Chapter 377: Investing in the Future European Sales Giant
Chapter 377: Investing in a Future European Retail Giant
February 12:
At Changxing Building, Yang Wendong was on the rooftop, inviting several of the company's veteran employees to have tea. They were Liu Huayu, head of Carrefour, Wei Zetao of Changxing Industrial, Wang Zhiqun of Honor Electronics, Zheng Yuhua of Changxing Shipping, and Lin Youqiang who had just returned from Europe.
"Come on, A-Lin, I'll toast you with this cup of tea." Yang Wendong raised his glass, smiled and said, "You've been in Europe and America for the past few years. It's rare for you to come back to Hong Kong to see your family. Thank you for your hard work."
Lin Youcheng quickly stood up, raised his glass, and kept it below Yang Wendong's. He said, "Mr. Yang, you are too polite. This is what I should do."
Zheng Yuhua, Wei Zetao and Liu Huayu beside him also raised their glasses and said, "Mr. Lin, you are too polite. You have expanded the group's channels in the United States in recent years. This is a great contribution in itself. We would like to toast you as well."
"Thank you all." Seeing that it was hard to refuse such a kind invitation, Lin Youqi agreed and said with a smile.
"Okay, in the last few days of the year, let's just get together and discuss future industrial planning." Yang Wendong also said, "Don't be shy, just treat it as a casual chat. It's not a formal meeting. If you have any ideas, just raise them."
Large groups have formal meetings, but there are also times for casual chats, and in a more relaxed environment, there are many good suggestions.
"Okay." Everyone understood that this was an easy game, and since the boss Yang Wendong also had a good personality, everyone relaxed.
Yang Wendong said: "We recruited several people today because our development in the manufacturing industry has reached a considerable scale, so the expansion of channels is the top priority for the next period of time;
Many companies are actually capable of producing high-quality products, but their scale is limited due to insufficient channels.”
He who controls the channels controls the world. This is a true saying. Unless it is a situation like when Apple launched the smartphone in 07, channels are king for products in most eras. Even Apple a few years later was the same.
In the early days, the group's main focus was still on increasing production capacity, controlling quality, etc., and then moving into the upper part of the industrial chain; now these cannot be said to have been completed, but they are almost there, and they can be gradually advanced over time, and then it is natural to consider expanding in another direction.
Wei Zetao asked: "Mr. Yang, do we also need investment channels in Europe and the United States?"
"That's not the case. Omnichannel investment is impossible. Even Coca-Cola can't do it. We have many kinds of products." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "In the early years, we were small and didn't have many choices. So basically in Europe and the United States, except for 3M, other channel partners were not careful in their choices.
However, most of the agency contracts we signed at that time were for five years, and these contracts are gradually expiring, so you need to carefully choose whether to renew the contract. If there are other better options, they will also be reviewed and approved. Now our products have a certain market, and we have some say in this regard. "
Today, several products of Changxing Industrial cannot be said to be extremely popular, but after years of operation, they have gained some brand reputation. In addition, they nominally have patents, so they naturally have a say.
Wei Zetao agreed and said, "Okay, I will conduct a large-scale thorough investigation in countries around the world to eliminate some dealers who are not doing well."
“Well,” Yang Wendong continued, “On the other hand, we also need to increase cooperation with some dealers with greater potential. As you all know, I invested in a supermarket in the United States called Walmart, and Lao Liu also came from this company;
Lin Youqi went to Europe some time ago and spent several months there, investing in several supermarkets. The scale of these supermarkets is not large, but we can also cooperate with them. "
Lin Youqi also said: "Yes, these European companies are TESCO from the UK, Auchan and Carrefour from France.
I have some information about them here, you can take a look, and if possible, contact them and work with them individually."
Everyone took the information and looked at it for a while. Wang Zhiqun said, "This TESCO is still an honorable customer of mine. My electric mosquito swatters are also sold in this supermarket after they are sold to the UK. However, they are sold through traders over there, not directly from me."
"The scale of these companies is not very large now." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "But we can also contact them individually through Changxing Trade, so that we can reduce the cost to the lowest level. It would be best if we could become one of their exclusive suppliers of goods. This way, it would be good for both of us."
Under normal circumstances, this mode of operation is not worthwhile because there are too many retail businesses of this size and it is impossible to contact them one by one.
However, the time traveler knows the future potential of these companies, and since he has already invested in them, it is naturally cost-effective to do so. It can not only bring stable customers to his own manufacturing factories, but also bring some cost reduction to the invested retail supermarkets.
