這家生鮮電商能否干掉超市?
????本齊?羅內(nèi)恩認(rèn)為超市的時(shí)代即將結(jié)束,而他的公司正是加速其消亡的催化劑。 ????羅內(nèi)恩表示:“我們的目標(biāo)是以生鮮為賣(mài)點(diǎn),讓超市變得過(guò)時(shí)。” ????他5年前創(chuàng)建的Farmigo公司現(xiàn)擁有30名員工。這家公司出售直接從農(nóng)民處購(gòu)買(mǎi)的農(nóng)作物和牛奶、乳酪等產(chǎn)品,售價(jià)比雜貨店的均價(jià)低10%到20%不等。其奧秘在于縮短了供應(yīng)鏈,特別是去掉了中間環(huán)節(jié)。用戶(hù)直接在網(wǎng)上下單,農(nóng)民將產(chǎn)品送到中轉(zhuǎn)站集中包裝,F(xiàn)armigo公司再將包裹送到社區(qū)配送點(diǎn),顧客從那里取走包裹。這一切都在48小時(shí)之內(nèi)完成。 ????羅內(nèi)恩解釋道:“我們沒(méi)有零售店,我們完全去除了零售環(huán)節(jié),但依然能夠及時(shí)供貨?!边@意味著中間沒(méi)有冗余環(huán)節(jié),農(nóng)產(chǎn)品直接從莊稼地運(yùn)送至顧客那里。 ????Fresh Direct等其他零售商也取消了實(shí)體店。但羅內(nèi)恩認(rèn)為他們不過(guò)是超市模式的某種延伸,這類(lèi)零售商依然跟超市一樣,擁有儲(chǔ)備大量存貨的倉(cāng)庫(kù)。相反,F(xiàn)armigo的中轉(zhuǎn)站只有由農(nóng)民送來(lái),即將送去顧客那里的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。 ????他解釋道:“我們的整個(gè)食品供應(yīng)系統(tǒng)是以規(guī)模效益為基礎(chǔ)的。”他補(bǔ)充說(shuō),這是對(duì)中心軸輻式配送模式的一種改良,在這種模式下,食品往往被運(yùn)送幾百英里,經(jīng)常在貨架上停留好幾周。他表示:“超市里的產(chǎn)品不夠新鮮,而且容易造成浪費(fèi)?!?/p> ????如果羅內(nèi)恩的愿景變成現(xiàn)實(shí),不出十年,你將從亞馬遜(Amazon)等網(wǎng)站購(gòu)買(mǎi)所有不易損害的物品,而Farmigo這類(lèi)服務(wù)商會(huì)滿(mǎn)足你所有的生鮮產(chǎn)品需求,社區(qū)商店則會(huì)成為需要緊急購(gòu)買(mǎi)商品時(shí)的備選方案。羅內(nèi)恩認(rèn)為,F(xiàn)armigo絕不會(huì)成為備選方案。目前,如果客戶(hù)想在周三取貨,他或她最晚要在周日晚下訂單,但羅內(nèi)恩表示該公司很快就將增加取貨天數(shù)。 ????對(duì)一個(gè)小型初創(chuàng)公司而言,這是一個(gè)十分大膽的愿望,尤其是現(xiàn)在的顧客已經(jīng)習(xí)慣于隨時(shí)享用草莓或番茄而不必考慮季節(jié),習(xí)慣于品嘗空運(yùn)自摩洛哥的克萊門(mén)氏小柑橘和智利的黑鱸,同時(shí)還希望他們購(gòu)買(mǎi)的產(chǎn)品能在下單后24小時(shí)內(nèi)送到家門(mén)口。 ????目前這家位于布魯克林的公司只對(duì)紐約市和周邊地區(qū),以及舊金山灣區(qū)提供服務(wù)。他們會(huì)提供不同的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品——一部分是與季節(jié)有關(guān)的時(shí)令產(chǎn)品,另一些則是全年都有的主食。羅內(nèi)恩認(rèn)為,如果Farmigo可以在這兩個(gè)地區(qū)運(yùn)作下去,該公司就能復(fù)制這一模式,建立一個(gè)覆蓋全美的農(nóng)戶(hù)網(wǎng)絡(luò)。 ????羅內(nèi)恩表示,根據(jù)人們的購(gòu)買(mǎi)習(xí)慣和購(gòu)買(mǎi)方針來(lái)看,F(xiàn)armigo最終可能會(huì)向20%至30%的美國(guó)人提供服務(wù),而目前只有不到1%的美國(guó)人參與了“社區(qū)支持農(nóng)業(yè)項(xiàng)目”(CSA)。參加CSA項(xiàng)目的顧客必須承諾在一個(gè)季度之內(nèi),每周都從某個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)訂購(gòu)農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。相比之下,F(xiàn)armigo的顧客可以只發(fā)出一次性訂單,也可以每周選擇不同的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品,根據(jù)訂單的變化隨時(shí)調(diào)整付款金額。羅內(nèi)恩認(rèn)為,CSA項(xiàng)目是對(duì)家門(mén)口小超市購(gòu)物的補(bǔ)充,而Farmigo則是滿(mǎn)足所有生鮮食品需求的取代者。 |
????Benzi Ronen thinks that the supermarkets’ time is up. And his company is just the thing to speed up its demise. ????“Our goal is to make the supermarket obsolete from a fresh perspective,” Ronen says. ????Farmigo, his five-year-old 30-employee startup, sells produce and other products like milk and cheese purchased directly from farmers for 10%-20% less than equivalent grocery store items. He does it by shrinking the supply chain, essentially taking out the middleman. Users place an order online; the order is fulfilled by a farmer who transports it to a centralized packing hub; and then Farmigo delivers it to community drop-off points for the customer to pick up. This all happens within 48 hours. ????