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7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

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Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#41

Post by shermantanktop »

Graziano_M wrote: post #28
philip1209 wrote: post #9

7-11 in Japan is a way of life. I've been to an American 7-11 once or twice in my life. (I didn't want to go back.) In Japan, I went at least once daily - sometimes twice per day. They almost function the role of a NYC bodega, but with more and fresher food options. In addition, they often have a stack of microwaves run by the staff, allowing for inexpensive, fresh, and warm meals.

When I was there last I had an egg salad sandwich almost every day.

Tamago sando! The hot dog bun version is a little odd to me.

Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#44

Post by yamakadi »

mathgeek wrote: post #39
ajb wrote: post #21

Interesting. 7-11 is one of the example's in Rumelt's book on strategies[1]. In the chapter on 'pivot points' (by his definition, areas where effort yields significant reward) he outlines that 7-11 focuses on different things in Japan vs China. In Japan, they believe that the customer is easily bored and requires their stores to stock many choices, and carefully track which are rising and falling in popularity in eac…

Not sure of the structure in Japan and China, but US 7-11s are franchised and thus the individual owners have a huge effect on the base level of service and upkeep. There are many stereotypes that it wouldn’t be appropriate to get into here, but the quality of individual stores can vary a lot. They are also known as a place to buy huge sodas, tobacco, and energy drinks, but many other convenience stores also provide…

They are franchised here as well, although the holding company owns multiple stores. The overall quality, including the operating hours to the chagrin of the franchisees, is ruthlessly maintained through their contracts and lawsuits though.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/06/24/business/seven-...

The US contracts might be more relaxed or the holding company might not have enough control due to the sheer size of the US market. In Japan, most stores get deliveries more than twice a day, have inspectors show up unannounced, need to make daily reports in some cases, etc. Not much room for leeway.

Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#45

Post by yamakadi »

chemmail wrote: post #43

7-11 JP is so good the food is 90% there compared to restaurants and the desserts legit beat some Michelin star stuff. They deliver fresh daily and some desserts can't even make it overnight without coagulating!

Their frozen food is second to none. I’d say especially their spaghettis are much better than what you can get at a serving rate store.

Some of their collaborations also work out really well — especially the desserts with Pierre Hermé.

Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#46

Post by agar »

Indirectly related: before visiting Thailand I heard that 7-Elevens were everywhere (they were) and a core part of daily life for locals and tourists alike. I expected them to be more like the Japanese model, but was surprised that they all had a very limited number of salty snacks, energy drinks, and toiletries - similar to the US.

Other than a nice selection of tourist-friendly pre-paid mobile plans, I couldn't really understand (or validate) the "important" role they played.

Anyone have a perspective on this?

Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#47

Post by jalk »

the__alchemist wrote: post #13

The video mentions at least twice that gas is one of the two main revenue sources of 7-11 in USA. A: How common is this? 7-11s don't serve gas where I've seen. B: Is this accurate re profits? My understanding was that gas stations make their money from the convenience store vice fuel. (This is in direct contradiction) Unrelated: Is it normal in marketing to refer to customers as "targets"? (See around 75% through the…

> Unrelated: Is it normal in marketing to refer to customers as "targets"?

She was talking about "ad targeting", not the customers as targets: "In the morning we will target our customers with a message about Coffee and Donuts".

Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#49

Post by dawnerd »

mlinhares wrote: post #29
Klonoar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just Japan, it's largely Asia in general (e.g, Taiwanese 7-11's and Korean 7-11's are also so far above their US counterparts in terms of offerings/feel). (A fun trivia fact is that like 7-11, Lawson also originally started in the USA. They only recently-ish returned stateside with locations in Hawaii (IIRC).)

I'd be surprised if there is any place where 7-11 is worse than in the US given how bad they are in here. Having lived most of my US time in PA I always either drove longer or waited for a Wawa to shop because all 7-11s were pure garbage.

7-11 in Canada is just as bad.

Re: 7-Eleven is reinventing its food business to be more Japanese [video]

#50

Post by bcherny »

agar wrote: post #46

Indirectly related: before visiting Thailand I heard that 7-Elevens were everywhere (they were) and a core part of daily life for locals and tourists alike. I expected them to be more like the Japanese model, but was surprised that they all had a very limited number of salty snacks, energy drinks, and toiletries - similar to the US. Other than a nice selection of tourist-friendly pre-paid mobile plans, I couldn't rea…

Maybe it’s the fact they’re air conditioned, and an easy respite from 100 degree/100% humidity summer heat? At least that’s what it was for me as a tourist.
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