After Lockdowns End: Why Are Coffee Shops Closing Down in Large Numbers?!

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Why Have Coffee Shops Experienced Decreased Foot Traffic Despite Reopening After the Pandemic?

Where have all the people gone? It turns out they're all staying home sick! Nowadays, coffee shops and bubble tea beverage shops are basically in a state of "no customers during lockdown, no staff during reopening"!

Recently, on various social media platforms, many netizens have expressed that they want to grab a cup of coffee these days but always find the shops closed. On platforms like Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and in WeChat groups, many coffee shop owners have posted messages announcing temporary business closures to ensure the safety of customers and staff due to the recent surge in COVID cases. The vast majority of these closures are because the owners themselves or their staff members have contracted COVID-19.

Since the afternoon of December 7th, when the comprehensive group of the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism released the "New Ten Measures," a space has been left empty on subway station walls. Entrance signs no longer pile up at shopping mall entrances, and no one shouts "Please scan the venue code" when entering stores. Negative nucleic acid test results and health codes are no longer checked for people traveling across regions. After the announcement was released, major travel platforms, scenic spots, and restaurants also became "active," but this was only temporary. A few days later, the number of COVID cases began to grow exponentially.

Now that we have fully reopened and in-store dining is available, even more people choose to order takeout and delivery because there are too many COVID cases outside, and people dare not linger. In just a few days, the pandemic situation has indeed become tense again. I wonder if there are many COVID cases around everyone? Do you feel that it's gradually approaching?

According to data reported by media, a city conducted statistics on subway passenger flow, showing a continuous straight-line decline in transport capacity for a week. Five days before reopening, there were 1.18 million passenger trips, but five days later, it was only just over 700,000. Many "chosen workers" who still had to work posted comparison photos of subway stations at 8 AM before and after reopening, with the difference in passenger flow being obvious.

The Challenge for the Restaurant Industry

After full reopening, delivery and in-store dining are both unimpeded. Originally, it was thought that the restaurant industry would see "revenge consumption," but instead, business remains bleak with few customers. For the restaurant industry, this presents another new problem.

Facing this situation, at this year-end point, many brands still need to pay next year's rent, and operating cost pressures continue to increase. The restaurant industry needs to be mentally prepared, improve their winter survival plans and bottom-line mechanisms, and fight the tough battle of this final "transition period." The next few months may truly be an important moment to test their strength.

In this cold winter, when you want to drink a warm cup of coffee, you open a delivery platform to search and see that your desired drink is available at an open store, so you eagerly place an order, only to find that after waiting for an hour, no delivery rider has accepted your order, and you can only cancel it helplessly. This is the current situation for most people. In the past two days, many citizens in some cities have voluntarily joined the delivery workforce for a simple reason: a large number of group buying and delivery personnel are unable to work "due to illness," resulting in serious backlogs of delivery orders.

According to the pattern provided by experts, there will indeed be a few months of chaos after reopening, and the level of consumer economy is likely to experience a significant decline. However, after three months, various economic activities will begin to gradually recover. Once we get through this period, everything will get better.

Image source: Internet

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