Chapter 291: Jardine Matheson enters the competition

Chapter 291: Jardine Matheson enters the competition

Chapter 291: Jardine Matheson enters the competition

Next, Yang Wendong followed Wei Zetao to visit different workshops, and finally came to the place where the Rubik's Cube was produced.

"How much can this little toy sell in a year now?" Yang Wendong picked up a Rubik's Cube and asked with a smile.

This toy, which I paid much attention to in my early years, is now performing mediocrely within Changxing Industrial.

Wei Zetao replied: "There are about 100 million, mainly because there are many pirated products. We can only control the local markets where the regulations are relatively complete."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "I heard that someone in the UK has published a book about how to restore the Rubik's Cube?"

In recent years, the Rubik's Cube has basically been in a free-range model. Relying on its characteristics as a "high IQ toy", it has gradually become popular among highly educated people.

Among the many people who are proficient in mathematics, some discovered the mathematical logic contained in it and participated in the research, and eventually a stable recovery method was found.

Wei Zetao said: "Yes, a mathematics professor at Oxford University in the UK has compiled a complete method to crack the Rubik's Cube, which can restore the Rubik's Cube to normal from any angle.

After we confirmed it, we gave him HK$10,000 as agreed in the previous publicity.”

"Yeah," Yang Wendong nodded, and then said, "Okay, this popularity has passed. Next, I have to prepare the next promotion method. I want to launch a Rubik's Cube Restoration Competition."

"Competition?" Wei Zetao immediately understood: "What Mr. Yang meant is to get multiple people together and then compete to see who recovers faster?"

"Yes, that's about the idea." Yang Wendong nodded.

In the early days, few people knew about the Rubik's Cube, so it was impossible to hold such a competition, and we did not have the energy and financial resources to do such a thing on a global scale.

Even if we cooperate with local people, it is not easy, because television time is a very scarce resource in this era.

Now, several years have passed, Rubik's Cube itself has become well-known, and I have a certain amount of financial strength, so I can try to do this.

Wei Zetao thought for a moment and said, "This is indeed a good way to promote it, but it would be best if we had the cooperation of the TV station."

Yang Wendong said: "Yes, we can just cooperate with Rediffusion. Although they have fewer users, this is the only condition available in Hong Kong now.
Let’s try it out in Hong Kong first, and if the results are good, we can try it out in other countries.”

Hong Kong does not have a wireless television station now, but only one Rediffusion Television, which will be the Asia Television in the future.
Because it adopts the cable channel model, the charges are expensive, costing HK$35 per month. This price results in the number of users being less than .

Not a very ideal partner, but this is what we have for now.

Wei Zetao nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go discuss it with the people at ATV."

"Hmm~" Yang Wendong continued, "The launch of this Rubik's Cube competition is also to increase the popularity of the Rubik's Cube, but ultimately we don't want to make money from the Rubik's Cube, but to use its unique characteristics to open up our toy channels.

In this way, when our own toys come out later, it will be easier to open up the market, but there is a prerequisite, the cultural industry must make achievements. "

"I see." Wei Zetao said with a smile: "If the toy itself is not well-known, then we can only make some water gun toys or animal models like other toy factories;

Even if we make a doll, no matter how good it looks, it won’t sell for a good price and will definitely be taken advantage of by the dealers.”

"Right." Yang Wendong asked again: "So how are other toy factories doing in terms of channels now?"

Wei Zetao replied: “Changxing Trade contacted the channels known through Mofang to find new customers for some toy factories in the industrial park;
At present, we have achieved some results. Last month's trade volume exceeded HK$100,000."

Yang Wendong said: "Okay, let's continue to expand the channels, then when our other toys come out, it will be much better."

Just as Honor Electronics can easily solve many supply chain problems today, its investment in the Rubik's Cube is to have more convenient channels when the toy industry develops in the future.

However, it takes some time for the cultural industry to export.

Time soon came to July 7th:
Tsim Sha Tsui East Market:
This has become the most famous vegetable market in the whole of Tsim Sha Tsui, not because of its good quality or attentive service, but because there was once a young man who set up a stall selling mousetraps here, and today he has become a top Chinese tycoon in Hong Kong.

