Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

Just after New Year's Day, Li Weidong's puppy microwave oven was launched.

In the face of imported microwave ovens on the market, although domestic products have the advantage of manufacturing cost, Li Weidong did not fight a price war.

The ex-factory price of puppy microwave ovens is only a little cheaper than the CIF price of imported microwave ovens. In the retail market of the terminal, the retail price will not be much cheaper than imported microwave ovens, which is the same price.

The reason why Li Weidong did not fight the price war is not only to ensure sufficient profits, but also because now is not the time to cut prices to grab the market.

Li Weidong's microwave oven production line has just started operation, and the production capacity is very limited. If there is a price war now, the sales of microwave ovens will increase, but Li Weidong cannot provide enough microwave ovens, which will reduce profits.

To seize the market with a price war, at least Li Weidong will not do it until he has enough production capacity.

Historically, the price reduction of microwave ovens started in 1995, and it was Galanz who first started the price war.

In just a few years, Galanz raised the price of microwave ovens from 3,000 yuan to several hundred yuan. Since then, expensive imported microwave ovens have gone to the market.

In the first year Galanz started making microwave ovens, the production capacity was less than 10,000 units. At that time, they did not fight a price war, but sold microwave ovens at high prices and made profits like imported brands.

When Galanz's production capacity expanded to hundreds of thousands, it provoked a price war for microwave ovens and took the market away from imported brands in one fell swoop.

Li Weidong's puppy microwave oven is listed earlier than Galanz, so Li Weidong naturally does not need to rush into a price war to seize the market.

...

Home appliances have always been the most important part of the consumer market.

In the 1980s, home appliance sales were mainly through department stores. After entering the 1990s, department stores gradually began to fail to meet the needs of ordinary people, and specialized home appliance stores were born.

In 1992, specialized appliance stores were only available in big cities, and they were all state-run. Self-employed people who sell electricity are all opening a shop, just like those mobile phone stores on the streets of towns and villages.

Larger self-employed, there will be a few stores, such as the famous Gome, in 1992, has grown to a dozen stores.

In a state-run home appliance store in Beijing, a well-dressed middle-aged couple walked to the microwave counter.

This kind of middle-aged people with good economic income is obviously the main purchase group of household appliances. If it is placed in the future, the shopping guides in the home appliance store will see such customers and will rush to welcome them and sell them enthusiastically.

It is a pity that this is a state-run home appliance store, and they are enthusiastically promoting this kind of thing, which simply does not exist in state-run stores. In the era of supply and marketing cooperatives a few years ago, customers had to ask the salesperson to take care of themselves.

The middle-aged couple walked to the microwave oven counter and looked at the microwave ovens on the counter. The prices were similar, even if there was a difference, it was one or two hundred yuan.

"Let's buy Panasonic, Panasonic is the most well-known brand of home appliances, the best home appliances we can buy in China,

All from Panasonic! ' said the husband.

"General household appliances are better from Panasonic, but I heard that Xizhi's microwave ovens are better than Panasonic's. Let's look at Xizhi's!" The wife said, and said to the salesperson; "Comrade, we want to look at Xizhi's microwave ovens. Micro-wave oven!"

The salesperson pointed to some of the samples: "These are all from Xizhi."

"Comrade, which Panasonic is that?" the husband asked.

"Several units here are from Panasonic." The salesperson pointed to the other units.

The wife looked at it for a long time, pointed to a microwave oven and asked, "What function does this one have?"

"The functions of microwave ovens are all the same. The switch on the top is the power level, and the switch on the bottom is the heating time." The salesperson continued to put on a poker face and said.

At this moment, the wife saw a flyer posted next to it: "PUPPY puppy microwave oven, buy one get 18 free!"

"PUPPY? What brand is this? Never heard of it!" The wife muttered to herself.

The husband looked at it and said, "This must be a foreign brand, otherwise how could it be in English. Maybe it's American!"

This is Li Weidong's shrewdness. He knows that Chinese people are still superstitious about foreign brands.

In particular, household appliances were originally imported products. Domestic household appliances have only appeared in recent years. Many people have preconceived the idea that foreign brands are better than domestic brands.

Therefore, Li Weidong printed the English letters "PUPPY" on the trademark. People who do not know the truth can easily misunderstand Puppy Electric as a foreign brand when they see English.

