Chapter 325: The Surging Zero Sales Industry

Li Dong is not good at naming him, and he is too lazy to bother about it.

After talking about the chat software, Li Dong turned back to the topic and asked, "How is the internal trial situation?"

Shen Qian nodded and said, "It's not bad. The whole process is smooth. In terms of user experience, many people in the company have used it and said it's very good. But I want to say something."

"Say!"

"It's about cash on delivery!"

Shen Qian frowned and said: "There are very few logistics companies in Jiangbei that provide cash on delivery, and our cooperation with them is too limited. Moreover, the qualifications of these logistics companies that provide cash on delivery are uneven, and the risk is very high."

Although these small logistics companies provide cash-on-delivery services, the risks of fleeing and going bankrupt are particularly high.

In order to expand the customer base, Li Dong insisted on supporting cash on delivery, which Shen Qian often complained about.

In addition, the return of funds is also very slow, which is not conducive to the future development of Yuanfang.

Li Dong thought for a while and said, "But we have too few payment methods now, and the main customers who shop in supermarkets are middle-aged people. These people generally don't trust online payment methods."

Shen Qian denied: "Mr. Li, there is a problem with your positioning! The online shopping mall is originally intended to provide services to young people, and middle-aged and elderly people will naturally choose physical stores to shop, so I don't think the problems you mentioned exist."

Li Dong rubbed his temples and said, "I understand what you said, but cash on delivery can bring us a large number of customers. Online payment is not mainstream yet, let's talk about it in two years."

In a few years, when smartphones become the mainstream, then online payment methods will be in line with the mainstream.

Nowadays, there are actually a small number of people who use third-party payment platforms to pay in society, and many people are not at ease to operate the payment system on their computers.

Seeing what Li Dong said, Shen Qian had no choice but to nod her head and said, "Let's do this first. Is the third-party payment system you mentioned before still working?"

"Continue to do it! When the mall is officially launched, we will recruit a group of technical backbones to specialize in the payment system."

Li Dong is actually not in a hurry to become a third-party payment platform. Before the advent of smart phones, he can do it or not.

Moreover, Li Dong is not prepared to make the third party bigger, as long as it can meet the needs of his own mall.

After chatting about these issues, Li Dong said again: "The promotion of the mall can start now, warm up in advance, we will officially launch the mall system on May 1st, will you not lose the chain here?"

Shen Qian nodded and said, "Don't worry!"

Liu Hong next to him also said firmly: "Mr. Li, even if you put your mind to it, there will be absolutely no problems!"

Li Dong glanced at him, nodded slightly and said: "It's good to have self-confidence, but there is no need to be too tense. The more critical the moment is, the less nervous you are. You have worked hard during this period. When the mall stabilizes, I will give you a rest." Long vacations, paid ones, or sending you on a trip abroad is not a problem."

Cheers erupted in the laboratory.

A smile appeared on Li Dong's face, and he was about to chat with Shen Qian about publicity when Sun Tao hurried over.

Seeing Sun Tao's serious face, Li Dong immediately realized that something had happened.

After winking at Shen Qian, Li Dong quietly left the laboratory and followed Sun Tao out.

When the two left the e-commerce department, Sun Tao frowned and said, "Mr. Li, I just received a message."

Li Dong was not in a hurry to ask questions, he glanced at the people coming and going, and said in a deep voice, "Go to my office."

Back in the office, Li Dong asked, "What happened?"

Sun Tao took a breath, and then said: "I just received the news that six shopping malls and supermarkets, Qingfeng Supermarket, Dahe Shopping Mall, Kelai Supermarket, and Xinglong Department Store, have completed their reorganization! Several supermarkets have been reorganized for a while, and the news has been kept secret.

It is said that several companies have completed mergers and acquisitions at the end of last month, and they will be renamed and renovated this month.

The new company, called Kelong Supermarket Chain Co., Ltd., formed by the integration of six supermarkets, has two large shopping malls, 28 life supermarkets, six fresh food supermarkets, and two department stores.”

Li Dong frowned,

He has been listening and not speaking.

When Sun Tao had finished speaking, Li Dongcai asked: "These six supermarkets are located in various parts of Jiangbei, who is the middleman? Also, do you understand the current shareholding division of Kelong Supermarket?"

"To be more clear, Kelong Supermarket is now held by Menshen Real Estate 40, Dahe Group 25, Guanghe Group 15, and several other original supermarket owners hold part of the shares."

"Menshen Real Estate, Guanghe Group"

Li Dong tapped on the table lightly, and gradually fell into deep thought.

This time the six supermarkets and shopping malls completed the merger and acquisition, and Li Dong was caught off guard, which had something to do with his arrogance.

For a long time, Li Dong didn't pay attention to other retail companies in Jiangbei.

In his view, Yuanfang has completed the industrial layout in Jiangbei, and now is the time to enjoy the fruits of victory.

Even big groups like Carrefour were forced out by him, what kind of storms can these local retail companies in Jiangbei make.

But he overestimated himself, and underestimated these old retail overlords.