Many people even come here specifically to take a look.

"Fresh vegetables, just delivered from the mainland." an old lady shouted.

"Give me some of this, and this, and two of that radish." A woman came over and said one by one.

"Okay." The auntie weighed the dishes one by one in a familiar manner and then told the prices.

The woman seemed to have plenty of money and did not bargain. She immediately took out the cloth bag behind her and prepared to put the vegetables in it.

The auntie suddenly said, "Miss, do you want to use a plastic bag? This plastic bag costs 2 cents and you can put all the vegetables in it."

"Plastic bags?" the woman asked in surprise, "Aren't plastic bags only available in Carrefour?"

The auntie smiled and said, "That was in the past. I heard that plastic bags have started to be supplied to the whole of Hong Kong. Since we have some connection with Mr. Yang, we got them first."

"Oh, so that's what's going on." The woman understood, but said, "But I already brought a cloth bag, and your plastic bag also costs money, so let's do it next time."

The auntie said, "Miss, if you use this cloth bag to carry vegetables, it will definitely get dirty, right?"

The woman nodded in agreement.

The old lady continued: "When the bag gets dirty, you have to go home to wash it and dry it. You have to use water yourself. With so much time and energy, isn't it better to buy a 2-cent bag?
Even if this bag gets dirty, you can just rinse it with water, fold it up, and use it somewhere else, right?"

"Yes, okay, let's buy one." The woman thought it made sense.

Compared to cloth bags, plastic bags do not need to be washed; compared to paper bags, plastic bags are not easy to break; compared to baskets, plastic bags are light and can be folded;
If you put it in your pocket, no one will know what you are going to do. It is not expensive, so if you forget to bring it, you can just buy another one.

If you think about it, there really isn’t a more convenient bag than this one.

In the following days, plastic bags began to appear not only in the Dongcai Market, but throughout Hong Kong. From high-end shopping malls to the most ordinary grocery stores, almost every store had plastic bags.

All of a sudden, people found that life had become much more convenient.

You no longer need to prepare a big basket at home and take it to the place where you want to buy things, which makes it inconvenient to do many other things. Now, you can put a plastic bag in your pocket and go out directly. You can go out to play or do business first, and then go to the place where you want to buy things when you are ready to go home.

Even if you forget the bag, it’s okay, one bag only costs two or three cents.

Changxing Square:

"Mr. Zhao, come, have a drink." Yang Wendong said with a smile, raising his glass.

Zhao Chengguang quickly said, "Mr. Yang, let me toast you first."

In just four years, the young man who he gave an opportunity to cooperate with has now become a tycoon in Hong Kong's business community. Zhao Chengguang dare not be the same as before.

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, our relationship is more than just a cooperative one. I am also very grateful for your help to me in the past."

In 58, if I had not cooperated with Zhao Chengguang and leased the warehouse and the subsequent rat extermination task at the dock, even if I had succeeded in starting my own business later, it would not have been as rapid as it is today.

Although it cannot be said to be a great favor, it was just a business cooperation at the beginning, but Yang Wendong was still polite to Zhao Chengguang and gave him priority in various cooperation within Hong Kong.

"Mr. Yang, you're too polite." Zhao Chengguang said with a smile, "I have to thank Mr. Yang for taking care of me over the past few years. My business has expanded more than tenfold."

"It's my duty." Yang Wendong asked again: "I also want to thank Mr. Zhao for promoting the plastic bags this time."

Zhao Chengguang said, "Mr. Yang, your plastic bag is actually the same even without me. It is so convenient and sells so well. Many people are scrambling to get it."

Yang Wendong laughed and said, "Haha, that's normal. After Carrefour adopted plastic bags, its turnover increased by nearly 30%."

Zhao Chengguang said: "Congratulations to Mr. Yang on his career advancement. However, I heard that many people are now shipping plastic bags at high prices to nearby Southeast Asian countries."

"As expected, these people have good vision." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But it doesn't matter. I'm already preparing to increase production capacity. When the time comes, we will do this business ourselves."

