The Industrial Giant Reborn

In the afternoon of the second day, the turnover on the first day of opening came out, and a total of 43,000 US dollars was sold. This figure is not very high. The average daily turnover of a supermarket in Fedmart can also reach this figure on weekdays, but the number of customers of the two totally different.

Although Costco had a lot of people at the beginning yesterday, they were all attracted by advertisements. They were not stable customers. After finishing their work in the afternoon, there were basically no customers. The users in the morning also had a strong shopping purpose, especially in the food area. , Toilet paper, and many specific discounted products were emptied, and the others were basically left unchanged. This is also a normal phenomenon under the marketing of a supermarket that has just opened.

In addition to turnover, another number is more important, that is, the number of members obtained on the first day. A total of 1,100 people became members and paid 25 US dollars.

This number has exceeded the expectations of Pierce’s team. Although it does not seem like much, on average, spending 50 dollars in supermarkets a month can provide a turnover of 50,000 dollars, and this is only the first day, although the subsequent daily It is impossible to have such a large number of members, but as long as we persevere and develop slowly, the supermarket will be able to operate normally when the number doubles tenfold. Estimated annual turnover of 15 million US dollars.

However, under normal circumstances, a family will only apply for one membership card, and 30,000 family customers need a large population density to support it. This is why the number of Costco in later generations is far lower than that of Wal-Mart. Warehouse-style The business model, it is doomed that he can only choose to be in a big city with a large population density. Chen Zhiwen put the first Costco in Los Angeles because of the population and economy here. When Silicon Valley develops, the economy and population will explode. It is no problem to open a second Costco across the city.

In the next few days, Chen Zhiwen has been observing the shopping dynamics of the users downstairs on the second floor. Compared with other supermarkets, the number of people is much smaller, but everyone will buy enough goods at one time. After the turnover dropped on the second day, it slowly increased. By the end of the first week, a total turnover of 170,000 US dollars was obtained, and the number of members reached 2,300.

From the second week onwards, Pierce did not really refuse non-members to enter like other mature warehouse supermarkets, but raised the price. For non-member users, the price tags of each item were standardly marked with members and non-members The price difference is 5%, as long as you accept this price, everything is OK.

If you buy less, you don't need to become a member, but if you buy more, you will naturally calculate whether it is cost-effective, especially considering that if you want to come frequently in the future, it is better to become a member early.

When everything stabilized, Chen Zhiwen breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was not as hot as imagined, it passed smoothly and met expectations. The next step is that Pierce needs to vigorously publicize and do a good job in cost control. The price has dropped to the extreme, while in Hong Kong, it is necessary to find suitable suppliers who can provide high-quality and low-cost goods to improve Costco's competitiveness in the US retail market.

As long as the first store develops smoothly, the follow-up will be expanded, because the more stores there are, the lower the operating costs will be. At the same time, whether it is in the United States or Hong Kong, the purchase can be continued by relying on large quantities. Lower prices.

The retail industry is like this, the strong get stronger, just like the Internet, Wal-Mart will dominate the United States in the future, and other supermarkets basically have to compete in a dislocation to survive. The former kings such as Kmart and Sears can only go bankrupt, and Costco Because of its early deployment in the warehouse-style market, it gained a first-mover advantage, and even Wal-Mart's full investment in Sam's Club couldn't keep up.

Chen Zhiwen's current development history is earlier than that of the original Costco, and he has more funds, but he does not dare to be careless at all. Before Wal-Mart becomes a retail supermarket giant, it must completely stabilize its position as the overlord of warehouse supermarkets.

On November 22, Chen Zhiwen left the Costco store and went outside the HP branch in Silicon Valley.

"Mr. Woz, how are you thinking?" In a 3-story office building, Chen Zhiwen took Woz in a suit that didn't seem to fit him around and said, "Here will be the place where the future beauty is located." U.S. offices."

"It's all? The third floor here is at least 10,000 square feet. It's just an arcade game. Isn't this area a bit big?" Woz asked.

"Big? In two years, you will feel small." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "Arcade games, I think the market will be huge in the future. As long as the games are fun, who would not want to play the games? Baseball and football ( How many people watch rugby, then I think how many people want to play the game, the difference is that it is impossible to have a game that everyone likes, so we need to develop various games to satisfy different people.”

"Football? Tens of millions of people? How is this possible?" Woz asked in surprise.

"Nothing is impossible. What we need to do is to make these games and put them in front of them. Atari's current strategy is very good. It attracts young people who love to play through bars, and bars have begun to accept this business. We You just need to make game products.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"What kind of game is that? I've been thinking about it for more than a week, but I have no idea." Woz asked.

"I already have the gameplay of the first game, but I can't tell you now." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "You have to become a talent of our company first, and I will be responsible for the content of the game. You only need to use your professional skills to develop it." Design this game console to achieve the best in terms of chips and energy consumption, and reduce the manufacturing cost of the equipment."

"If I don't know the content of the game, I can't figure out how many chips are needed." Woz thought for a while and said that the biggest cost of an arcade machine is the chip. Running smoothly while minimizing cost is a very complicated matter.

"It's a little easier than Atari's Arkanoid." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile, "I believe in your ability."

Things that dozens of Atari engineers could not handle were solved by Woz in 4 days, and the number of chips dropped from 120 to 44. This kind of sky-defying ability may not be found by digging people from IBM.

"Okay, Mr. Chen, I accept your invitation." Woz said, "But I need to resign from HP. I also have two important projects in hand. The handover will take at least 3-4 weeks."

"No problem. After you resign from HP, you will go directly to Hong Kong. I will pay for the accommodation and transportation all the way. We will meet in Hong Kong to talk about the future." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "In addition, I will leave I will prepare a personnel for you before, what kind of people are needed to form a team, you have the final say."

"Okay," Woz said.

"Later, Ms. An Qi will give you an offer. You can read the content, or you can consult with a lawyer. If you agree, you can sign it. After signing, the previous 30,000 US dollars will be yours." Chen Zhiwen smiled said with a smile.

"Too many, Mr. Chen." Woz, an honest IT man, said hastily.

"For me, this is just a drop in the bucket (nothing), and I also hope that in the future, this amount of money will also be a drop in the bucket for you, so, build up the team early, design the product, and then succeed, you will get unprecedented wealth " Chen Zhiwen patted Woz on the shoulder and said.