Twenty Years as a Retailer

This retailer is also the representative and epitome of tens of millions of retailers. Thank you to them.

There is an interesting coincidence in the history of Chinese retail. Many well-known retailers were born around 1995. For example, BBK was established in 1995, Yonghui’s predecessor was established in 1995, and Pandong Lai’s The predecessor opened its first store in 1995, Jiajiayue's first store opened in 1995, and Renrenle opened its first store in 1996.

During this period, many foreign retailers also entered the domestic market on a large scale. For example, Carrefour entered the Chinese market in 1995, and Wal-Mart and Metro entered in 1996. For a time, physical retail was splendid, just like the green spring scenery at the moment.

After several years of development, these retailers have gradually established a foothold, continuously expanded their territories, and opened branches in the same city and in other places. With the advent of the new century, physical retail has ushered in 20 glorious, exciting and ups and downs.

The protagonist of this article, Lin Ran, is the representative and epitome of thousands of retail people. They are not afraid of hardships, bravely shoulder responsibilities, and are more confident. From this individual story, we may be able to see familiar Plot and experience.

The first five years: 2001-2005

At the 2000 Spring Festival Gala, the host used a high-pitched voice Announced: "With the ringing of the New Year's bell, we usher in the spring of the new century."

Lin Ran, who was watching the Spring Festival Gala, was not excited at all, because he was about to graduate. Haven't found a suitable job yet. He attended a university in the west, majoring in marketing. My classmates all say that this major is like a "taiwan balm". I can do anything, but I don't have any special expertise.

After Lin Ran returned to school after winter vacation, finding a job became urgent. One day, while he was lying on the bed reading, his roommate came back to change clothes and said that a company was giving a lecture in the lecture hall and asked him if he was interested. Lin Ran thought it would be fine anyway, so he changed into special clothing for job applications - a suit he bought for job hunting, and went with his classmates.

This is the promotion of DB, a retail company. There are currently four stores. The HR in charge of recruitment said: Come to our company, we will provide good treatment and have broad room for development. You are here. Will witness the growth and development of a company.

DB also provides employee dormitories for non-local employees in coastal provinces. Lin Ran, who had never seen the sea since childhood, was moved. The roommates were also interested in this company. After a simple interview, they signed a letter of intent with HR on site.

Two days later, HR notified them of a re-examination. Two days later, they were notified to formally sign the agreement. Lin Ran called his parents for advice. Lin Ran's parents didn't know much about the situation in rural areas. They were very happy when they heard that he had found a job. Lin Ran signed the agreement, but his roommate had to give up because his parents objected and wanted him to return to his hometown to find a job. This time, DB seems to have recruited more than 10 people.

In the hot July, Lin Ran reported to DB. The company stipulates that fresh graduates must work as an intern on the front line for one year. When HR announced the news, many people said "ah".

Lin Ran was assigned to the washing team in the supermarket department of the flagship store. As soon as he arrived at his job, before he had time to get to know his colleagues, the team leader arranged for him and another male colleague to pick up goods from the inner warehouse, which was laundry detergent. Dozens of packets of washing powder were packed in a large woven bag. It was very difficult for him and his male colleague to carry them. After loading more than a dozen bags, they transported the goods back to the store.

The male colleague skillfully cut open the woven bag and threw a pair of gloves to Lin Ran. Lin Ran didn't wear it. How could he be so arrogant? The male colleague started to put the washing powder on the shelf, and while he was doing it, he told Lin Ran the key points, "Each bag of washing powder has to be smashed and smoothed by hand before it can be placed on the shelf. You see, only in this way can it look good when put on the shelf." "

After placing a few bags, Lin Ran's hands were sore from the laundry acne leaking from the outer bag, so he put on his gloves obediently. At the end of the day's work, he felt like his waist was about to break. The other fresh graduates who came together were not much better, and they were all complaining.

The next day there were people who resigned, and people kept leaving intermittently. In the end, only two of the alumni who came with him were left.

The gap between reality and dreams is huge, but it is not insurmountable.

Lin Ran never thought that he would be a tally clerk in a supermarket, repeating unskilled work on the front line every day. After experiencing a brief period of frustration and loss, Lin Ran began to pay attention to his work, such as how to select promotional products, why he chose them, and how to optimize the delivery rate. He often discussed the issues that came to his mind with his colleagues and found this job quite interesting. . After his first-year internship, he became good friends with many of his colleagues.

A year later, he was assigned to work in the flagship store business department, where he was responsible for liaising between the headquarters and the store and selecting promotional items unique to the store.

