I'm back in 1990

Chapter 731: Ridicule

When Jiang Bixing received the call, he was in his office monitoring the back-end data of all the stores. The entire Shidai system has a complete electronic data system that is upgraded from time to time. Everyone in Shidai Commerce Group has different access rights based on their job responsibilities.

From frontline employees to everyone in Jiang Bixing's era of business group, everyone has their own authority. Of course, Jiang Bixing has the highest authority, so he can see first-hand information such as customer traffic, sales volume, and inventory of each store directly from his office through this system.

Furthermore, the system comes with various data anomaly alert functions, such as abnormal average order value and abnormal inventory, which can help managers detect anomalies as soon as possible.

After receiving the call, Jiang Bixing immediately instructed his secretary to tell the driver to wait for him downstairs. He grabbed his coat and hurried downstairs, with his secretary following closely behind.

About half an hour later, Jiang Bixing arrived at the Wukang store and met Huang Xiaochuan in the customer rest area on the third floor.

Jiang Bixing's sudden appearance at the store triggered a chain reaction. Employees who recognized him immediately reported the situation to the store manager. After confirming that Jiang Bixing was indeed at his store, the store manager quickly reported it to his superior, the Shanghai Regional Manager. The Shanghai Regional Manager then reported it to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai Regional Manager, who in turn reported it to the Group Headquarters Operations Director. Before long, these people hurriedly left their respective offices to meet at the Wukang store.

Jiang Bixing had only just met Huang Xiaochuan and hadn't even had a chance to exchange a few words when the shop manager, looking flustered, rushed over to greet Jiang Bixing.

"General Manager Jiang!"

Jiang Bixing merely glanced at him before waving his hand: "The shop is busy right now, go ahead and get back to work!"

Upon hearing this, the store manager dared not linger and immediately returned to the control panel. He then used the walkie-talkie to remind all employees in each department of the store that the big boss had come to the store and everyone needed to be on high alert.

Upon receiving the news, the store's security chief personally led a team to guard the perimeter of the customer rest area.

Huang Xiaochuan and Jiang Bixing sat in a corner of the rest area and started chatting.

Jiang Bixing reported to Huang Xiaochuan, "In recent years, the competition in the supermarket industry has been fierce, mainly due to the increasing number of foreign supermarket brands. Walmart, Metro, Carrefour, Tesco, Lotus, and E-Mart have all opened stores in China one after another, and they came in with a lot of aggressiveness, even starting a price war. Fortunately, you formulated a strategy of online and offline dual-platform sales, which allowed us to remain invincible."

Huang Xiaochuan nodded, affirming Jiang Bixing's work, and also reminded him: "The focus of future commerce is to provide customers with more convenient distribution services, so we need to increase investment in logistics and warehousing."

Jiang Bixing confidently promised, "Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on this matter! Currently, our Times Logistics is unique in all of China, both in terms of hardware and software."

Just as the two were talking, a group of senior executives in charge of operations from Times Commerce arrived one after another. They all stood outside the customer rest area, not daring to go forward.

The operations director at headquarters knew Huang Xiaochuan. Seeing the big boss talking to the CEO, he naturally didn't dare to approach and could only obediently stand outside the rest area with his group of subordinates.

Huang Xiaochuan frowned when he saw more than a dozen people in suits standing outside the rest area, and Jiang Bixing immediately noticed his expression.

Jiang Bixing then summoned his secretary and whispered a few words in his ear.

The secretary then approached the operations director at headquarters and politely said, "Mr. You, Mr. Jiang has instructed you to go about your business. The stores are busy and there are many people, so you should go back!"

The operations director didn't hesitate and immediately left with his team. Instead of squeezing onto the escalator with the customers, the dozen or so of them took the emergency exit.

As the group descended the stairs, the regional manager of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, who had a good relationship with the operations director at headquarters, asked, "Boss, who's sitting opposite the big boss? Highly recommend '1990, I'm Back'! Click to enter the story world."

