Are Hequ houses worthless? Hema has moved into Pinduoduo

Recently, more and more Hema's self-operated products have been moved to Pinduoduo by purchasing agents. Why do consumers ignore the official app and buy Hema products on Pinduoduo?

The "box district house" that you carefully selected was successfully stolen by Pinduoduo. As a middle-class person, can you tolerate it?

Recently, more and more Hema's own products have been moved to Pinduoduo by purchasing agents, including Hema MAX 100% coconut water, Hema NB Xinjiang gray dates, Hema MAX salted egg yolk, seaweed, pork floss and rice crackers... As long as you add a few yuan, you can get them from all over the world.

In addition to Pinduoduo's wild purchasing agents, Hema has also established official online stores on Taobao and JD.com, but the types of goods and prices are not consistent with the official App due to different business formats.

Why do consumers pay extra to buy Hema products? The balance between price and quality seems to be its biggest advantage. With the help of many purchasing agents, consumers in the sinking market can also achieve Hema freedom.

Although Hema's products are very popular, the existence of its rival Sam's Club seems to have put it under great pressure. Not only did it launch the "Mountain Moving Price" to offer big discounts, it also once denied its own membership model. The suspension of its listing plan also makes its future full of uncertainty.

Does the "box district house" that the middle class is proud of have the potential for appreciation in the future? This may have nothing to do with Hema, but it may also be related.

1. Buy Hema on Pinduoduo

Which app sells the best Hema self-operated products?

When you see this question, don’t rush to complain: “Nonsense, of course it’s Hema.” Because the correct answer may be Pinduoduo.

Nowadays, more and more Hema products have been moved to Pinduoduo by merchants. Friends who do not live in "Hema District House" can also enjoy Hema's self-operated products, but the price is: they have to pay more.

Brother Pan discovered that among Hema's self-operated products, Hema MAX 100% coconut water, a box of 330 ml contains 12 bottles, and the official App sells it for 67.9 yuan; on Pinduoduo, the link with the highest sales volume for the same product sells for 77 yuan, which is 9.1 yuan more expensive than the official price, and has exceeded 15,000 yuan.

On the other hand, one kilogram of Hema NB Xinjiang gray dates is priced at 15.9 yuan on the official App; on Pinduoduo, the same product is priced at 21.9 yuan, which is 6 yuan more expensive than the official price.

The desire for Hema's own products has turned some consumers into "money-spending monks" who use money to exchange for product quality; but some consumers have also found that buying the same products from Hema on Pinduoduo may be cheaper than on the official App.

For example, the Hema MAX salted egg yolk, seaweed and pork floss rice crackers weighs 1 kilogram and is priced at 36.72 yuan on the official app; the same product on Pinduoduo is priced at 37.5 yuan, which is 0.78 yuan more expensive than Hema, and has sales of more than 10,000 kilograms.

However, if the consumption on the Hema App is less than 49 yuan, you need to pay 6 yuan for postage, while Pinduoduo merchants offer free shipping; in this way, buying the same rice cracker on Pinduoduo is actually 5.22 yuan cheaper than on Hema.

On the other hand, the Hema MAX purple cashew weighs 958 grams and is priced at 84 yuan on the official App, while the same product on Pinduoduo is priced at 65.9 yuan, which is 18.1 yuan cheaper than the official price.

In response, Pinduoduo store customer service told Brother Pan: "The reason why the product is cheap is that it was produced in November last year and the shelf life is until August this year."

2. Only Pinduoduo?

Many consumers go to Pinduoduo to buy Hema’s self-operated products. How can Taobao and JD.com, the two e-commerce platforms, just sit there and wait for death?

Brother Pang discovered that, unlike Pinduoduo's wild sellers, Hema has its own official stores on Taobao and JD.com, with a more complete range of products and different prices.

For example, as the top purchasing agent of Hema, Hema MAX salted egg yolk, seaweed, pork floss and rice crackers has an original price of 69.9 yuan and a subsidized price of 45.9 yuan on Taobao and JD.com, which is 9.18 yuan more expensive than the official App.

But on the other hand, there are some products on Taobao and JD.com that are cheaper than the official apps.

For example, Hema MAX 100% coconut water is priced at 76.9 yuan on Taobao and 64.9 yuan on the subsidy basis; the regular price on JD.com is 89.9 yuan and the subsidized price is 64.9 yuan, which is 3 yuan cheaper than the price on the Hema App.

On the other hand, a bag of Hema NB instant oatmeal weighs 1.5 kilograms and is priced at 29.9 yuan on the official app. However, on Taobao and JD.com, the same product is priced at 20.9 yuan, which is 9 yuan cheaper than the official price.