Large groups like Carrefour and Tesco have only one or two branches in Jiangbei, and it is not a big loss for them to abandon a Jiangbei market, after all, Jiangbei is not a developed province.

Local companies like Qingfeng Supermarket are different. They have established themselves in Jiangbei for many years, not only have connections and resources, but also face the crisis of fighting to the death.

If they don't integrate and form a united front to fight against the distance, Jiangbei will lose their foothold sooner or later.

It is not a matter of a day or two to think about this integration. I am afraid that Yuanfang completed the industrial layout of Pingchuan last year, and these small and medium-sized supermarkets and shopping malls have reached a consensus.

Li Dong is not surprised that Guanghe Group has Qingfeng Supermarket participating in it.

But Menshen Real Estate stepped in, but Li Dong was a little surprised, he couldn't help asking Sun Tao, "What does Yao Hong want to do when Menshen becomes the first shareholder?"

For these businessmen, personal grievances are not enough to make Yao Hong change his strategic goals.

The merger of six supermarkets has been completed, and the current assets are no less than 400 million yuan. It is impossible for Menshen to complete the acquisition without spending about 200 million yuan.

Spending 200 million yuan shows that Menshen is really planning to get involved in the retail industry, rather than deliberate retaliation just to hit Li Dong.

Sun Tao thought for a while and said, "This may be related to Menshen's experience some time ago. Real estate companies such as Menshen and Longhua have always been in competition. Last year, Menshen did not make much progress in real estate, and there were some problems in several investments. Last year, Menshen Shen's profit is not impressive, and coupled with the squeeze from big companies like Longhua, Yao Hong may want to diversify his investment."

Li Dong nodded slightly, generally agreeing with Sun Tao's explanation.

But there is no need to talk about these now. The most urgent thing is to think about the possible impact of these mergers and acquisitions on the distant place.

Li Dong is not worried about these supermarkets and shopping malls, and he doesn't pay much attention to them.

But now that the reorganization has been completed, there are more than 30 stores, as well as shopping centers and department stores, which will have a great impact on Yuanfang.

Yuanfang's layout in Jiangbei can only be said to be half completed now. It would be fine if these supermarkets were not merged, but Yuanfang would slowly eat away at it.

But now that they are merged, Li Dong's cannibalization effect will not be great, and he has to be careful of Kelong Supermarket's counterattack.

If you don't solve the problem of Kelong, Li Dong won't worry about leaving Jiangbei at all.

The homeland is not stable, and if something happens in the rear, it may drag down the entire enterprise.

While Li Dong was pondering, Sun Tao said again: "Mr. Li, you have been away from the company recently, and there are still a few things I want to report to you."

Li Dong came back to his senses and said, "Say it."

"Since the beginning of this year, the retail industry has been surging. In February, Beijing's Wumart acquired Meilianmei, and Yichu Lotus became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhengda. In the past few days, it has been reported that Suguo is about to acquire 12 supermarkets of Family Fortune. It is reported that China Resources Vanguard is about to acquire Fubon and Leketuo

There are still many cases of mergers and acquisitions. The first quarter has just passed, and there have been no less than ten mergers and acquisitions in the retail industry.

In the past, only a small part of the domestic retail market was in a state of consolidation, and the top 100 retail companies only occupied about 10% of the market.

But now everyone has recovered, they are no longer satisfied with developing the market independently, and want to complete the market layout through mergers and acquisitions.”

After Sun Tao finished speaking, Li Dong asked, "You mean our model is out of date?"

Yuanfang is still adopting independent stores, and this development model has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that there is not much financial pressure, internal personnel is not chaotic, and the industrial layout is relatively reasonable.

But there are many shortcomings, the most important thing is the slow time!

For a new store, from site selection to decoration to opening, it will take at least three months at the earliest.

This is still the fastest. If there is a problem with the intermediate funds and the project is delayed, it is not uncommon for more than half a year.

Besides timing, that's a matter of market saturation.

If it is an acquisition, it occupies the market share of the original enterprise. But now Yuanfang chooses to compete independently. In some places, the retail market is close to saturation. If Yuanfang intervenes again, it will not only be squeezed out, but also its business will be greatly affected. Commercial competition in the early stage will take up a lot of money to seize the market.

In fact, Li Dong also considered the acquisition before, but he also considered a problem at that time.

That is, the decoration and layout of these old supermarkets and shopping malls actually do not meet the requirements of Yuanfang. If they are acquired, they will have to be demolished and reinstalled.

With this time, you can build a new store yourself in the distance.

In addition, Li Dong invested a lot last year and didn't have any money left on hand. Even if he bought it, he might not be able to come up with the money. In the end, he might have to operate a joint venture.

Li Dong is not interested in the joint venture. If he wants to do it, he must be a sole proprietorship, so the acquisition has never been mentioned.

But today is different from the past. If Kelong Supermarket is not integrated, Li Dong is actually not in a hurry.

But they have already successfully integrated, and if they follow the old plan, they may fall into a big fall.

To be continued.