The operations director at headquarters suddenly stopped, and everyone else followed suit, waiting curiously for the answer. After all, they weren't blind; their boss was behaving with utmost respect in front of that person, clearly indicating that person's identity was not simple.

The operations director at headquarters didn't keep everyone waiting long, quickly revealing the answer: "That's our CEO's boss! Mr. Huang!"

Everyone was taken aback: "Huh?"

Everyone was taken aback: "Huh?"

"Is that our big boss?"

"Wow, I was wondering why I felt like I'd seen this somewhere before."

"So the rumors were true! They said the big boss and our CEO are alumni!"

"It's said that the big boss is very knowledgeable about finance, and that he made his fortune through finance and securities. Why would he think of going into retail? That doesn't make sense!" someone said, puzzled.

"Shut up! You talk too much nonsense. Just do your job!" The headquarters operations director glared at the person who had just spoken.

After the group of executives left, Huang and Jiang continued their previous conversation.

Huang Xiaochuan said, "These outsiders are the best at disrupting the market. Price wars are just the most superficial competition. Take Walmart for example. Its core competitiveness is its global supply chain system and a set of operational management models accumulated over decades. So we should also learn from our competitors' strengths and use them for our own benefit."

Jiang Bixing nodded. He had also been having some ideas recently, and he planned to take this opportunity to communicate with Huang Xiaochuan to gain his support.

"I understand. I also have a plan. I plan to add twelve more secondary storage and transportation warehouses to the existing eight logistics centers in the four regions of East China, South China, North China, and Southwest China, and introduce the latest upgraded automated sorting system. I had someone do a rough calculation, and this will reduce the warehousing and turnover time of fresh produce by 18% and the turnover time of standard goods by 6%. This will make it possible to guarantee same-city delivery within half an hour, or same-day delivery of large items."

Huang Xiaochuan nodded: "That's good, I support this plan."

After receiving Huang Xiaochuan's support, Jiang Bixing gained confidence and continued, "I also plan to pilot a new business format, somewhere between a large supermarket and a community convenience store. It will be a premium lifestyle store model, mainly selling high-quality fresh produce, imported food, and trendy goods. These stores will be mainly located in upscale communities and near high-end office buildings to cater to a segment of consumers with higher demands."

Huang Xiaochuan listened carefully to Jiang Bixing's report, then tapped the table in front of him lightly with his knuckles as he pondered Jiang Bixing's idea.

Jiang Bixing waited expectantly for Huang Xiaochuan's reply.

After a long pause, Huang Xiaochuan said, "Let's open a few of those new store models you mentioned first to test the results. If the revenue rate meets the target, then we can promote it further."

Jiang Bixing nodded, indicating that he understood.

Huang Xiaochuan then asked, "How's things going with Jack Ma now?"

Jiang Bixing gave a mocking look: "Oh! His e-commerce platform is doing rather poorly right now. David Young must be incredibly frustrated. It seems he won't be able to recoup his initial investment."

This is all because, under Huang Xiaochuan's guidance, Shidai Commerce took advantage of the convenience of online payment. Now, following Huang Xiaochuan's advice, the authorities are strictly controlling online payment licenses to prevent the situation from becoming too big to handle. Therefore, Jack Ma has difficulty obtaining an online payment license and can only rely on Shoujietong to conduct online sales. However, his online sales are surrounded by the ubiquitous Shidai stores, and he is currently facing great difficulties in his business.

Huang Xiaochuan smiled but didn't say anything.

He then stood up and said to Jiang Bixing, "Alright, you go ahead and do your thing! I'm going to take a stroll home."

Jiang Bixing quickly stood up as well: "Let me see you out!"

Huang Xiaochuan waved his hand: "It's only a short walk, don't bother seeing me off. I know you're busy, go ahead and do your thing! I'm leaving!" After saying that, Huang Xiaochuan left with his people.