Entering a new world at once, he felt like a sponge, absorbing new knowledge and solving new problems every day. There are two computers in the office, which are only used for checking data and no one usually uses them. Lin Ran learned computers in school. He designed the workflow into a spreadsheet and passed it on to relevant colleagues. This was not only clear and eye-catching, but also made it easier for colleagues to work in the next step. Because of this form, Lin Ran was praised by the manager.

DB is in the development stage and has begun to set foot in off-site branches. It is not as easy to open a branch in a different place as it is in the same city. From preparation to opening, it takes a lot of manpower and material resources. There is no experience to be found. It is all about learning and doing. DB mobilized outstanding employees from various stores to help in the new store. Lin Ran was also among those selected.

When he arrived at the new store, he saw a messy construction site. The floor was unpaved and the ceiling above was still hollow. It would open in three months. Can this be completed? He witnessed the speed of DB. On the day before the trial opening, he and his colleagues were still setting up a promotional float. At that time, the scene was still in a mess. When it came to the trial opening, everything was in order. This was of course paid for by him and many of his colleagues staying up all night.

The more you invest in a job, the deeper your feelings will be and the greater your sense of identity will be. A few years later, Lin Ran naturally regarded himself as a DB person. The company organized a promotion competition, and Lin Ran stood out and was successfully promoted. He feels that work is like a wonderful picture, which has just been revealed.

The second five years: 2006-2010

At the end of 2004, China’s retail industry was fully opened to the outside world, which means that there are The entry of more foreign retailers means more intense competition.

Lin Ran clearly remembers the scene before Carrefour opened. It was the first foreign retailer to enter the city, and he and his colleagues felt like they were facing a formidable enemy. DB’s flagship store is in the same business district as Carrefour. They have made adequate preparations, and they have also arranged the most powerful promotional activities during the opening of Carrefour.

On the opening day, he and his colleagues arrived at Carrefour immediately. The whole store was packed with people, crowded and crowded together, like canned sardines. There were too many people, and it was impossible to check carefully as the crowd surged along. Lin Ran's shoes were all trampled. Facing direct competition with internationally renowned retailers, they were excited, nervous, and flustered, with mixed emotions.

As soon as they returned to the store, the store leader immediately called a meeting with all business staff and asked everyone to talk about their feelings, mainly talking about the advantages of Carrefour and the disadvantages of DB. Everyone spoke freely that day, and Lin Ran was praised for his speech. Based on everyone’s comments, the store has made adjustments.

Many years later, Lin Ran recalled this scene again. He was a little emotional. This was probably his most passionate period in DB. The leadership was pragmatic, and the employees had unlimited energy, continuous enthusiasm and usefulness. Endless energy.

At that time, the superiors did not have any special requirements for working overtime every day, but he and his colleagues wanted to do a good job and were not willing to fall behind others. It was hard at that time, but I didn't feel how hard it was. This is probably due to the relaxed and friendly humanistic environment of the company and the fact that superior leaders only judge success or failure based on work performance.

In the competition with Carrefour, DB’s flagship store not only did not experience a decline in performance, but instead experienced the highest growth in the same period in history. This is probably the charm of competition. Competition inspires more potential and more fighting spirit. Later, more foreign-funded retailers moved in, and DB became calm and composed as they fought hand-to-hand with various internationally renowned retailers.

DB originally opened its stores at a cautious pace. When more foreign retailers came in to seize share, DB began to rapidly expand its stores, opening a large number of stores in the same city and in other places, and quickly occupied the market.

Looking back, this strategy is undoubtedly correct and played a vital role in the later development of DB. Without the rapid store expansion at this time, there would probably be no glory in the later period. When the disputes among the heroes were in chaos, they quickly deployed in prefecture-level cities and some county-level cities with lightning speed, and also opened a large number of stores in the same city. DB gradually stood out and became a leading regional retailer.

The company's rapid development has also brought a lot of opportunities to employees. At that time, the company issued competition notices every year, and many people moved to new positions through competitions and got new positions.

There are also staff vacancies at DB headquarters. They conduct screenings in various stores to find outstanding employees with good educational backgrounds to join the headquarters. Lin Ran was transferred to the headquarters business department.

From the store to the headquarters, it seems like a change of work location, but in fact it is more of a change of thinking and working methods. Lin Ran was very uncomfortable when he first arrived. He cannot look at problems from a higher perspective, lacks skills when negotiating with suppliers, and often fails. Fortunately, he was willing to think and observe, and it didn't take long for him to adapt to the work rhythm of the headquarters.

