PDLP Chapter 619: Establishment of Era Commerce
Chapter 619: Establishment of Era Commerce
The next day, on the way to the headquarters of Dadao Group, Gao Song reminded him, "Mr. Huang, the day after tomorrow is the graduation day for your students. As you instructed, I have arranged for someone to deliver the gifts, and they should receive them on graduation day."
Huang Xiaochuan nodded to indicate that he understood. After returning from the United States, Huang Xiaochuan had asked Gao Song to keep an eye on this matter. As teachers and students, his resignation halfway through the process had more or less affected them, so Huang Xiaochuan still felt somewhat guilty towards these students.
In two days it will be their graduation day, and as their former teacher, I must celebrate with them.
They arrived at the headquarters of Dadao Group in silence. Gao Song and the others accompanied Huang Xiaochuan to take a private elevator directly to the floor where his office was located, where Jiang Bixing was already waiting.
"Hey! Old Jiang, you got here even earlier than me?" Huang Xiaochuan teased Jiang Bixing with a smile.
Jiang Bixing laughed and said, "I don't know why, but I've developed a problem with sleeping in unfamiliar beds. I wake up early, and since I have nothing to do after breakfast, I come over early to wait for you."
Gao Song jogged forward and pushed open the office door. The huge office seemed very spacious, with windows on two sides, and they were floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside the windows was the bustling Central District of Hong Kong, and a little further away was the famous Victoria Harbour.
Huang Xiaochuan invited Jiang Bixing to sit down, while Gao Song busied himself preparing tea for the two of them. Although he had a secretary, Gao Song usually did these things himself and did not rely on others.
Jiang Bixing opened his briefcase, took out his laptop, and, with the assistance of relevant personnel, connected it to the projector in Huang Xiaochuan's office.
After all the irrelevant people had left, Jiang Bixing began to formally report his work to Huang Xiaochuan.
He pointed to the content on the large screen with a telescopic stick and said, "Now I will report on the status of the main business formats under our Times Supermarket Group as of the end of May 2002."
The Times Super Shopping Center has one flagship store, 177 standard stores, 19 large-scale warehouse-style membership supermarkets ('tis superarket'), and 582 community stores, totaling 779 stores, covering 103 major cities south of the Huai River.
He turned to the next page and continued, "Relying on our self-built Southern Logistics Network, which includes five core warehousing and distribution centers in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen, and Changsha, as well as 32 supporting regional transit warehouses, all Times Supermarkets have achieved the goal of delivering fresh produce to stores within 24 hours and standard products within 48 hours, and have also greatly reduced the warehousing costs of the stores."
According to our previous strategic plan, all of our newly opened stores have achieved 100% ownership. For a small number of previously leased stores, we are currently negotiating the repurchase of their ownership. The overall ownership ratio of the group's stores has reached 94%. Although this has tied up a lot of capital, in the long run, it has completely avoided the risk of rental fluctuations. Moreover, with the appreciation of real estate, the overall value of the group is constantly increasing, which greatly stabilizes operations and employee security.
As per your requirements, Chairman, the Group adheres to a human resource cost strategy, ensuring that the salaries of grassroots employees are consistently more than 15 times the local industry average, and that relevant social insurance contributions are fully paid, with a 100% social insurance coverage rate.
Furthermore, since the partnership system was implemented three years ago, 17 store general managers have received virtual equity dividends, with the highest annual dividend exceeding their annual salary of 65. The turnover rate has consistently remained below 7%, far lower than the industry average of 30%.
Jiang Bixing opened some photos for comparison.
"This modernly decorated, brightly lit, and bustling store is our No. 122 store. These photos are of two foreign-owned supermarkets that opened in the same city last month, less than two kilometers away from our No. 122 store. Our daily customer traffic is stable at 15 people, while according to market research, the two competing stores have less than 2000 customers."
Faced with our overall marketing strategy, neither Walmart's everyday low prices nor Carrefour's fresh produce gimmicks can withstand the impact of our model, which is rooted in the local community, caters to customer needs, and is willing to return most of its profits to employees and the public.
They tried to poach our core management and regional managers with high salaries, but so far, not a single one has left. They didn't understand that for our middle and senior managers, this is not just a job, but a dignified and challenging career.
Jiang Bixing then clicked on a few more photos. The photos showed that next to the supermarket entrance, there was a service station specifically set up for the elderly, providing some emergency medical equipment and medicines, as well as some simple tests, such as blood pressure measurement.
After nightfall, the square in front of the gate is provided as an activity area for some elderly people, and free tea is also offered. There are also photos of several internal notices.
Jiang Bixing pointed to a person in the photo and said, "Chairman, do you remember this person?"
Jiang Bixing was pointing to a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her early forties. Huang Xiaochuan couldn't immediately recall who she was.
"Chairman, do you remember the mother and son we met at the noodle shop back then? This is the mother, who is now the senior customer service manager of our Shanghai flagship store." Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan didn't remember, Jiang Bixing revealed the answer.
After Jiang Bixing's reminder, Huang Xiaochuan remembered: "It's her? What's her name again?"
"Chang Jing!"
Looking at Chang Jing in the photo, Huang Xiaochuan couldn't help but compare her to the thin woman in his memory who had only ordered a bowl of noodles and looked at her son with a worried expression. However, she was completely different from the woman in his memory. Now, in the photo, she smiled confidently and radiated happiness.
Looking at the photos, Huang Xiaochuan felt a sense of accomplishment for some reason, even more so than when he took over Sun Company.
Then, Jiang Bixing began to report on the core issues of his trip to Hong Kong: "As per your request, we have been working on divesting from Era Home Appliances since last year."
As Jiang Bixing spoke, he clicked on the projector to display the organizational structure diagram and progress schedule of the separated Era Home Appliances.
"All the home appliance sales departments, purchasing departments, after-sales service departments, and corresponding inventory assets that were originally affiliated with each store have been transferred to the newly established Times Home Appliances Co., Ltd. I recommend Chu Jinshan, the former deputy general manager of purchasing of the group, to serve as the general manager of Times Home Appliances."
By August 1st at the latest, Times Home Appliances will officially operate independently. After becoming independent, the new Times Home Appliances will have greater flexibility in procurement negotiations, service, and marketing. Moreover, relying on the existing scale of Times Supermarket stores, Times Home Appliances can quickly capture the entire southern market.
Then Jiang Bixing presented Huang Xiaochuan with a preliminary plan for new retail. This plan was based on the pilot program of online ordering and offline service in major southern cities after Times Home Appliances became independent. The relevant software was already under development and testing, and it could be put into trial operation as early as the end of the year.
Huang Xiaochuan nodded, he was quite satisfied. He then said to Jiang Bixing, "Old Jiang, I plan to expand the Times Supermarket Group into the Times Trade Group, integrating Times Supermarket, Times Home Appliances, Times Property, Times Logistics, and Times Business into it, and you will be in charge of it, separating it from the Dadao Group."
Jiang Bixing's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected Huang Xiaochuan to grant him such great authority. After breaking away from Dadao Group, Shidai Commerce was now a commercial group on par with Dadao Group, no longer a second-tier subsidiary.
Jiang Bixing quickly declined, saying, "Chairman, this responsibility is too heavy for me; I am not up to the task."
"That's settled then. Don't give me any more pleasantries. Don't leave for the next few days. We'll have a meeting to discuss the details of this matter." Huang Xiaochuan ignored Jiang Bixing's opinion and made the final decision.