Round Table China Your supermarket is now a restuarant
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Oct 10, 2025 Supermarkets are transforming into lively food halls, blurring the lines between shopping and dining. The hosts dive into how these 'grocerants' are changing customer experiences with onsite cooking and ready-to-eat meals. Major chains like RT Mart and Hema are adapting to the trend by offering diverse dining options. They discuss the motivations behind these shifts, including competition with e-commerce and catering to busy urban lifestyles. Personal stories about weekend adventures, like camping with pets and visits to theme parks, add a delightful twist to the conversation.
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Retail And Dining Are Converging
- Supermarkets and restaurants are merging into an integrated, two-way model called 餐超一体化 (supermarket-plus-catering).
- This blurs traditional boundaries and creates unified retail and dining experiences.
Community Supermarket Canteen Example
- Yu Shun described a local supermarket with a dining area near the cashier offering cooked and semi-cooked foods you can heat or have processed.
- Customers roll their groceries straight to the canteen and eat without returning carts to the shopping area.
Big Chains Test Dining To Drive Traffic
- Major supermarket chains like RT Mart and Hema are adding dining services to drive in-store traffic and immediate consumption.
- These formats include cheap buffets and on-site cooking of selected seafood and ingredients.