At this time, DB is preparing to build a distribution and logistics center. When a certain number of stores are opened, the role of the distribution center will become prominent. It turns out that DB had its own distribution warehouse, but it could only meet the needs of a small number of stores. After the number of stores increased, distribution development lagged behind, seriously hindering the company's development.

During the process of preparing a distribution center, business departments will often be held for meetings. Lin Ran witnessed the process of building a modern distribution center from scratch. From many meetings, he saw the wisdom and decisiveness of the company's top management.

In 2010, the tenth year after entering DB, Lin Ran got married. He and his wife took out a loan to buy a small apartment of tens of square meters. He moved out of the dormitory. In this city, he No longer floating around, I truly have a sense of belonging.

The third five years: 2011-2015

When Lin Ran learned that his wife was pregnant, he received a notice that the company would send him to work abroad as a store manager in a branch. This arrangement was the envy of many of his peers, but Lin Ran hesitated. His wife had a severe reaction during pregnancy and needed someone to take care of her. His wife supported Lin Ran's work and insisted that Lin Ran obey the company's arrangements.

Lin Ran went to another place, which was hundreds of kilometers away from home and took several hours to drive. Lin Ran didn't have a car, so he could only take the train, and the trains were all slow trains. Every time he went home and had only three days off, he would buy an evening ticket, spend the night on the train, and arrive home early the next morning, so that he could spend more time with his wife.

When he arrived at the store, Lin Ran realized what micromanaging meant. He had to deal with a lot of work. Not only did he have to deal with employees and suppliers, he also had to take on the work of external coordination, and more importantly, he had to Improve store performance. During that time, he wished he could have three heads and six arms and do different jobs. He developed a habit of carrying a small notebook with him to record at any time. Every night, he would open the notebook and review the day's work. He would record down what needed to be followed up the next day and what he had done poorly and needed reflection. .

As time went by, he found that this notebook had become his "treasure". Not only could he see his daily work status, but he could also summarize and think about it regularly. The panic gradually turned into determination and confidence.

A year later, Lin Ran was appointed to the position of store manager of the largest store in the region. Due to his outstanding work, he was soon promoted to regional vice president, in charge of business, and became the youngest regional vice president in the company. These were Lin Ran's most energetic five years. All the hard work has paid off and all the hard work has paid off.

In 2013, DB's sales and profits hit a record high, and everyone in the company was immersed in joy. This was probably DB's most glorious year. Because of good performance and more development opportunities, many people's positions were promoted this year.

In 2013, WeChat payment was launched. This quietly launched function did not cause much waves at first. Who would have thought that third-party payment would almost replace consumers’ habit of paying cash.

In 2014, the Double Twelve Festival launched by Alibaba Group began to divert traffic from online to offline. Faced with the sudden competition, most retailers are waiting and watching, or even disapproving. In their view, this kind of money-burning tactic of subsidies is not worth facing at all, and it cannot last long.

At this time, online is also eating up more market share. On Double 11 in 2011, Tmall’s sales were 5.2 billion. By 2015, the transaction volume on Double 11 reached 91.2 billion, an increase of 17 times in five years. This is a number that cannot be underestimated. Online growth is not only new growth driven by online itself, but also erodes offline sales. Online is threatening offline.

Such warnings are not slogans posted on the wall, making people alert and afraid to slack off, but like boiling frogs in warm water, slowly making people lose consciousness.

DB is in a period of great success and has completely ignored the impact and threats from online. At its peak, DB became arrogant and ignored the visual impact and competition from peers. Third-party payment began to enter retailers and immediately gained support from consumers, but DB turned it away.

Like a fast train entering a station, inertia will keep it moving for some distance. The inertia of retailer growth will also continue for a period of time, which is often more confusing and intoxicating. The decline in performance begins unconsciously.

Lin Ran first felt the impact of online sales during Double 11 in 2015. Regional sales in November hit a new year-on-year low. He and his colleagues reviewed the sales for the entire month and found that consumers were Reduce the purchase of clothing, cosmetics and other products, which are the main force of online sales.

Lin Ran immediately wrote a report to communicate with the headquarters, hoping to attract company-wide attention and obtain more resources with the help of the headquarters. However, the report was typed, but there was no news. He waited for a month and asked his colleagues, but there was no news.

The fourth five years: 2016-2020

In 2016, Hema Fresh with the new retail label took off Its emergence has added a new sample to the retail model.

For a time, there were overwhelming interpretations and propaganda about new retail, but there is actually no answer to what new retail is.

Lin Ran and many colleagues have felt the impact from the outside world. But they are like being in a strong and airtight wall, and they can only look at these new things from a distance.