“We don’t have a retail store,” Benzi explains. “We get rid of all of that. We source just in time.” That means there’s no waste and produce is brought directly from harvest. ????Other sellers, such as Fresh Direct, also cut out the physical store. But Ronen argues that they’re just an extension of the supermarket model, with similar warehouses that keep a huge inventory on hand. By contrast, Farmigo’s hubs are filled exclusively with product that’s just been delivered by farmers and is going out for delivery. ????“Our entire food system is based on economies of scale,” he explains, adding that it has contributed to the hub-and-spoke distribution model in which food travels hundreds of miles and can sit on shelves for weeks. “You don’t get fresh in supermarkets, and you also have waste,” he says. ????If Ronen’s vision for the future becomes a reality, in 10 years you’ll get all of your non-perishables from the likes of Amazon, while a service like Farmigo will answer all of your fresh needs. Neighborhood stores will act as gap-fillers for last-minute purchases. Farmigo, he notes, will never be a gap-filler. Currently orders must be placed by Sunday night for pick-up on Wednesday, but Ronen says the company is on track to soon expand to multiple pick-up days. ????It’s a highly audacious vision for a small upstart, especially in a world where consumers are accustomed to eating strawberries and tomatoes no matter the season, enjoy clementines flown in from Morocco and sea bass from Chile, and want purchases delivered to their doorstep within 24-hour hours. ????Right now Brooklyn-based Farmigo operates just in New York City and its environs and the San Francisco Bay Area, markets picked for their divergent agricultural offerings–one strongly shaped by the seasons, the other with stellar food options year round. If Farmigo can operate in these two regions, Ronen thinks the company will be able to replicate the model and build a network of farmers across the country. ????Farmigo could eventually reach about 20%-30% of the U.S. population based on people’s buying habits and guidelines, Ronen says, adding that community-supported agriculture programs (CSAs) currently reach less than 1%. Unlike CSAs, in which users must commit to weekly deliveries for a season from one farm, Farmigo lets customers place a one-time order and change selections every week. You pay as you go. Ronen views CSAs as supplementary to other grocery shopping. He envisions Farmigo as a replacement for all fresh needs. |
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