"That's good." Zhao Chengguang smiled, and then said, "Mr. Yang, there is something I want to tell you."

"What?" Yang Wendong asked.

Zhao Chengguang said: "The Landmark Group is preparing to enter the supermarket field. Their people have contacted me and want me to supply them with some goods."

"Oh, it's Jardine Matheson after all." Yang Wendong was not surprised. He knew a few months ago that a consortium was planning to open a supermarket.

This is mainly because supermarket business, if done well, not only brings profit, but also cash flow;

There were no supermarkets in Hong Kong before, and the local big financial groups might not pay attention to overseas. But when Yang Wendong opened Carrefour in Hong Kong, this business model appeared before our eyes.

Zhao Chengguang said: "Yes, Jardine Matheson owns a large number of properties in Hong Kong Island. If they want to enter the market, it is estimated that they will be able to open supermarkets in a very short time, and the number will not be small."

"There is a profitable business, and everyone wants to do it. It's normal." Yang Wendong said cheerfully: "Come on, it's normal competition. I'm not afraid of him."

Everyone wants to monopolize the business, but it is basically impossible in the service industry. Even if a monopoly can be achieved, it will only be achieved after competition from multiple parties.

Originally, in history, the competition was between ParknShop and Wellcome, and the consortiums behind them were Hutchison Whampoa and Jardine Matheson. The two sides had been competitive for decades, but had not formed a substantial unilateral monopoly.

Although I introduced the supermarket model to Hong Kong about ten years ago, other consortiums are not blind. After seeing it, they naturally want to do the same. This is normal.

If you want to achieve a monopoly, you can use this competition opportunity to promote the development of the supermarket industry, ultimately achieve a duopoly, and then compete again.

Zhao Chengguang asked, "It seems that Yang Sheng is no longer afraid of Yihe?"

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "There's nothing to worry about. Although I'm not as financially capable as them, any industry won't necessarily be successful just because you have money.
Supermarkets look simple, but it is not easy to run them well.”

Carrefour's current business model was formed by imitating Walmart and then gradually changing it according to local needs.

The supermarket industry seems simple, but there is still a lot to learn if you want to do well and become strong, especially if you have already formed the first-mover advantage. Latecomers will have to pay a higher price if they want to keep up.

Zhao Chengguang said: "That's good."

Yang Wendong glanced at Zhao Chengguang and said, "Mr. Zhao, if the company asks you to supply goods, you can just supply them normally. It's no big deal. If you don't supply, they will find someone else, but there is a condition."

"Mr. Yang, please speak." Zhao Chengguang asked hurriedly.

Yang Wendong said: "The price you give them is slightly higher than the price you give us. After all, the price advantage you have is due to the strong purchasing volume of Carrefour.

This will also be good for you, you can make more money, and as for the price, you can find someone else in his place and pay the same price."

"Okay." Zhao Chengguang agreed and said, "How about this, we split the extra profit I make 50-50?"

He also knew that without Carrefour's orders, his channels would not be as smooth as they are today, and his own industry also depended on Carrefour.

"Okay." Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "Mr. Zhao, we have been working together for a long time. How about I invest some money and join your trading company?"

As for channels, a supermarket can only control some high-value goods, and it still has to rely on traders for a large amount of ordinary goods.

Even Walmart in the 21st century cannot do all the direct purchasing by itself. At most, it can use enough time to gradually optimize the supply chain.

Therefore, how to deal with the relationship with large traders is also very important. You cannot prevent other companies from supplying other retailers, but if others take advantage of your purchasing volume to lower the price and then supply, you will not be happy.

Investing in it is also a method.

"Okay, no problem." Zhao Chengguang said without hesitation, "Then I'll go back and sort out the company's accounts. Don't laugh at me, Mr. Yang, my side is still a bit messy."

Yang Wendong said, "I understand. This is a good opportunity to formalize the accounting and company management. If we want to expand, we still have to manage it as an enterprise. We may even have a chance to go public."

"Okay." Zhao Chengguang nodded, and some ideas gradually came to his mind.

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(End of this chapter)