I'm back in 1990

Chapter 574: Laying Out the Future Business Landscape

Cola Novels always has a story waiting for you to open.

May has quietly arrived. On the campus of the University of Finance and Economics, the cascading blossoms of several old wisteria vines resemble purple waterfalls, while roses climb the railings, blooming profusely. They competed to show off their beauty.

However, Huang Xiaochuan had no interest in lingering over the vibrant spring scenery; he went straight to the van that had come to pick him up. Gao Song then got into the passenger seat and simply instructed the driver, "To the Times Supermarket headquarters!"

The headquarters of Times Supermarket is located in the Shanghai-Hangzhou area. The main building consists of two parts: the lower part is a four-story podium, which is the flagship store of Times Supermarket, encompassing indoor and outdoor parking and warehouse sales areas, with a total area of ​​over 40,000 square meters; the upper part is a fourteen-story headquarters building.

The property rights of this building belong to Times Assets, a subsidiary of Times Supermarket. In other words, the property rights of this building belong to Times Supermarket. In the past, land prices were relatively cheap. Now, it would be much more difficult to buy such a large piece of land in the city center.

With the backing of Huang Xiaochuan's substantial capital over the years, Times Supermarket has rapidly risen to become a giant in China's retail industry. Through continuous mergers, acquisitions, and new store expansion, its business empire now spans over 100 cities in southern China: it owns more than 70 large department stores, 17 large warehouse-style supermarkets "tis superarket", more than 200 Times Super Shopping Center stores, and more than 500 Times Supermarket stores scattered throughout various communities. If its development trajectory is marked on a map, one can clearly see its expansion from Shanghai as its core, spreading outwards like wildfire.

Relying on the increasingly完善的高速网络 in China, Times Supermarket has established efficient warehousing and logistics centers in various southern provinces to ensure that goods can be allocated to each store in a timely manner, and a large-scale modern logistics system has been formed.

While all of this stemmed from Huang Xiaochuan's strategic blueprint and the support of substantial funds, Jiang Bixing's contributions in the specific implementation and promotion were indispensable.

When a small convoy of three vans approached the headquarters building, Charlie Cho was already waiting downstairs with Chiang Pi-hsing. As the head of the investor, Hong Kong Avenue Group, Charlie Cho also serves as the chairman of Times Supermarket, and therefore was required to attend today's meeting.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Cao Charlie stepped forward and opened the car door for Huang Xiaochuan. "Mr. Huang!"

Huang Xiaochuan got out of the car and patted Cao Charlie on the shoulder lightly: "From now on, just let the secretary handle these small matters."

Charlie Cho said humbly, "It is my honor to serve Mr. Wong."

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan smiled faintly and said no more.

Jiang Bixing immediately stepped forward and shook hands firmly with Huang Xiaochuan: "Chairman."

At this moment, Gao Yue, who had been promoted to head of the Human Resources Department of Times Supermarket, quickly stepped forward and respectfully shook hands with Huang Xiaochuan: "Chairman!"

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at her name tag and joked, "Not bad, you've become a senior executive?"

Gao Yue had long since shed the naivety of her early days as a junior real estate salesperson and had become much more composed. She respectfully replied, "It's all thanks to Mr. Huang for this opportunity. Without you, I might still be working in sales."

Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "No need to be so modest. Ability is fundamental. Without real skills, this position wouldn't be yours. If you have the ability, you won't have to worry about development anywhere. Just do your job well."

"Thank you, Chairman! I will definitely work even harder!" Gao Yue felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and her eyes welled up with tears—the boss's recognition greatly encouraged her.

Huang Xiaochuan shook hands with Zhou Wei again and asked him with concern, "How's the work going?"

Zhou Wei said sincerely, "There are so many things to deal with, and this is the first time I've ever shouldered such a heavy burden."

Huang Xiaochuan patted him on the shoulder: "If you have any difficulties, just go directly to General Manager Jiang."

Zhou Wei smiled and nodded to Jiang Bixing, then replied to Huang Xiaochuan, "Understood!"

Only a few people came to greet him; the other senior executives were not allowed to come downstairs—this was precisely what Huang Xiaochuan had specifically requested. He disliked pomp and circumstance and preferred simplicity to formalities.

The conference room on the twelfth floor was already prepared. The group took the elevator directly there.