"Okay, Mr. Wei and I will contact these companies to see what they need. We can also use Changxing Shipping to transport them all at once." Wang Zhiqun agreed. In fact, the cost control of his group in Hong Kong has almost reached its limit. He produces by himself, controls the supply chain by himself, and controls the transportation channels. At this time, he really needs to consider investing resources in the channels.
Once the channels are optimized, new products can be launched directly in the future. After all, a retail outlet that can sell one home appliance can basically also sell other home appliances.
"That's fine with me." After Wei Zetao agreed, he asked Lin Youqian, "Mr. Lin, how many shares did you invest in these companies?"
"Not a lot." Lin Youqiang glanced at Yang Wendong and said, "In fact, there were originally more than a dozen companies that wanted to invest, but after I stayed in Europe for a few months, only these few companies finally agreed to let us invest, and that was with some additional conditions.
But I have already told them about our group's production situation in Hong Kong, so as long as you contact them, there is at least something to discuss.'
Yang Wendong also smiled and said, "Yes, the shares are not many, but they haven't been listed yet, so there will be opportunities in the future, so you should cooperate as you wish, and don't worry about my business."
He wants to invest in future global supermarket giants because the supermarket industry is just beginning in this era, and except for a few that have successfully transformed from department stores, the rest are just small players.
However, after all, he was an unknown capital, and it was difficult to successfully invest even in small companies. During the past six months, Lin Youqiang basically reported to him on the negotiation status of various companies every few days. It could be said that it was difficult to make any progress.
Finally, after half a year, we successfully acquired several points of shares, averaging about 5%.
It’s not a lot, but there’s still a lot of time in the future, so he is not in a hurry. Once these companies go public, he will have plenty of opportunities.
Zheng Yuhua smiled and said: "I will also fully cooperate with our brother companies. Although I cannot deliver goods to all ports, I will coordinate the resources of other fleets. We are all related to each other in the shipping industry."
"Well, good." Yang Wendong nodded: "I hope everyone will fully cooperate to open up our channels and transportation systems in the next few years or even more than ten years. In this way, we can ensure that the entire industrial chain is gradually controlled by us, or at least part of the benefits are in our hands."
The ultimate goal of enterprise development is to gradually take control of the front-end supply chain and back-end sales of products. In this way, when similar products are produced in the future, the costs in this regard will be greatly reduced, thereby minimizing the overall operating costs.
"Price/performance ratio" is the most powerful weapon in commercial competition, even stronger than the protective effect of patents. As long as a product has the lowest price in the world, the entire market belongs to it, an absolute monopoly. It will be difficult for traditional industries to be subverted in the future.
For example, in the papermaking industry, if the front and back ends are connected and the price is the best, it will be the "Coca-Cola" of the new era. It seems that the profit of a single piece of paper is very low, but with the scale effect, the profit will be higher. And even if electronic products will promote "paperless" on the surface in the future, in fact, it is because of the popularity of printers and computers, which will only magnify the market demand compared to now.
And toilet paper, napkins, tissues, etc., are impossible to be replaced. With the development of economy, Asia, the most populous region, will gradually start to use them.
"Yes, Mr. Yang." Wei Zetao and others agreed.
Yang Wendong added: "In addition, Asia and the Middle East also need to be taken seriously. No matter what product it is, it is for people to use, and Asia has the largest number of people."
Wei Zetao replied: "I understand. Currently, Changxing Trade is in charge of the channels in the Asian market. They also connect with local trading companies. The local retail industry is relatively chaotic, and most of the stores are small-scale. It is difficult for us to bypass traders and cooperate with such small retailers like Europe and the United States."
"Well, let's do it this way for now. We'll consider it again in the future when there are large retail companies in Southeast Asia." Yang Wendong had no choice but to agree.
Southeast Asia today is similar to Hong Kong a dozen years ago. There are only a few large shopping malls, and most of them are grocery stores. In this case, it is impossible for foreign capital to connect with hundreds or thousands of grocery stores and it can only cooperate through local traders or distributors.
And according to Yang Wendong's memory, Southeast Asia did not seem to have any local retail giants in the past.
It seems that the best way is to find an opportunity to open a Carrefour in the future, which is more secure.
PS: I will update another chapter in the afternoon when my stomach feels better. Please give me your monthly vote.
(End of this chapter)