The second annual 717 Community Neighbor Festival by GUOQUAN (2517.HK) has officially commenced. This nationwide event involves the synchronized participation of more than 11,700 stores across the country, bringing new product trials, neighborly interactions, and food sharing activities directly into local communities. From its "1 Festival + 6 Festivals" community activity framework to the large-scale rollout of this event, GUOQUAN is actively advancing its community engagement strategy, seeking deeper integration between local service and store operations.

Origins of a Special Initiative

Earlier, farmers in several regions of Henan province faced challenges selling a large, concentrated harvest of watermelons. GUOQUAN identified this issue and launched a support initiative in the province, purchasing over 1 million jin of surplus watermelons directly from the fields. This action provided tangible sales relief for the farmers, demonstrating corporate social responsibility. The effort has now been extended into the community during the Zhengzhou leg of the festival. A 12-meter-long table filled with watermelons became a focal point, where residents gathered to enjoy the fruit and barbecue, transforming a one-way charitable act into a shared, warm community experience. This initiative showcases a coordinated effort linking agricultural production, cold-chain logistics, regional operations, franchisees, and retail stores, reflecting both brand warmth and robust organizational capabilities.

Strengthening the Community Engagement Framework

The 717 festival is a key component of GUOQUAN's "1 Festival + 6 Festivals" system. The "1 Festival" focuses on neighborly relations, while the "6 Festivals" target major holidays and observances like Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival, facilitating year-round engagement around family consumption scenarios. Since 2023, GUOQUAN has been refining its community brand strategy. Over three years, it has organized over 18,000 events, engaging with its base of more than 65 million members. This moves stores beyond mere retail points to become integrated community service hubs, redefining the value proposition of a chain store. As this system is implemented, stores are expanding into various community service roles, deepening emotional connections with local families and striving to be a reliable and caring "good neighbor."

Deepening the Focus on Community Operations

The competitive landscape in instant retail is shifting from mere coverage to fostering user loyalty. Consumers now seek brands that consistently engage with and integrate into community life. For GUOQUAN, its vast network of over ten thousand stores represents not just scale, but tens of thousands of touchpoints to connect with households and serve consumers. The 717 festival and the broader activity system are not short-term marketing campaigns but core operational practices for sustaining community engagement, strengthening member connections, and boosting store vitality. This ongoing operational capability is becoming integral to the business model, enhancing member activity and repurchase rates to strengthen the link between the brand and family consumption. The value for stores extends beyond sales to building community trust and enhancing brand recognition, which ultimately translates into customer loyalty and long-term value.

Evolving from Retail to Community Management

For chain retailers, products can be standardized and replicated, but operational excellence is harder to duplicate. The sustained execution of the 717 festival illustrates GUOQUAN's effort to systemize and standardize its community operations, moving from experience-driven to capability-driven. Leveraging its store network and member system, the company is enhancing its community service, instant fulfillment, and member management capabilities. This transforms physical stores from simple sales terminals into vital nodes connecting products, users, and community services. Concurrently, the company's larger community store format is evolving into an offline "community central kitchen," aiming to shift from a quick pickup point to a destination "community kitchen" and food solution showcase, becoming an extension of the family pantry and a part of daily life. As the founder and chairman has stated, a company's growth relies not just on data and scale but on being rooted in people's lives and woven into the fabric of the community. GUOQUAN believes that genuine business success is found in the warmth shared between neighbors.