The web2.0 cold wave has arrived, and the topic of "traditional" resurgence is often mentioned again. The catering industry is undoubtedly a hotspot for this resurgence trend. Little Sheep and Red Sichuan have been frequently drawing the attention of venture capitalists (VCs). Meanwhile, the emerging industry in the catering supply chain - online food ordering - is also increasingly favored by more investors. Websites such as Dianping.com, Food Ordering Secretary, Ziyepage114, and Please800 are gaining popularity. According to investigations by our magazine's reporters, many websites of this type share a common profit model: through internet-based customer meal reservations and discounts, they earn commissions from the restaurants. This operational model is essentially the Ctrip of the catering industry.
According to the "2006 China Catering Market Research Report," the total retail sales of China's catering industry reached 888.68 billion yuan in 2005. It is expected that in 2006, it will exceed 900 billion yuan and could break the 1 trillion yuan barrier. If we calculate the catering reservation market as 1% of the 1 trillion yuan catering industry, there would be nearly a 10 billion yuan reservation market. Such a vast catering service market is an opportunity no investor or entrepreneur wants to miss.
"The Age of Food"
People always habitually describe ideal market opportunities like this: due to China's large population, if everyone spends one yuan, it becomes big business. Following this logic, consumption-related economies closely tied to people's clothing, food, housing, and transportation naturally become the focus of entrepreneurs' attention. "China is at a turning point in consumer economics. The demand for consumer products will explode, and many fields hold the potential to build empires." Sequoia Capital China Fund founder Neil Shen expressed this view.
It is precisely under the call of such a massive market, especially when people realize the magical power of the internet to "turn stones into gold," that wealth accumulation driven by "food" has significantly increased. Thousands of catering service enterprises have been subsequently born, striving with all their might to seize opportunities.
"This year, one group after another has come to discuss cooperation, including banks and mobile companies, and the rest are various kinds of websites." A restaurant manager revealed that the content of discussions is basically similar: requiring the restaurant to reach an agreement with the website, providing discounts to cardholders of the website, while the website offers promotional services to the restaurant.
Zang Li, CEO of Fantong.net, visited Tianjin three times for investigation. In 2005, Tianjin was undergoing large-scale demolition, so the timing was a bit early. He went again at the beginning of this year but still felt it was too soon. When he returned in July, he found the timing was finally right.