Why are some products cheaper in the Hema official stores on Taobao and JD.com than in the official apps? Why are Hema’s original prices different on Taobao and JD.com, both of which are official online stores?

In this regard, the customer service of Hema Taobao official store told Brother Pan: "Due to differences in warehouse and distribution logistics costs of online channels, the real-time prices and activities of products sold in different formats of Hema may be different."

In addition to the price difference, the types of goods sold in the Hema official stores on Taobao and JD.com are also different.

For example, the Hema NB Xinjiang gray dates mentioned above are sold for 18.9 yuan on Taobao, which is 3 yuan more expensive than the official price; but the product cannot be found in the JD store.

3. Why buy Hema?

Why do consumers buy Hema products on Pinduoduo instead of using the official app? Brother Pan found that many people are not stupid, but helpless.

Today, Hema has more than 360 stores in China, but they are mainly concentrated in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou; therefore, those who do not live in a Hema district or in a city without a Hema store can only sigh.

Consumers' obsession with Hema seems to come from price and quality.

In terms of price, some products on the Hema App are cheaper than those on Pinduoduo. For example, a pack of Orion wavy corn flakes imported from South Korea weighs 80 grams and is sold at 7.9 yuan on the Hema App; the same product on Pinduoduo is sold at 9.31 yuan, 1.41 yuan more expensive than on Hema.

In terms of quality, the products on the Hema App can also serve as a guarantee of quality. For example, netizen Amo told Brother Pang: "The chocolate crispy brownies I bought from Hema are delicious but a little expensive, so I went to Pinduoduo to look for the same one. As a result, I bought three times and they were all fakes. The taste is completely different from that of Hema."

This desire for Hema products soon gave rise to the purchasing agent business.

For example, a Tianjin netizen told Brother Pan: "I go to Beijing to buy Hema products about once every two weeks. Each item is charged at the original price plus a 3 yuan agency fee. The minimum purchase is 10 items. I can pick it up myself or have it delivered."

Another netizen said: "I travel between Beijing and Tianjin every day on weekdays. I want to earn some extra money, so I run errands for others to buy things at Hema. For items under 2 kilograms, there is an extra charge of 10 yuan, and you can pick it up at the train station."

Which Hema products are the most popular? Pang Ge found that snacks seem to be the most popular.

Among them, the Hema MAX salted egg yolk, seaweed and pork floss rice crackers mentioned above sold 45,000 kilograms in a Pinduoduo store and became the champion of the platform's sugar-free rice cracker reviews.

At the same time, products such as Hema MAX Pork Shop, Hema MAX 100% Coconut Water, and Hema MAX Macadamia Nuts have also become popular choices for purchasing on behalf of others.

4. Hema denies Hema?

Although Hema’s own products are widely loved by consumers, brands represented by Sam’s Club are also posing a threat to Hema.

For example, both are coconut water products. Hema MAX 100% coconut water, 330 ml for 12 bottles, is priced at 67.9 yuan; Sam's own coconut water, 200 ml for 24 bottles, is priced at 79.8 yuan. Calculated by unit net content, the price is cheaper than Hema.

At the same time, Walmart executives also mentioned in an internal meeting that Hema is the only competitor of Sam's Club in China.

In order to respond to Sam's Club's challenge, Hema launched a "Mountain Moving Price" durian thousand-layer cake for 39.9 yuan in July last year, clearly challenging Sam's Club. Since then, Hema has launched various "Mountain Moving Price" products, which have attracted various jokes from netizens.

After the launch of the "Moving Mountains Price" project, HEMA began to implement a discount strategy in October 2023, with prices of more than 5,000 products in stores reduced by 20%, and expanded from offline to online.

In order to cooperate with the discount strategy, Hema also stopped membership purchases and renewals at the end of 2023, and reduced discounts, delivery and other benefits for old members. This not only caused members to complain, but also triggered speculation about Hema's "bankruptcy."

However, on April 24 this year, Hema overturned its previous strategy and not only resumed opening and renewing gold and diamond memberships, but also optimized and upgraded the original membership benefits, including reducing the original 99 yuan free shipping to 49 yuan free shipping.

The frequent changes in rules seem to reveal Hema’s own confusion about its future development, and the suspension of the listing plan seems to have exacerbated this confusion.

In May 2023, Alibaba announced that Hema will officially launch its IPO plan, which is expected to be completed in the next 6 to 12 months. However, in November 2023, Alibaba disclosed in its financial report that Hema's IPO was postponed, which once again aroused people's concerns about its future.

Where will Hema, which denies itself, go in the future? We can only wait for time to give us the answer.