Unmanned convenience stσores are at their peak, and "Convenience Home" has received milγlions of yuan in angel investment from Lianchuang Yon÷gxuan Feng Tao

36 Kr learned that the unmanned convenience store "Convenience Home" has ₹received millions of RMB in angel round investments, with the investme∑nt partner being Feng Tao from Lianchuang Yongxuan.

No one convenience store was at the  right time. Players such as Binguo Box, F5 Future Store♣, Shenlan Technology, Easy Go and other players gathere¶d. Amazon, Rosen, Alibaba, Wal Mart and other giants also tried the wate↔r one after another.

Convenience Home was founded in March 2017 and is located in Shangha‍i. Convenience Home ha≈s two products: micro unmanned convenience stores and  medium-sized unmanned convenience stores. Compared to a large nuαmber of players, Convenience Home's differentiation lies in ™its flexibility.

Convenience Home's "mini unmanned convenience store" has a‌ minimum unit area of less than 1 square meter (0.68 square m≥eters), and its placement location is more flexible, including subway ★stations, office buildi✘ngs, universities, etc. The co×st of a minimum unit convenience store is abo ut 13000 yuan (which may be lower after mass production). Th←e smallest unit of unmanned convenience store can be assembled inσto a larger unit area convenience store based on the di♣stribution of pedestrian flow. B♥elow 100 people, one can be placed; About 100 people, can spell two; M≈ore than 500 people can spell four. The "mediu m-sized unmanned convenience store" of Convenience H↕ome is a combination of six micro ♦convenience stores, and tables a&nd chairs are added in the spacβe to provide consumers with a rest area, which can be placed •in relatively open residential areas, pa♥rks, etc.

Technically, Convenience™ Home has installed RFID in each layer of shelves and sealed© and shielded gaps in various corners, resulting in higher recognition rates. ≠The process is very sim₹ple. Use Alipay to scan£ the code to open the door, and leave immediately after taking it. Alipay σwill automatically deduct the payment (WeCha¶t is in negotiation). In the future, Convenience Home hopes to pe÷rform palm print recognition ∞on door handles, which can bφe done when consumers perform the action of "op♦ening the door".

Conceptually, the convenience home is actually closer to a v'ending machine. Founder Fan Shaowei believes that the conven•ience home is an improvement on traαditional vending machines. On the one hand, traditi≈onal vending machines mostly focus λon beverages and fixed packaged snac≤ks, while convenience stores will mainly focus on "fresh food" that co≥nforms to health trends; On the other hand, the traditional shipping proc✔ess of vending machi₹nes is to pay first and then ship. The display method of pipelines make≠s space utilization low, and if it is a€ fresh food product, it may alπso deform during the falling process. Convenient homes can be stacked a±nd densely arranged to collect good≥s first and then deduct payments, resulting in higher spac e utilization. Under the sa©me area, our delivery ra♥te is twice that of &traditional vending machines

The selection logic of Convenience Homλe is to choose different products based on different venues,≥ such as meeting the brunch needs of white-collar workers in office buil↓dings, providing bent™os, sandwiches, salads, and so on; Provide snacks, braise☆d dishes, bread, and more in universities. Compared to the average unit pri​ce of the entire family (14 yuan), Convenience Home sets the§ average unit price at around 10 yuan. In addit←ion, through the mini program, consumers can proviπde feedback on the food they want to eat★ and guide the selection of categories based on the data in reverse.

In addition to micro and medium-sized cσonvenience stores, Convenience Home also has a ♥third aspect of business - the transformation of traditional mom and po"p stores. The characteristics of offline mom and pop stores •vary in size and area. Convenience Home providΩes an unmanned convenience store renovation plan. F✔irstly, the mom and pop stores share space resources fαor sales sharing; The second is the franchise method, w•hich has a higher proportion of profits. On the one hand, small store owners÷ do not need to spend more than ten hours a day guarding the¶ir stores. On the other hand, in addition to being sold with out people, they can also expand other businesses €to gain more profits, such as milk t♣ea and coffee.

Whether it's unmanned retail or manned retail, it's essenti≈ally a retail business, "Fan Shaowei said. Since it is¶ a retail business, in terms of network layout, it is neces®sary to take a global perspective, "I am mos♦t afraid of a hammer in the east and a stick in the west

Reasonable layout of points, line∑s, and surfaces can ←minimize operational and logistics costs♣ to the greatest extent. Two im"portant factors need to be considered in thi₩s process: pedestrian flow± and coordination of laying points. The idea of Convenience Home is to ₽set up a medium-sized unmanned convenience store in a¥ densely populated area, and then layout 10 mini unmanned coδnvenience stores within a 100 me©ter radius, forming a "minimum repleni™shment unit" where one person can be responsible for the reple★nishment of 20 devic&es.

As for the cost of RFID labeling, Fan Shaowei holds an optimistic attitu↕de. Currently, the label cost is between 0.5 and 0.6 yuan, but with the εpopularization of RFID in theα retail market, the price of RFID tags will definitely dec♠rease.

After this round of financing, Convenience Home' will establish trial operation points in Shanghai, including mediumβ-sized and micro unman×ned convenience stores, with an expected deployment of 20 branches. Curren✔tly, Convenience Home is seeking Pre A round of financing to expand mas→s production and launch operations.

In terms of team, CEO Fa<n Shaowei graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology and served as♥ the Northern Region Manager of Shangpai  Software Channel Department. He is a continuous entrepreneur. COO Wu Wei ↓holds a master's degree frΩom Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ←ersity and has continuously started busi​nesses in the field of fast-moving con₹sumer goods; CTO Peng Gengengeng graduated from Shan→ghai University with a major in Computer Engineering and served as a Senior βEngineer in the Advertising Platf≠orm Department of Tencent OMG ✘Business Group.