Being sold at 1999 yuan per bucket, the reason behind the popularity of Sam's instant noodle bucket is worth paying attention to

This article summarizes the multifaceted development of the warehouse membership store market behind a hot event, puts forward some convincing value viewpoints, and provides a broad and simple cognitive framework for relevant practitioners and readers.

What are the points worth paying attention to and studying behind the phenomenon that Sam's instant noodle bucket has been hyped up to 1,999 yuan per bucket?

1. The price of Sam's Club instant noodle bucket has been raised to 1999 yuan per bucket

Sam's Club has become an Internet celebrity again. On June 29, the fourth Sam's Club in Shenzhen, Qianhai store, opened and quickly became a hit, and the popularity continues unabated.

This time, what made Sam's Club popular was a giant bucket of instant noodles. When Sam's Club Qianhai opened, it launched a limited edition giant instant noodle bucket with an exaggerated shape, 45 cm high, and a price of 168 yuan. Each person was limited to purchase two buckets, which soon triggered a crazy rush.

This giant instant noodle bucket quickly became popular and quickly became a hit on social media such as Tik Tok, Xiaohongshu and WeChat Moments.

The limited edition giant instant noodle bucket launched by Sam's Club this time is not just a bucket of instant noodles, but contains 24 small buckets of instant noodles of various flavors. Each person is limited to purchasing two buckets. It is only available in the Qianhai store in Shenzhen and is limited to 4,000 copies.

On the opening day, this limited edition giant instant noodle bucket was a blast and sold out in seconds after it was put on the shelves. Subsequently, various "giant unboxing videos" on social media attracted a lot of attention.

As this giant instant noodle bucket became popular, its popularity skyrocketed unexpectedly and it became one of the most popular internet celebrities in recent days.

However, what made netizens even more quarrelsome was that this giant instant noodle bucket was even more popular on second-hand platforms, and the purchasing price was rising sharply.

On the second day of the opening, the price of the product was raised to between 380 and 500 yuan. On July 2, the price was as high as 1,999 yuan, and some consumers even wanted it. The scalpers even threatened: no free shipping, no bargaining.

It is understandable that this giant instant noodle bucket from Sam's Club has become popular on social media, but the price on second-hand and purchasing platforms has risen ridiculously, subverting the three views of many netizens and refreshing their cognition.

The popularity of Sam's Club instant noodle buckets and the hype about their prices quickly sparked heated discussions online, forming a very sharp contrast of opinions.

Many netizens believe that it is fun and interesting, and its unique social attributes far exceed the value of the instant noodles themselves. It is not surprising that it has become an Internet celebrity product.

There are also many opinions that Sam's Club instant noodle bucket is an instant noodle assassin and a tax on your IQ. Buying it is just because you have nothing better to do. The IQ tax is so high that your hands are cramped.

2. The reason behind the hype about Sam's instant noodle bucket

On multiple platforms such as Baidu and Zhihu, there has always been a hot topic: Why is Sam's Club so popular?

From the perspective of Xinpinlue Finance, we can see the gameplay and strategy of this world-leading warehouse membership supermarket from the perspectives of hot product marketing, opening marketing, and topic creation through the booming opening of Sam's Club in Qianhai.

First of all, from the perspective of explosive product marketing, the limited edition giant instant noodle bucket launched by Qianhai Sam's Club was not only snapped up in offline shopping malls, but also quickly became popular on the Internet.

Making a single product a hit is the simplest and most successful marketing method.

This giant instant noodle bucket is not the first giant packaged product launched by Sam's Club. Previously, Sam's Club has launched more than 4.5 kilograms of Swiss custom-made triangle chocolate and 1.5-meter-high super-large package of Lays Wave potato chips.

Every time Sam's Club launches a giant package product, it will gain a lot of market attention. Giant package products have become a major feature of Sam's Club. For companies in the retail industry, it is imperative to have their own explosive products.

Secondly, from the perspective of opening marketing, when a new store opens, it must always bring new things to impress consumers.

Sam's Club is the fourth store in Shenzhen. It is one of the key projects of Shenzhen's 2020 Global Investment Promotion Conference and one of Sam's flagship stores. Every development from the beginning to the opening has attracted media coverage and market attention.

Xinpinlue Caiguan is based in Shenzhen and has long noticed that Qianhai Sam's Club had done enough market preheating before its opening. On the opening day, many consumers flocked to the new store to shop and check in. Consumers also hope to see and experience a familiar yet novel Sam's Club.

At the opening of Sam's Club Qianhai, many new products that have never appeared in other Sam's Clubs were collectively unveiled, and "new products + exclusive first launch" became the biggest feature and new highlight.

For example, when entering the store, the first thing that caught your eye was the "art exhibition area." The "My Michael Jackson" prints by Thai young artist Vipanee, limited edition prints of Disney's Mickey series, and BE@RBRICK Bearbrick attracted many people to take photos and check in.

Multiple giant packaged products became the highlight of the opening of the Qianhai Sam's Club. The extra-large watermelons, with an average weight of more than 12.5 kilograms each, and the huge noodle bucket, which was 45 centimeters high, were snapped up by consumers, which led to the giant instant noodle bucket that became a hot topic in the next few days.

Sam's Club also tried out new technologies, such as the intangible cultural heritage craft of full gold filigree dragon boat ornaments, Dyson simulated vacuum cleaner and hair dryer toys, Lego Monkey King Ultimate Transforming Mech and other products, all of which were unexpected and full of surprises.

Any new store opening wants to gain high and sustainable topic popularity. From before the opening to the official opening, it must bring new things. Only with new things can there be new topics, which can make consumers' eyes light up and attract consumers' attention and participation.

Third, from the perspective of topic creation, Sam has always been an internet celebrity topic-making machine.

