By Chen Jing

Compared with the general merchandize industry, after the end of 2004, China's domestic chain store industry confronts with such international magnates as Carrefour and Wal-Mart more directly. As a result from the competition, the gross profit rate decreased and the domestic chain store industry have to pay attention to the strict control over costs and the in-time predomination over efficiency. And the refined management becomes a key to determine the competition result. If the hotspot of the informatization for the domestic general merchandise industry can be said to be the development of novel marketing patterns, which attaches great importance to "broadening the source of incomes", then the informatization for the domestic chain store industry simply represents an accelerator for refined management, which makes it possible to reduce expenditures.

What are the functions of informatization? Yang Yu, General Manager of Circulation Department of Digital China Management Systems Limited (DCMS), told such a story that the expansion in the chain store industry was necessary and the sales performance of each outlet depended on the supervisor's intelligence mostly in the past while the direct efficacy of informatization was to strengthen the standardization, which enhances the control of the headquarter over outlets and makes it possible to have resources integrated and collocated. "Take the chain stores of Easy Home all over China for an example. In the past, it was difficult to recruit an outlet supervisor; but since the implementation of informatization, it is very easy for cadres at the middle level to get promoted and become outlet supervisors."

A detail can also embody the huge function of informatization. Compared with the general merchandise industry, products in the chain store industry are fewer while the proportion of fast consumption goods is fairly large, many of which tend to have a guarantee period. "Take warehouse accounting for an example. Before the informatization means appeared in the past, most supermarkets adopted moving average algorithm during the accounting and there lacked a precise control. And for the moment, the real-time batch algorithm can be utilized to ensure that goods with a short guarantee period will get out of the warehouse first and thus costs will be saved dramatically. This is just the refined management." Yang Qingsong, Director of Information Department of China Chain Store & Franchise Association, stated.

However, in the aspect of bringing the effectiveness of informatization into full play, the domestic chain industry still have a long way to go. On the one hand, it is due to the fact that the implementation capability of the chain enterprises as the whole rather low. Song Qing, General Manager of Beijing Changyi Information Technologies Co, Ltd., said, "You can often see a notice at the doorway of a supermarket saying that the price label of a certain product is false on the promotion manual, or RMB15 yuan is marked in the price label but the price becomes RMB20 yuan when the product code is read at the check-out counter. The information system can control the inventory, but it is always necessary to arrange manpower to change the price label. Domestic chain stores must make staff really adapted to the management method with the participation of information system in a real sense and improve their own operation level."

On the other hand, it is also resulted from the fact that the domestic chain store industry has its own characteristics. For example, when dealing with fresh food, oversea supermarkets usually will have fresh food packed in advance before selling it, which has not a huge difference with common goods. But most of fresh food in domestic supermarkets is not processed in a standardized manner, which makes it difficult for the information system to conduct management by commodity and implement cost accounting.

On such a point, Beijing Jingkelong Company Limited, the famous chain supermarket in Beijing, has made attempts actively. Jingkelong has invested RMB60 million yuan in establishing its own fresh food distribution center and distributes fresh food to community supermarkets and hypermarkets located in Beijing uniformly. Take pork for an example. The scene of cutting pork on site has disappeared in Jingkelong Supermarket; instead, all pork will be cut apart and packed in the distribution center and then be sent to supermarkets. "Thus, it will be also possible for fresh food to have unified commodity marks, a precise quality system and definite package specifications, which lays a foundation for being brought into the information system for purpose of management." Gao Jingsheng, Vice General Manager of Beijing Jingkelong Company Limited, introduced.