DB slows down the store opening speed. This may be subjective and intended to slow down; it may also be passive. Many competitors have emerged, all competing for market share. DB's original advantages have become vulnerable to these challengers.

DB gradually deviated from the direction, and the originally set employee promotion route was terminated, which left many people with no hope of progress. A perfunctory atmosphere has gradually developed within the company. People are busy with tasks, and everyone is vying to be a "PPT" contestant. At work meetings, people who speak well are more popular than those who do well. Employees quit frequently, with many resigning to take jobs at competitors.

Lin Ran was suddenly transferred back to the headquarters. This transfer came as a surprise to him. Because his region has always had the best performance among all regions, as usual, he who is in charge of business has the opportunity to be promoted to regional general manager. Not long after he was transferred back to the headquarters, a vice president in charge of administration in the same region was promoted to district president.

From Lin Ran's point of view, being able to go home is not a bad thing. When he was stationed abroad, his wife had just become pregnant, and now his daughter is 7 years old. He missed the most important stage of her daughter's growth, and his wife actually complained.

When he returned to the headquarters, he found that the position of deputy director was more like a false position. There was basically nothing specific to do. All business was controlled by the director and the business directors below. Lin Ran expressed his willingness to work to the director, and the director handed over the work of sorting out the business process to Lin Ran. Lin Ran accepted it gladly, it was better than doing nothing.

DB's business processes and systems have been running smoothly and solidly through its glory days. Only individual processes need to be repaired. But it's not that simple. Lin Ran gradually discovered that sorting out business processes had a profound meaning. For example, the original process stipulates that many departments supervise the entire process of introducing new products from introduction to sales. When the process was sorted out, some people requested that the supervision of some departments be removed on the grounds of simplifying the process. In this way, the operation seems to be simpler, but there is less supervision and the rights of some people are strengthened. Lin Ran has not started making corrections for a long time, which of course caused some people's dissatisfaction. Irregular operations try to be rationalized by formalizing the procedures.

Over and over again, Lin Ran had to put things off as much as he could, without the enthusiasm he had when he took over the job.

In 2019, DB advocates younger management positions, and the age limit for director positions is limited to 40 years old. Lin Ran, who had just turned 41, suddenly felt that his future was bleak, which meant that he would never have a chance to be promoted. The company's sales report is becoming less optimistic year by year. Although it is confident externally, everyone knows that internally it is about to become terminally ill. Everyone is like being on a sinking ship every day, panicked and worried.

The headhunters have a keen sense of smell. They constantly lobby Lin Ran to join other retailers and offer better conditions. Lin Ran reviewed his 20-year retail career and decided to start from scratch. He resigned.

He found two partners and opened a community store. This is the second half of 2009. Lin Ran has his own business ideas. He saw in Japan that the vegetables in Japanese wet markets are simply processed and packaged. They are not only clean and tidy, but also of high quality. He also inspected the surrounding community stores. Not only were there few vegetables sold, they were also not fresh. He felt this was a gap in the market. After demonstration and preparation, the community store was opened at the end of 2019.

The community store was welcomed as soon as it appeared. But before they had time to celebrate, the COVID-19 epidemic struck suddenly, catching people off guard. When the epidemic was at its most critical, the partners wanted to close the store temporarily for fear of the risk of infection. But Lin Ran disagreed. He said that the surrounding residents now come here to buy food. Once the store is closed, everyone will have one less place to buy food. With his insistence, the store has remained open.

One day, the store clerk received a call from an old man, saying that it was difficult to go out due to the severe epidemic and he could not buy food on his mobile phone, and asked if they could deliver food. After the clerk reported it to Lin Ran, Lin Ran said that it would be delivered and it would be free of charge. The old man told many old people the news, and many old people called the store to order food. They sometimes also ordered daily necessities, and Lin Ran helped them buy from other stores.

After the epidemic stabilized, an old man wrote a short article about this matter and sent it to the community office. Community staff publicized the matter through various channels. Lin Ran’s community store immediately It became a "star" store and received more customer support, which he did not expect.

By the end of 2020, Lin Ran had opened three community stores. He knows that this is just the beginning, and he doesn't know what the future will bring. What he can do now is to open every store down-to-earth, manage every product well, and treat every customer and employee with care.

Lin Ran’s 20 years of retailing have been a magnificent 20 years for China’s retail development. In the past 20 years, there has been hard work, struggle, loneliness, dreams, and loss. No matter where he goes or what position he is in, Lin Ran, like many retail people, will be full of hope and look forward to the future. They believe that tomorrow will be better.

Read more of my articles