Why has hard discounting become the "key to foot traffic" for small and medium community malls?

Why Can AI and Hard Discounts Activate Shopping Mall Traffic?

Text | Bai Jiajia

On an early spring morning at 8 a.m., the sky over Nanjing is still not fully bright. At the SuperBox算 NB Cool Youth Center in Shanxi Road, downtown Nanjing, just half an hour after opening, the products in the blue folding baskets in the produce section are already running low.

Young Aunt Wang Jianfen, carrying a cloth bag, bends down to pick up a box of fresh frozen beef short ribs from the freezer. The price tag reads 29.9 yuan—1.2 kilograms.

This store is less than a 10-minute walk from her home and has become a daily check-in spot. “Quality and price, nothing else compares.”

Looking around at the store’s prices, you’ll find she’s right: 1.5-liter bottles of 4.0 fresh milk sell for 7.2 yuan, about 44% cheaper than the market average; 24 bottles of purified water for 9.9 yuan…

Similar scenes unfold across hundreds of communities nationwide every morning.

SuperBox算 NB is a hard discount brand under Hema. By early this year, it had over 400 stores nationwide, and by January 2026, it plans to expand into South China, with plans to enter Hefei, Xuzhou, Guangzhou, and Foshan. According to financial sources, this year’s store opening pace will double that of last year.

As retail industry observers, our question is: How is this Hema-incubated affordable community supermarket growing so rapidly?

1. Consumer Behavior Has Changed First

Over the past two years, China’s consumer market has quietly shifted.

Macroeconomic data shows residents’ willingness to spend has become more conservative. But a closer look at consumer behavior reveals people aren’t simply “spending less,” they’re spending more wisely—no longer paying for brand premiums, no longer falling for promotional tricks, and starting to carefully evaluate the true value of every penny.

“Value for money” has redefined what “worth” means. Hard discount supermarkets are the most direct embodiment of this new consumer logic.

This model originated in Europe. ALDI and Lidl’s core principle is “less but better”: only about 1,500 high-frequency, essential SKUs, mostly private labels, cutting out middlemen by directly sourcing from factories, passing savings to consumers. They avoid reliance on promotions or gimmicks, embedding “everyday low prices” into their DNA. During economic downturns, these supermarkets tend to perform even better.

Such consumers are increasingly common in China.

However, for a long time, the domestic hard discount market had a clear gap: consumers wanted it, but the market couldn’t deliver. When mentioning hard discount supermarkets, people’s first impressions are still large suburban warehouse stores like Sam’s or Costco—requiring a drive, buying in bulk, low frequency, high decision cost.

“The daily convenience of buying quality, low-priced goods right at your doorstep” is a need almost no one has seriously addressed.

SuperBox算 NB targets this gap. With stores of 600 to 800 square meters, offering 1,200 to 1,500 SKUs, including fresh produce, ready-to-eat foods, snacks, and daily necessities—like combining a vegetable market, snack shop, fruit stand, and bakery into one small store, right at the community entrance.

Their product selection follows an internal logic called “broad categories, narrow products”: cover as many categories as possible, but only stock one or two optimal options per category. Consumers don’t need to make choices; the procurement team does it for them.

“Dad” Chen Jie, after dropping his kids at school, walks over 800 meters to browse. Fresh produce is more stable than at markets, prices are more affordable than traditional supermarkets, and a 600-square-meter store can meet all needs in one go. He can’t articulate why, but simply says, “Affordable, trustworthy.”

These four words are perhaps the most desired praise for SuperBox算 NB.

An interesting detail: before the Spring Festival, when SuperBox算 NB opened in Dongguan’s Dalang Town, local residents’ shopping carts were filled with multiple bottles of cooking oil, pork ribs, laundry detergent—classic “stockpiling” behavior. The prices convinced customers it was a special opening deal—who would have thought that 10 kg of laundry detergent would sell for just 17 yuan every day?

The biggest charm of hard discounts is “everyday low prices,” which makes it possible to truly integrate into consumers’ daily routines. Changing consumption habits into lifestyle is a qualitative change, not just a quantitative one.

If hard discount supermarkets explode in 2026, it’s because—the fertile ground for pragmatic consumption has already matured; what’s missing are enough solutions.

2. Shopping Malls Need Them, and They Need Scale

The expansion of SuperBox算 NB is driven by two simultaneous forces.

In summer 2025, Yu Jun, general manager of KUMOLL Cool Youth Center in Nanjing, was experiencing a period of anxiety since the mall’s opening.

This mall opened in October 2024, focusing on the “second dimension” (anime and related culture). Initially popular, but in the first half of 2025, the trend quickly faded, and foot traffic was halved. Over 40 tenants faced collective anxiety.

Yu Jun knew well that relying on niche groups for traffic isn’t sustainable. But transformation is difficult—young people coming to comic exhibitions might buy a bottle of water and stay all day; food and community retail brands are reluctant to invest.

