Start with a decision your team needs to make, then investigate the operating model behind what you see. Compare flagship experiences with everyday execution, check which results are repeatable, and identify the conditions your own market would need. Return with a small set of testable proposals, each with an owner, a budget limit and a review date.
A remarkable store can give your team an idea. It cannot tell you whether that idea will work in your business.
Before booking a China learning expedition, agree on the question you want the trip to resolve. Should you simplify your range? Change the store experience? Offer faster fulfillment? The answer determines which businesses to study, whom to speak with and what evidence to request.
The aim is to leave with a better-supported decision, including a clear reason not to pursue an idea when the conditions do not fit.
Worth seeing. But worth adopting?
For each shortlisted idea, complete these six fields.
Does it work every day?
Check beyond the flagship.
Could it work for us?
Compare local conditions.
What should we test?
Set an owner and a limit.
Observe the practice. Check the evidence. Decide what to test.
How can you tell a showcase from everyday retail operations?
Treat each visit as a sample, not a verdict on the whole business. A flagship can reveal an ambition or a new approach. To judge repeatability, you also need context: how long the format has operated, where else it has been used and which results are available.
Ask your host whether you are seeing a pilot, an established format or a store selected for exceptional performance. Where access permits, compare it with an ordinary location. Observe different trading periods rather than assuming a busy visit represents a typical week.
China case: what the Hema discussion actually shows
In a June 2024 article, ChinaTalk described a masterclass during an October 2023 retail tour. The organizer presented Dutch retailers with 12 formats Hema had launched between 2016 and 2021, including formats that had failed as well as those that survived.
The article reports that Hema’s move toward discount positioning prompted debate among participants about consistency. This was an organizer’s account of a historical discussion, not evidence that Hema staged 12 successful formats for visitors.
For your visit, the practical lesson is to ask what changed after a format launched. A presentation may explain the original idea. You still need to understand its current role.
- Establish the scope. How many comparable stores use this approach, and in which markets?
- Separate launch effects from repeat demand. Are the results from opening week, a promotion or a mature trading period?
- Ask about the economics. What extra staffing, fulfillment, maintenance or capital does the experience require?
- Look for revisions. What has been simplified, stopped or changed since the first version?
Hosts may not share store-level profit data. Record that as an evidence gap, not proof that the format is failing. Strong sales and a crowded store are useful observations, but neither establishes profitability.
Which parts could work in your own market?
Separate the customer benefit from the conditions that make it possible. You may be able to adapt clearer product discovery or a simpler checkout without reproducing an entire Chinese platform or supply network.
For each idea, write down the customer problem it solves. Then trace the people, suppliers, systems and costs needed to deliver it. Ask which of those already exist in your market and which would need to be built or bought.
China case: MINISO's overseas growth has an operating cost
MINISO’s full-year 2024 results reported 41.9% growth in revenue from its namesake brand’s overseas markets. The company also reported 505 directly operated overseas stores at year-end, double the previous year’s number.
That expansion came with investment. MINISO linked higher selling and distribution expenses to its directly operated store network, particularly in strategic overseas markets. Rental-related costs, depreciation, amortization and payroll for those overseas stores rose 72.2%, excluding share-based compensation.
The figures show why a successful international brand is more useful to study as an operating system than as a price point. They do not establish a universal overseas price premium or prove that the same store economics will hold in your market.
During a visit, compare how the assortment, display and new-product rhythm serve the customer. Afterward, build your own cost assumptions for the same proposition.
What you notice
Frequent product launches
What to investigate
Supplier lead times, minimum orders and unsold stock
What to test at home
A smaller, faster assortment trial
What you notice
Convenient fulfillment
What to investigate
Order density, picking labor and delivery costs
What to test at home
One area with realistic service costs
What you notice
Engaging stores
What to investigate
Space, staffing, merchandising and maintenance
What to test at home
One experience change with a comparison store
You do not need to remove every China-specific feature before an idea becomes useful. You need a credible substitute for each dependency that matters. If none exists, change the proposal or leave it behind.
Not sure what your team should investigate?
Talk to Jemma about your priorities, preferred timing and cities. Start with the questions you need the trip to answer.
How do you turn the trip into a decision your CEO can use?
Agree on the deliverable before approving the itinerary. “Understand Chinese retail” is too broad to judge. “Decide whether to test a smaller-format store” gives the team a purpose and a way to identify missing evidence.
Separate two questions when discussing the cost. Was the expedition worth funding as research? And does the proposed business change deserve investment? A valuable visit may lead you to stop an unsuitable project. That is not the same as proving a financial return on the trip.
Bring back a one-page decision brief
For each shortlisted idea, complete these six fields.
The decision:
what your team is considering and why it matters now.
The observation:
The evidence:
The local conditions:
The next test:
The stop condition:
Example: test the service, not the spectacle
Suppose your team sees an automated fresh-drink station. The visible machine is only one part of the proposal. Ingredient replenishment, cleaning, uptime, payment reconciliation and customer support also need owners.
A useful follow-up could be a limited test at one suitable location. Compare demand, service reliability, waste and contribution after operating costs with the existing offer. Decide in advance which failures would end the test.
This is an illustrative test design, not a claim about a named operator’s performance. Its review period should fit your category and purchase cycle. Ninety days may be a planning window, but it is not a universal rule or a guaranteed payback period.
What should you ask a China learning expedition provider before booking?
Ask how the proposed access helps answer your decision, not just which company names appear on the itinerary. A public showroom, an expert briefing and a conversation with an operating team offer different kinds of evidence.
Give the provider a short brief: your business question, the decisions it could change, the functions attending and the evidence you cannot obtain from desk research.
Then ask:
- Which visits are confirmed, and which depend on availability?
- Who would we meet, and what topics can they realistically discuss?
- How will we distinguish a demonstration from routine operations?
- What preparation and interpretation are included?
- Is there time to compare observations and identify unanswered questions?
- What is included in the fee, and which costs or follow-up work are separate?
Ashley Dudarenok’s article on China study tours advocates designing the trip around the leadership outcome before choosing the cities. For retail teams, that means identifying the decision first, selecting relevant observations and conversations, and planning how to evaluate what comes back.
A useful expedition does not have to confirm your original idea. It should help your team understand whether to test it, adapt it or stop pursuing it.
Bring a business question. Leave with a testable next step.
Explore a China learning expedition built around your team’s priorities. Discuss what you need to observe, which assumptions to challenge and how to turn the learning into decisions at home.
Specific visits and access are subject to confirmation.
Frequently asked questions
Can we organize store visits ourselves?
Yes. Public stores can support a self-guided research trip. A curated program is worth considering when it adds relevant context, interpretation, specialist conversations or access you need. Ask exactly what is included rather than assuming that a paid itinerary provides private operational access.
Can a store visit prove that a retail model is profitable?
No. You can observe the experience and parts of the operation, but profit depends on costs and demand over time. Request supporting information where possible, and distinguish what you saw from what a host reported and what remains unverified.
Do we need to be entering China to benefit?
No. Start with a problem in your existing market. China can provide alternative ways to approach it, but the proposal still needs local customer evidence, cost estimates and a suitable test before scaling.
What if the company we want to visit cannot host us?
Return to the learning objective. An alternative operator, public store comparison or expert briefing may answer part of the same question. Ask the provider what changes and what evidence the replacement cannot offer. Do not treat an unconfirmed company name as guaranteed access.
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