In the afternoon of the next day, the turnover on the first day of opening came out. A total of 43,000 US dollars was sold. This figure is not very high. On weekdays, the average daily turnover of a Fedmart supermarket can also reach this figure, but the number of customers of both totally different.
Although there were a lot of people at Costco yesterday, they were all attracted by advertisements and were not stable customers. After the busy afternoon, there were basically no customers. The users in the morning were also very purposeful for shopping, and the food area , toilet paper, and certain discounted products have been cleared out, while others are basically untouched. This is also a normal phenomenon under the marketing of newly opened supermarkets.
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 US$25.
This number has exceeded the expectations of Pierce's team. Although it may not seem like much, on average, spending 50 US dollars in the supermarket a month can provide a turnover of 50,000 US dollars, and this is only the first day, although every subsequent day It is impossible to have so many members, but as long as we persevere and develop slowly, when the number increases tenfold, the supermarket will be able to operate normally. If the number increases several times, it will be considered very successful. With 30,000 members, it can easily provide pre-orders. Estimated annual turnover of US$15 million.
However, under normal circumstances, a family will only apply for one membership card. 30,000 household customers require a large area of population density to support it. This is why the number of Costco in later generations is much lower than that of Wal-Mart. Warehouse-style The business model dictates that he can only choose to operate in large cities with high population density. Chen Zhiwen placed his first Costco in Los Angeles because he was naturally interested in the population and economy here. When Silicon Valley develops, the economy and population will explode even more, and there will be no problem opening a second Costco across the city.
In the following days, Chen Zhiwen has been observing the shopping dynamics of 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 sales dropped on the second day, it slowly increased. By the end of the first week, a total of US$170,000 in sales had been achieved, and the number of members had reached 2,300.
Starting from the second week, Pierce did not really refuse non-members to enter like other mature warehouse supermarkets. Instead, it raised the price. For non-member users, the price tag of each item was standardized between members and non-members. The price difference is 5%. As long as you accept this price, everything is OK.
If you buy a little, you don’t need to become a member, but if you buy a lot, you will naturally decide whether it is a good deal or not. Especially considering that if you are going to come often 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 popular as expected, it was still smooth and met expectations. The next step is that Pierce needs to vigorously publicize and control costs. Prices have dropped to the extreme, and in Hong Kong, they need to work hard to find suitable suppliers who can provide high-quality and low-priced goods to improve Costco's competitiveness in the US retail market.
As long as the first store develops smoothly, it will be expanded later, because the more stores there are, the lower the operating costs will be amortized. At the same time, whether it is purchasing in the United States or Hong Kong, you can continue to rely on large quantities. Lower prices.
The retail industry is like this. The strong get stronger. Just like the Internet, in the future, Wal-Mart will dominate the United States. Other supermarkets basically have to compete with each other to survive. Former kings like Kmart and Sears can only go bankrupt, while Costco Because of its early deployment in the warehouse market, it gained a first-mover advantage. Even Wal-Mart’s subsequent investment in Sam’s Club stores was unable to 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. He must completely stabilize the dominance of warehouse supermarkets before Wal-Mart becomes a retail supermarket giant.
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 three-story office building, Chen Zhiwen took Woz, who was wearing a suit that didn't seem to fit very well, and walked around and said: "This will be the most beautiful place in the future. Office in the United States.”
"All of them? The three floors here are at least more than 10,000 square feet. They are just designed for arcade games. Isn't this area a bit big?" Woz asked.
"Big? In two years, you will feel small." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "I think the market for arcade games will be huge in the future. As long as the games are fun, who among the young people in the United States doesn't want to play them? Baseball and football ( (football), I think there will be as many people who want to play the game. The difference is that it is impossible to have one game that everyone can like, so we need to develop a variety of different games to satisfy different people."
"Football? Tens of millions of dollars? 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 their eyes. 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 All we need to do is make game products." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"What kind of game should I make? I've been thinking about it for more than a week and have no idea at all." 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. I will be responsible for the content of the game. You only need to use your professional skills to Design this game console to be the best in terms of chips and energy consumption, and reduce the manufacturing cost of the device."
"If I don't know the content of the game, I can't roughly calculate how many chips are needed." Woz thought for a while and said, the biggest cost of the arcade is the chip. A chip is tens of dollars, and a good one can be hundreds. How to match it to make the game play well? Running smoothly and at the lowest cost is a very complex matter.
"It's a little easier than Atari's Arkanoid." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "I believe in your ability."
What dozens of Atari engineers couldn't solve, Woz solved in 4 days, and the number of chips dropped from 120 to 44. This kind of incredible ability may not be found even if you go to IBM to recruit people.
"Okay, Mr. Chen, I accept your invitation." Woz said, "But I need to resign from HP. I also have two important projects on hand. The handover will take at least 3-4 weeks."
"No problem. After you leave 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: "Also, I'm leaving We will prepare a personnel list for you before, and you have the final say on what kind of people are needed to form a team."
"Okay." Woz said.
"Ms. An Qi will give you an offer later. You can read the content or find a lawyer to consult. If you agree, 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 quickly.
“To me, this is just a drop in the bucket. I also hope that in the future, this amount of money will also be a drop in the bucket to you. So, if you build the team early, design the product, and succeed, you will gain unprecedented wealth. ." Chen Zhiwen patted Woz on the shoulder and said.
