Chapter 240 - 192: Hu Group (3)

’A single store with such high quality, yet its rent, labor, and various back-end service costs are so much lower. A company like that must be on an unbelievably healthy growth path. That means Shen Meng’s job is stable, and her income has become something I’ll have to look up to forever. This is truly a tragic story.’

Wu Min lay on the sofa, completely makeup-free. ’I’m so good at maneuvering, so how did I end up doing worse than my cousin? Where’s the problem? Is it because Wang Hua isn’t outstanding enough? If he were the general manager, couldn’t he just give me a raise whenever he wanted? Yes, that’s it. It’s not my problem, it’s Wang Hua’s problem.’

「The next morning.」

Several parties were simultaneously watching the previous day’s performance of the NLB store at Xinyue Square. These were considered steady-state sales, and this daily figure would make it easier to project the store’s average monthly sales.

The sales figure: 57,000.

In the operations department of Xinyue Square, Cheng Jun listened with a smile as her operations supervisor reported the news. A swell of pride rose within her. ’Yang Hui is on another level.’ At this rate, a month of steady-state sales would comfortably approach 2 million. This was nothing short of a miracle. As far as she knew, not even the top-performing NLB store in the country had ever surpassed 1.5 million in average monthly sales. And this was just the beginning. She had personally investigated the NLB store’s operations, so she knew this level of service quality would lead to greater customer loyalty. As time went on, repeat business from returning customers and their referrals would cause sales to climb even higher.

She remembered something Yang Hui had once said. He didn’t seek to open a large number of stores; he sought to open high-quality ones. Only high-quality stores could generate high profits, which in turn allowed for excellent employee benefits, creating a virtuous cycle. It was a stark contrast to many other companies, where performance was left to chance. They would eke out meager profits by cutting employee compensation, then try to accumulate that profit by opening more and more stores.

The latter approach was not only extremely irresponsible to employees but also carried significant operational risk. Every store requires fixed investments in things like renovations and fixtures. If a store becomes unprofitable and has to be shut down, those investments can’t be recouped, leading to major losses.

As for Yanghe Commerce’s model, while they had used very high standards for the store’s renovation, the total investment came to only 500,000.

To achieve Yanghe Commerce’s level of performance, a company relying on stores that only generate a little over 1 million in annual sales would need to open more than fifteen locations. Even if they scrimped on renovation costs as much as possible, spending just over 100,000 per store, the total cost for fifteen stores would be much higher than what Yanghe Commerce had spent. And that wasn’t even touching on labor costs. They would need at least ten times more staff than Yanghe Commerce. Even if the individual labor cost was lower, the total payroll would be vastly higher.

However, Cheng Jun’s thoughts were a bit idealistic. Not just anyone could secure a prime location like the number one corner store in the central hall of Xinyue Square’s first floor, nor could they get such low rent. Yanghe Commerce knew from the very beginning that they were guaranteed to make a killing, so they offered employees high salaries and demanded high service standards, which in turn created a cascade of positive effects.

But most companies couldn’t afford to be so optimistic when opening a new store, especially in the current economic climate. Their primary consideration was cutting costs to avoid losses, which naturally made them look like they were penny-pinching at every turn.

In short, Yanghe Commerce’s success was the result of a collective team effort, combined with powerful external support. It was a formula that others couldn’t replicate.

Meanwhile, at the NLB Brand Company headquarters, Song Wen had her assistant pull up the previous day’s operational metrics.

The 57,000 sales figure was so dazzling that she felt compelled to uncover the secret behind the numbers. She also pulled up the nationwide operational metrics from the previous day for comparison.

Nationwide Average: Conversion Rate 9.6%, Joint-Sale Rate 2.2

Yanghe Commerce: Conversion Rate 28%, Joint-Sale Rate 3.5

Just as she’d thought, the operational metrics were a clear reflection of management quality. The Yanghe Commerce store’s numbers were several times higher than the national average. On top of that, its customer traffic was among the highest in the country, which all contributed to this outcome.

Then she glanced at the data for Futong Commerce, and her brow furrowed. ’What is this garbage?’ The numbers were a complete disaster. Yesterday’s sales were a paltry 2,800, and the operational metrics were too abysmal to even look at:

Futong Commerce: Conversion Rate 2.7%, Joint-Sale Rate 1.2.

Everyone else was making progress, yet this company was in constant decline. That Li Yang talked such a big game, but his management skills were dead last in the country. No one could even challenge him for the bottom spot. With operational data like this, you didn’t need to hire salespeople; a couple of stockroom clerks could pull off the same numbers.

She recalled her phone calls with Serene over the last couple of days. From her, she’d learned about the wages Li Yang offered his NLB store employees, as well as that bastard’s ridiculous performance-bet agreement. She had laughed out of pure rage when she heard it. ’What century are we in? Do you think your employees are just going to put up with such inhumane management tactics?’

’Do you think this is twenty years ago? That salesclerks will kill themselves working for a few thousand yuan? They’re thinking, "No matter how hard we work, we’ll never hit that target. We’re not getting paid either way, so why not just coast?" And Li Yang’s brilliant idea is, "Oh, you all want to coast? Fine, I’ll just ramp up the policy pressure. If you coast, you get nothing."’

’This isn’t management; it’s an antagonistic game. The manager has zero strategy and just blindly applies pressure. As a result, all the good employees have left, and the only ones who remain are those who just want to coast. Serene said that if you go to the store, you can often see the staff just scrolling through short-form videos on their phones.’