Why did the Good Lemon launch draw complaints?

Tea Yan Yue Se announced its lemon tea sub-brand Good Lemon on September 19, opening five stores at once in Changsha. The outlets are not standalone shops; each occupies a section inside an existing large Tea Yan Yue Se store, relying on the parent brand's foot traffic. The company plans to open 15 to 20 Changsha locations within the year.

The debut quickly drew complaints centered on Tea Yan Yue Se's redemption queue system and menu names that customers find hard to decipher. The brand has incubated sub-brands before, including Zhihu Tea in 2015 and Yuanyang Coffee in 2022. Lemon tea sales grew more than 130 percent year on year in 2022, according to a Meituan report, which explains the segment's appeal.

Tea Yan Yue Se has once again laid out its presence in a segmented track, with its new sub-brand Good Lemon opening five stores in Changsha on September 19. Similar to the main brand, Good Lemon does not have independent stores but operates in partitioned areas within large Tea Yan Yue Se outlets, quickly drawing crowds of check-in enthusiasts by leveraging the parent brand's foot traffic. This is not Tea Yan Yue Se's first time incubating a sub-brand, from the early days of Zhihu Tea to Yuanyang Coffee in 2022, its multi-brand strategy has been ongoing for years. The lemon tea market is showing strong growth momentum, with a Meituan report indicating a year-on-year sales increase of over 130% in 2022, and Good Lemon clearly aims to grab a share of this pie, planning to open 15 to 20 stores in Changsha within the year. However, the new brand has just made its debut and is already facing complaints from consumers, with the core controversies still centered on Tea Yan Yue Se's iconic redemption queue system and the overly artistic menu names that make ordering difficult.

Tea Yan Yue Se has once again stirred up waves in the tea beverage circle.

On September 19, Tea Yan Yue Se's sub-brand Good Lemon was officially announced, with the first five stores opening simultaneously in Changsha to welcome customers. Currently, Good Lemon does not open independent stores but instead carves out a section from Tea Yan Yue Se's existing large outlets for a trial run. Relying on the main brand's inherent traffic and customer base, the new stores quickly attracted a large number of consumers to check in and experience.

This is not the first time Tea Yan Yue Se has tested the waters in a segmented market. In 2015, the brand launched its sister brand "Zhihu Tea," and by the end of 2019, it was incorporated into Tea Yan Yue Se stores and no longer operated independently. In August 2022, Tea Yan Yue Se created the sub-brand "Yuanyang Coffee," focusing on the concept of "new Chinese-style coffee & tea," with prices positioned in the mid-to-low-end range.

On the other hand, the lemon tea track still has vast potential. According to Meituan's "2022 Tea Beverage Category Report," lemon tea sales in 2022 increased by over 130% year-on-year, showing strong growth momentum. Launching Good Lemon at this time clearly indicates the company's aim to target the huge potential of the lemon tea market and carve out a slice of the pie. It is understood that Good Lemon plans to open 15 to 20 stores in Changsha this year.

As a newcomer, the brand initially had consumers full of anticipation. But Good Lemon's first appearance has drawn quite a bit of criticism.

The most complained-about aspect is still the highly recognizable "redemption" mechanism of Tea Yan Yue Se. Like the main brand, Good Lemon does not offer mini-program ordering; customers must first queue in-store to place an order, then queue again to wait for pickup. During the pickup process, staff scan the QR code on the receipt to complete the redemption, then prepare the order on the spot according to the order details. The store is already small, but it is divided into three long queues for ordering, code scanning, and pickup.

As a result, customers have to stay in the store from start to finish, resulting in a considerable time cost. No wonder some netizens complain: "It's this crappy model again, queue to order and queue to pick up, so dawdling." "I really can't understand why lemon tea also has to stand punishment?" "Tea Yan's specialty, if you want to drink, stand punishment first..." "The stand punishment culture really needs to be resisted!"

The new brand's menu design is another point of concentrated criticism. From images circulating online, the fonts and drink names on the menu are particularly eye-catching and unique in style. According to the explanation from the relevant head of the brand department, Good Lemon wants to use rich and diverse forms to present traditional Chinese cultural aesthetics, so from drink naming to storefront logos, it adopts an antique style.

However, many netizens who visited the site reported that such menu content is completely confusing. "Yesterday when ordering, I was stumped and didn't know what to get." "I look at the mini-program's headings like 'Xiaoyao Chapter' and 'Fang Qingsong,' and most drink names are abstract and artistic, I really can't tell what you're specifically selling." "Can you change it back to the original style? The literary style really doesn't suit your brand."

Following the sub-brand Yuanyang Coffee, Tea Yan Yue Se has placed another piece on the beverage track. Can Good Lemon reach the heights of Tea Yan Yue Se and create another glory? Let us wait and see.

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.