At the start of the meeting, Huang Xiaochuan got straight to the point, addressing the core issue:

"Old Jiang, my request is: starting today, all home appliance departments in each supermarket store will be separated from the existing supermarket system and a brand new, professional chain home appliance retail company will be established, named 'Era Home Appliances'."

"You will be fully responsible for this matter and will temporarily serve as the acting general manager of 'Times Home Appliances'. Once the new company structure is in place and on track, you will recommend a suitable candidate to take over as general manager."

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Bixing readily agreed: "Yes, Chairman!"

Huang Xiaochuan had discussed this matter in detail with him beforehand, and today's announcement at the meeting is merely a formality.

Not long ago, Huang Xiaochuan showed Jiang Bixing a set of deductive analysis experiments based on data models and related theories, the results of which deeply impressed Jiang Bixing. The experiment simulated the future business landscape: taking the emerging "e-commerce" model in the United States (such as eBay) as a reference, and combining it with the trend of technological development, it clearly revealed that in the future, e-commerce will massively erode the revenue of traditional businesses and lead to the disappearance of a large number of traditional retail jobs.

Huang Xiaochuan emphasized at the time that the tide of commerce is unstoppable, but challenges can be turned into opportunities by adapting to the circumstances. Resisting or stifling e-commerce is pointless; driven by huge profits, if you don't do it, others will flock to it. Therefore, Huang Xiaochuan's strategy was to proactively upgrade the existing business system in a forward-looking manner by leveraging this emerging model.

He painted a grand picture for Jiang Bixing. Only then did Jiang Bixing truly understand the profound meaning behind Huang Xiaochuan's strategic planning over the years, including establishing Times Supermarket, building a warehousing and logistics network, and now pursuing independent home appliance retail.

According to Huang Xiaochuan's vision, the future Times Supermarket Group will have its own online sales platform. Relying on its well-established warehousing and logistics system and its network of physical stores covering cities of all sizes across the country, customers can have their orders delivered on the same day or the next day after placing them online.

Furthermore, Times Supermarket's massive logistics capabilities can be integrated into the entire e-commerce ecosystem in the future. After all, possessing the most powerful warehousing and logistics system in all of China is an infrastructure that no e-commerce platform can afford to ignore.

The benefits of such a layout are obvious: traditional businesses can continue and upgrade, and jobs can be preserved; at the same time, the introduction of new models will create more new jobs.

Huang Xiaochuan deeply detests e-commerce models that claim to "eliminate intermediaries" but actually subvert traditional business logic. He sharply points out that while such models may initially seem to benefit consumers, they are ultimately short-sighted and will lead to a decline in consumer income, creating a vicious cycle. In this lifetime, he is determined to break this unhealthy and unchecked growth and reshape a healthy and sustainable business ecosystem.

Jiang Bixing has long been a loyal supporter of Huang Xiaochuan. The two are not only alumni but also business partners. Although Jiang Bixing has made great contributions to the development of Times Supermarket to this point, it would not have been possible to develop to this point without Huang Xiaochuan's strategic thinking and funding.

Jiang Bixing firmly believed that if Huang Xiaochuan's blueprint were followed, the scale of the future Times Supermarket would be even more unimaginable. Thinking of this, Jiang Bixing was filled with strength and energy.

The minutes of this meeting set the tone for the development of supermarkets and shopping malls in the future.

Before leaving, Huang Xiaochuan spoke a few words to Zhou Wei, who came downstairs to see him off.

"Old Zhou, there's a saying: 'Don't be ashamed to ask questions of those who are less knowledgeable.' You must learn to use and respect talent. Take Liu Bang, for example. He wasn't good at military affairs, and he wasn't much better at literature. It was by knowing how to use people that he was able to establish the Han dynasty, which lasted for hundreds of years."

Zhou Wei was a quick-witted man, and he naturally understood what Huang Xiaochuan meant, so he nodded and said sincerely, "I understand, Mr. Huang, please don't worry!"

Huang Xiaochuan patted Zhou Wei on the shoulder: "Alright, that's settled!"

After saying that, Huang Xiaochuan got into the car. Gao Song closed the car door, smiled at Cao Charlie, Jiang Bixing, Zhou Wei and the others, and then got into the passenger seat. He opened the window and waved goodbye to them, while Huang Xiaochuan sat upright without moving.

Cao Charlie, Jiang Bixing, Zhou Wei, and the others stood at the entrance of the Times Supermarket headquarters and watched the convoy leave until the cars were out of sight.