After all, the Chinese at that time couldn't name a few foreign brands, so it was not difficult to come up with a slightly foreign name and pretend to be a foreign brand.

At this time, my husband also saw the "buy one get eighteen free" slogan.

"I've heard of buy-one-get-one-free, and I've also seen buy-one-get-18-free!" The husband was stunned and asked, "Can you get 18 units of this microwave oven when you buy one?"

"How can I give you 18!" The salesperson smiled mockingly, and then said, "Buy one get 18, which means buy a microwave and get 18 free gifts!"

"Let me just say, there is no such thing as buying one and getting 18 free!" The husband paused, then asked, "What are the gifts?"

"Let me see!" The salesperson took a leaflet and read it along: "Buy this product and immediately enjoy a luxurious gift package worth 1,288 yuan!"

"1288?" The middle-aged couple was surprised at the same time. They spent 3,000 yuan to buy a product and gave 1288 as a gift. This is really a good deal!

I just listened to the salesman reading the flyer, and then read: "The gift includes, a set of 12 dishes for microwave ovens worth 160 yuan, heat insulation gloves for microwave ovens worth 30 yuan, and rags for microwave ovens worth 10 yuan,

A microwave cooking apron worth 20 yuan, a stainless steel manual egg beater worth 20 yuan, a microwave protective cover worth 35 yuan, a microwave cooking recipe worth 125 yuan, and a one-year free warranty worth 888 yuan! "

The salesperson read it over according to the leaflet. If the twelve-piece set of dishes for microwave ovens were taken apart, it happened to be eighteen gifts.

And that 888's one-year free warranty doesn't have any kind, but it adds money to it. After all, for many people, a gift without a physical object is not a gift.

These things sound like a lot, but they actually cost dozens of dollars.

Qinghe City itself has a ceramic industry. The high-end bowls and plates Li Weidong ordered in Qinghe cost 80 cents a piece, and twelve pieces were less than 10 yuan.

The so-called special heat-insulating gloves for microwave ovens are a pair of thick gloves. Even if they are made of better materials, a pair will cost more than one yuan. There are also items such as rags and aprons, which are worth ten yuan and twenty yuan!

This kind of egg beater, that is to say, is fresh, and most people can beat eggs with chopsticks.

As for the microwave protective cover, it is a popular product. In the 1990s, household appliances were still important assets of the family. Many families used to use a cloth cover to cover the household appliances to avoid dust. For example, TV sets, washing machines, and air conditioners should be covered when not in use. live.

A microwave oven, a household appliance worth 3,000 yuan, is much more expensive than a TV set and a washing machine, so naturally it should be covered with a cover.

A microwave cooking recipe of 125 yuan, even if it is printed in full color on matte paper, costs only a dozen yuan. The price of 125 is obviously outrageous.

The one-year free warranty of 888 yuan is simply to make up the auspicious number of 1288, which makes the value of the gift appear higher.

If you pick up the words, you have said that it is a free warranty, and you also marked 888 yuan. Isn't this playing word games with consumers!

In later generations, the national "Three Guarantees" regulations have already stipulated that the warranty period of household appliances is one year, and some will even extend the warranty period.

In 1992, the manufacturer did not establish a product maintenance channel at all. If consumers want to seek warranty, they need to send the product to the manufacturer by themselves. The transportation cost may be enough to buy a new one, so the so-called warranty It can only stay on the mouth.

The lack of manufacturer's warranty channels also made home appliance repair a very good business in the 1990s. When people's home appliances were broken, they could only find home appliance repair masters. Therefore, among vocational and technical schools, home appliance maintenance is more popular than excavator.

At that time, many major electrical appliance brands did not have their own maintenance channels. Small businesses like Li Weidong were even less likely to have maintenance channels. Therefore, the so-called one-year free warranty was actually empty talk and could not be implemented at all.

Of course, if you really encounter that kind of customer who comes to your door to ask for warranty, the electrical appliance factory still has to provide warranty service. Such a persistent customer must be an iron fan, and he will directly replace him with a new one!

The middle-aged couple was obviously more interested in the gift, and the husband asked, "What kind of gift is this? Can you show us that?"

"Are you buying?" the salesperson asked impatiently.

"Buy, we're here to buy a microwave today." The husband replied, people in those days were used to the arrogant attitude of the salesperson.