SuperBox算 NB appeared at this moment. But initially, they declined.

“Doesn’t fit our community positioning,” staff explained. Later, after on-site research, they found that within 500 meters there were many mature residential areas, but the niche label of “second dimension” kept away community foot traffic—after careful consideration, they decided to take on this unconventional project.

The results exceeded expectations.

After SuperBox算 NB moved in, the mall’s average daily foot traffic increased by 133%, and during holidays, it doubled or tripled. Previously distant food brands began actively seeking cooperation. Yu Jun said, in 2025, community commerce in the mall accounted for 30%, aiming to reach 70% this year.

In Gaochun Babu Store, located in suburban Nanjing, they took a different route. This traditional department store, operating for ten years, faced competition from emerging complexes and aging formats. In 2024, they proactively cut nearly half of the low-efficiency clothing tenants on the first floor, renovated the lower level’s layout, and reserved over a thousand square meters for flagship stores.

SuperBox算 NB opened in July 2025, with an average daily foot traffic surpassing 20,000 in the first month, and overall mall traffic increased by 98%. Sales in the entire mall grew by 40%, and in the following half-year, the average increase in foot traffic remained at 68%. Brands like Lele Tea and Xueji Roasted Snacks, long on the sidelines, began to settle in, with the first floor fully occupied. Monthly sales of a single bubble tea shop exceeded 200,000 yuan for the first time, setting a new record.

A passive self-rescue and an active push—both point to the same conclusion: the high-frequency, essential customer flow brought by supermarkets is becoming the most scarce asset for offline commercial spaces. Whoever can lock in this flow holds the key to transformation.

Another powerful driver of store openings is SuperBox算 NB’s own business logic.

A box of fresh frozen beef short ribs at 29.9 yuan relies on a scale-driven model. The low prices of SuperBox算 NB are based on cutting out middlemen and direct sourcing—no traditional hypermarket fees, no new product fees, no backend rebates. The procurement team establishes long-term partnerships directly with suppliers. The stores feature simple decor, streamlined staffing, and use carton shelving and turnover baskets for efficiency, along with chain-wide cost reductions. Their low gross margins, low prices, and low waste strategies enable them to offer everyday staples at very low prices.

Private brands account for 60%, which also requires scale. SKU count is streamlined to 1,200–1,500, meaning each product must be a high-frequency, large-repurchase item. As the number of stores grows, so does the volume of each SKU, allowing further cost reductions, making “more buying, more saving” a reality.

3. Where Is the Market for Hard Discounts?

Speed alone isn’t a barrier. The real question is: when SuperBox算 NB, Aldi, JD.com, and Meituan are all eyeing this market, what are the key factors for victory?

By the 2026 Spring Festival, the top ten SuperBox算 NB stores nationwide are mostly in suburban areas of Hangzhou Lin’an, Changzhou Jintan, Suzhou Zhangjiagang, Dongyang Hengdian, and Gaochun in Nanjing—areas in large cities’ outskirts or economically developed county-level cities.

These places share a common trait: strong consumer purchasing power, but local retail formats have long lagged behind. Residents want to buy salmon, HPP juice, or strawberry cakes but have to drive to the city or rely on social group buying.

SuperBox算 NB quickly became the most popular destination locally. Who moves fastest captures these markets eager for consumption upgrades.

Suzhou Wujiang Pingwang Town is a typical example. After SuperBox算 NB opened, daily foot traffic increased by 30%, and nearby restaurants saw a 26% increase in revenue. Residents of a textile town no longer need to drive to the city to buy fresh produce and imported snacks. Consumption didn’t decrease; it just stopped flowing out.

With over 400 SuperBox算 NB stores across Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, they’ve “touched” many cities. Wherever there’s strong consumption potential, a lack of quality supply, and weak traditional retail, there’s an opportunity. The standard 600- to 800-square-meter stores can be flexibly embedded into street shops, neighborhood centers, markets, and shopping malls, with high adaptability.

Supply chain is another moat.

Aldi has deep roots in the Yangtze River Delta, with over 100 stores; JD.com and Meituan are also entering community retail in their own ways. But the barrier of hard discounts lies precisely in supply chain depth—requiring accumulation and refinement.

SuperBox算 NB has established vegetable distribution centers in Shandong and Yunnan, significantly compressing the middle links from farm to shelf, ensuring quality control, cost savings, and waste reduction.

As internet giants and traditional retail giants experiment with hard discount community stores, this is no longer a passing trend but a profound industry reshaping. It pushes upstream supply chains to optimize efficiency, shifts community commerce from “traffic competition” to “value co-creation,” and makes rational consumption a common norm. This transformation has only just begun.

(Note: Names like Chen Jie and Wang Jianfen are pseudonyms.)