In China's mass consumption track, especially in the warehouse membership store segment, Sam's Club is not only a hit-making machine, but also a celebrity topic-making machine.

Sam's Club focuses on high-quality and popular products in product selection, and launches different products according to different seasons and market demands. For example, when camping became popular last year, Sam's Club quickly launched camping products. Sam's Club also focuses on differentiation, such as launching special mooncakes, which can quickly attract consumers.

The warehouse membership store supermarket may seem like a traditional retail format, but Sam's Club has turned it into an Internet celebrity, continuously launching hot products and attracting market attention, which has also made Sam's Club a top Internet celebrity.

When searching for the keyword Sam's Club on Xiaohongshu, Xinpinluecaiguan showed more than 1.28 million notes. When searching for the keyword Sam's Club, more than 630,000 notes were shown.

It can be seen that Sam's Club has become one of the star traffic brands on Xiaohongshu, attracting many young consumers.

Haisam's Club opened two days ago. With the title of Asia's largest Sam's Club and 62,000 popular tags, its popularity has risen again.

Of course, Sam's Club also has negative news, such as the "choose one of two" controversy, the blue-ringed octopus incident, the "threat of no longer being able to return a card", "the confusing surcharge standards for Sam's Club Express", and the price discrimination controversy in May this year.

3. Crazy and radical warehouse membership stores

The opening of the Sam's Club Qianhai store was a huge success, and the giant instant noodle bucket became a top-tier internet celebrity product, which once again drew the market's attention to the current crazy and aggressive warehouse membership stores.

Sam's parent company Walmart is closing a large number of traditional hypermarkets in the Chinese market, while frantically opening Sam's Club stores.

Currently, Sam's Club has opened 43 stores in China, and Sam's Club plans to open 30 new Sam's Club stores in the mainland Chinese market in the future. The main reason behind this is that Sam's Club stores have replaced traditional hypermarkets and become Walmart's new growth engine in the Chinese market.

According to Walmart's financial report data, Walmart China's net sales in the first quarter were US$5.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%, mainly due to the expansion of Sam's Club and the performance of online channel sales. Sam's Club's own brand Member's Mark also achieved a 46% sales growth.

The warehouse membership store track has become one of the industry segments with significant growth and continued rising popularity in the current consumer ecology. Domestic and foreign market players are increasing their layout and are crazy and aggressive.

Sam's Club's old rival, America's largest membership-based warehouse store chain Costco, has already opened 15 stores in the Chinese market. It has recently opened two stores in Shanghai Pudong and Ningbo. The Shenzhen Longhua store will also open within the year. This year, Costco will open four new stores in China.

New retail giant Hema launched the warehouse membership store brand Hema X Membership Store. Domestic and foreign players such as Metro, Metro, Fudi, Yonghui, and RT-Mart have also entered the warehouse membership store track.

According to iMedia Consulting data, the market size of China's warehouse membership supermarket industry has remained above 20 billion yuan from 2012 to 2022, with a year-on-year increase of 10.1% in 2022, with a market size of 33.5 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 38.78 billion yuan in 2024.

However, from the perspective of Xinpinlue Finance, although the warehouse membership store track is very popular and various players have flocked in, it has become a life-saving straw for the transformation of many traditional supermarket brands, but it is not easy to play this track well.

First, warehouse membership stores are a form of precision marketing retail for members, and attracting members and retaining old members is the key.

Unlike traditional supermarkets that are open to anyone, warehouse membership stores have a membership system. Members of different levels pay different annual fees, and only members can shop. Warehouse membership stores are a form of member precision marketing retail and a brand loyalty business.

Membership fees have become a major source of income for warehouse membership store brands. The number of Sam's Club members in China exceeded 4 million as early as November 2021. Before the opening of the Pudong store alone, the number of membership cards issued had reached more than 80,000. Membership fees alone will bring Sam's more than 1 billion yuan in revenue each year.

The membership system is the core resource for warehouse membership store operators. The key is how to retain old members and attract more new members. Consumers must feel that they are getting value for money and are willing to pay for the annual membership fee.

Second, high-quality and popular products will always be the core competitiveness and core attraction of warehouse membership stores.

According to survey data, 72.8% and 63.8% of Chinese consumers believe that traditional supermarkets need to improve in terms of product quality and product variety, which is one of the important reasons why more and more consumers are choosing to go to warehouse membership stores.

Therefore, carefully selected merchandise, rich product range, preferential product prices, unique or novel products and good after-sales service are the key to attracting consumers to warehouse membership supermarkets.

Warehouse membership stores sell high-quality and popular products. The number of categories is not important, but the quality. The key is to be able to accurately meet consumer needs.

Third, warehouse membership stores must also be differentiated. Without differentiation, there will be no characteristics.

Warehouse membership stores have become popular, and many players have also entered the warehouse membership store track. Many players have been imitating Sam's Club, but without their own differentiation and characteristics, it is difficult for them to survive for long.

In an interview with the media, Andrew Wen, president of Sam's Club China, said that the pursuit of differentiation can bring surprises and value to consumers.

Fourth, warehouse membership stores must always maintain an evolutionary mindset and continue to innovate.

One of the important reasons why traditional supermarkets have declined and been abandoned by consumers is that they are complacent, conservative, and do not seek progress or innovation. They always think that consumers will buy whatever the supermarkets sell. But now times have changed.

The reason why Sam's Club can attract Chinese consumers is its innovative thinking. For example, in 2022, Sam's first store in China, the Futian store, carried out a series of innovations and major changes.

No matter what era, innovation will always be the moat of an enterprise. Without innovation, there will be no progress.

Author: Wu Wenwu, WeChat public account: New Product Finance View (ID: nbscaijing)