the long account period, the suppression of ultra-low commodity prices, and the inspection loss after the transportation of goods are all paid by themselves. If you value product marketing, you can enter the market. If you want to make money, the box horse is not a good choice."
However, some analysts believe that the problem reflected by "Beijing-Zhao Yong" is a case and does not represent the current situation of suppliers in China. Qiang Ge, founder of New Gradient Alliance, told Time Finance on August 13th: "In front of the platform, suppliers are always weak. If the supplier can’t meet the strict regulations of the platform, there will still be a steady stream of substitutes after the exit. "
Behind the rising threshold of suppliers, Box Horse is also building its own brand. According to public reports, among the 1,500 SKUs of Box Horse X member stores, self-owned goods account for more than 40%, of which self-owned brand "Box Horse MAX" accounts for more than 20%.
"On the one hand, Box Horse can directly connect with the place of origin, control the quality of products and the stability of supply, on the other hand, it can also reduce costs and help Box Horse control the pricing of some goods in the platform." Qiang Ge said.