"Wait a minute, I'll get it for you!" The salesperson didn't like this kind of customer who added workload to himself.

I saw the salesperson open the cabinet behind him, took out a set of gifts, and put it in front of the couple.

The wife picked up a white porcelain plate, touched it carefully, and said, "The quality of this plate is quite good. You can't buy such a plate in general shopping malls."

The cheap plates sold in the rural market are 40 to 50 cents a piece, and the high-quality plates in the shopping malls will not cost more than one dollar. And Li Weidong ordered this batch of plates, and the single cost was 80 cents! It would cost two or three dollars to put it in the mall.

Qinghe City is a producer of porcelain, especially white porcelain, with the best quality. Qinghe's porcelain can be exhibited at the Canton Fair. It also shows from the side that the quality of Qinghe's porcelain is still very good. In the main producing areas of porcelain, the quality of the custom-made bowls and plates for 80 cents is naturally excellent.

The wife picked up the apron and gloves again. The apron is very soft and the gloves are very thick. As soon as I touch it, I know that they are all made of good materials!

The ex-factory price of a microwave oven is more than 2,000 yuan, and Li Weidong is not guilty of saving money on these few yuan gifts. Naturally, he chooses the best materials and can also reflect the product quality.

Then the wife picked up the microwave cookbook.

"The paper is so thick, and it's all color pages! We didn't use such good paper for that photo album!"

At that time, only photography albums were printed in full color. However, in order to reduce costs, most photography albums were reluctant to use matte powder paper. Generally, ordinary coated paper was used, even if the cost was low.

The husband took the microwave recipe, flipped it over at random, and said, "It turns out that the microwave can cook so many dishes. I always thought that the microwave can only heat a cup of milk or leftovers!"

"With this microwave cookbook, I can make a lot of delicious food for you!" The wife paused, then continued; "The price of microwave ovens is similar, but this microwave oven has so many gifts, and this cookbook , let's buy this one!"

The husband hesitated: "But I've never heard of this brand. Even if it's a foreign brand, it's definitely not as good as a big brand like Panasonic. If I buy this unknown brand, I don't worry about the quality!"

"But this has a lot of giveaways. You look at the plate, how good the quality is; the gloves and apron, how soft to the touch! The quality of the giveaways is so good, the quality of the microwave oven is definitely not bad. There is also this recipe, which introduces several Ten dishes! I bought a Panasonic microwave, but I don't have these." The wife said.

The husband pondered for a moment, then said, "We don't lack these bowls and plates, these aprons and gloves, you can cut one with a sewing machine later. As for this recipe..."

"I can't make these dozens of dishes without recipes!" said his wife, pouting.

"If you like this recipe, we can buy a Panasonic microwave oven and buy this recipe separately!" The husband said, looking at the salesman, and asked, "How much is this recipe?"

"This is a gift, not sold separately!" The salesperson still had a cold poker face.

"Didn't you just say the price of the gift? Help me to see how much the recipe is!" The husband continued to ask.

The salesperson glanced at the flyer in his hand and replied, "The recipe is 125 yuan!"

"It's so expensive! It's just this book that sells for 125? Even if it's colored, it won't cost that much!"

"If you don't believe it, there is a price on the recipe, you can see for yourself!" The salesman showed an indifferent expression.

The man immediately looked at the cover on the back of the recipe, and in the lower right corner was indeed written "Pricing price: 125 yuan" in large characters.

"It's so expensive!" The man was shocked.

Buying a Panasonic microwave oven for 3,000 yuan is already a lot of money. If you spend another 125 yuan to buy this recipe, your wallet really can't afford it.

In comparison, buying a puppy microwave can get this cookbook directly, and there are 17 other gifts such as dishes, aprons, etc., which is much more cost-effective.

The wife next to her said, "These gifts add up to 1,288 yuan. Not counting the one-year warranty, there is also a 400 yuan gift, which is much more cost-effective than selling Panasonic's microwave ovens!"

400 yuan, for people in 1992, is still a lot of money, equivalent to more than two months' wages of state-owned enterprise workers. Taking away this bunch of gifts is equivalent to earning two months' wages for nothing, isn't it?

Thinking of this, the husband finally nodded: "Okay, we'll just use this puppy microwave!"