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A happy woman is one who is "not stunningly beautiful, not nationally captivating," but blooms quietly. A successful general is one who directs 80,000 soldiers to attack 400,000 enemy troops across the Fei River, while he calmly plays chess in his tent. When the victory report arrives, he learns the enemy is annihilated, so he calmly sips his tea and says, "The lads have succeeded, indeed. Well, bring in the prisoners."
A successful businessman is one who is "not restless, not gimmicky," earning money with ease, composure, and grace.
"Doubling single-store performance" means achieving several-fold, tens-fold, or even hundreds-fold growth in a single store's sales without extra investment, noise, gimmicks, or fanfare—just like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox with ease.
Single stores include not only traditional retail formats like department stores and supermarkets (8 types in total) but also emerging online stores, subscription services, community life stores, and O2O pickup points.
I. Significance
Casino: Before you leave the gambling table, wins and losses are just paper profits. Only after the final hand is the outcome and its magnitude decided.
Product: Winning at the starting point is not as good as winning at turning points. Any turning point can nullify previous efforts or realize their value. Of course, the most important turning point is the terminal—the final point of sale.
After the terminal, even if competitors invest with a thousandfold frenzy, they cannot change the established facts.
Starting points include factory construction, quality products, cost management, quality management, technological innovation, business model innovation and optimization, human resource management, financial management, advertising planning, and packaging design.
All these are merely fragile "starting points." They only matter if the turning points are correct; any bad turning point can destroy all their value.
Turning points include government functional departments, laws and regulations, temporary policies, storage and transportation, the number, quality, and structure of distributors, the local business environment and public hotspots for distributors, the number of terminals, the format structure and scale structure of terminals, geographic layout, and so on.
Any factor among the turning points can offset all efforts at the starting point level. For example, when the U.S. government enacted Prohibition, all efforts in production facilities, quality management, and packaging design for distilleries became meaningless.
The final turning point is the terminal—the springboard for the "daring leap from commodity to money."
After the springboard, it's like rice that's cooked or a live pig turned into ham. Even if competitors launch a frenzied counterattack with policies like "free giveaways" or "free giveaways with cash back," it's impossible to reverse the situation.
Therefore, the most valuable thing is to win at the terminal!
Significance: Wait for the rabbit by the tree stump, conserve energy, and profit at the final node.
It's very "quiet."
II. Principles
Everyone knows the terminal is important, but 95% of companies are unwilling to do terminal work themselves. They prefer to sell at low prices to intermediaries and encourage them to do it. Intermediaries, in turn, take the "sugarcoating" of doing terminal work and then fire the "cannonballs" of terminal work everywhere, passing the buck like a hot potato—whoever catches it suffers: either they report entry fees, barcode fees, and promotion fees to upstream suppliers, or they only do terminals that require no fees but have poor sales.
Thus, not doing terminal work means waiting to die, and doing terminal work means seeking death.
The most prominent feature, biggest challenge, and charm of terminal marketing is: it cannot be replicated.
The city with the most large retail enterprises is not Chengdu; Chengdu ranks about seventh. But considering population, its "per capita shopping mall" might be among the highest in the country.
In this important consumer market, the top retail enterprise is not九龙仓, Walmart, Carrefour, China Resources Vanguard, Metro, RT-Mart, Renrenle, nor is it Spring, LV, Hualian, Wangfujing, or Dongdan—
Hundreds of stores and malls from around the world and across China cannot outperform the Japanese company Ito Yokado.
And all Ito Yokado stores worldwide are not as good as Chengdu's Ito Yokado.
The Shuangnan store of Chengdu Ito Yokado ranks first in single-store turnover in the entire Chengdu retail industry, far ahead of the second; it also ranks first among all Ito Yokado stores worldwide, far ahead of the second.
Now, the question arises: What determines the performance of a terminal store?
Location? Ito cannot be better than Walmart! Shuangnan store cannot be the only one on the food street!
Product mix? In-store atmosphere? Quality? Can we say that after finishing Shuangnan, Ito lost its planning ability for procurement structure and visual management?
Talent? Service? Ito treats Shuangnan as its Whampoa Military Academy. From Beijing to Tokyo, many store managers and key staff are transferred from Shuangnan. Other stores in Chengdu are modeled after Shuangnan, learning from it and trying to surpass it. Except for performance, everything else is the same.
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So, what exactly determines retail performance?
Why is it that Ito Shuangnan's success cannot be replicated not only by Walmart but also within Ito itself?
After discussing the non-replicability of the terminal store itself, let's talk about the non-replicability of "performance at the terminal" for production enterprises.
What factors determine a product's performance at the terminal?
A company's fame, strength, product quality, brand reputation, low price, strong promotions, and high-quality personnel do not guarantee strong competitiveness at the terminal!
Coca-Cola has a stronger starting point than Pepsi, right? But in many regional markets like Nanjing and Chengdu, its terminal sales have long lagged behind Pepsi.
Moutai, Wuliangye, Wuliangchun, and Luzhou Laojiao Tequ all have formidable starting points, right? Yet, Yanghe, Gujing, and Baiyunbian—countless companies with weaker starting points—have achieved better performance in many regional markets.
As for the factors at the starting point—financial strength, master brewers, and all that—to paraphrase Lu Xun: "There are tricks and uses at the starting point, but they are limited. Thus, no one has ever achieved terminal performance solely from that."
Terminal visuals, terminal staff recommendations, terminal buy-one-get-one offers, terminal gifts, the friendliness of terminal staff's image and smiles, the correspondence between terminal products and terminal customers—can these guarantee performance "at the terminal"?
The situation is complex, and it's hard to give examples, but I'll summarize in one sentence: impossible.
So, what is the principle behind terminal success or failure?
The principle can be simplified to two words: matching.
It's not about being good, not about being the best, and certainly not about being bad. It's about matching—being just right.
There are over 100 factors that need to match, divided into three categories.
First, factors of the supplier enterprise itself, such as quality, price, and capital.
Second, factors of the retail store itself, such as location, customer positioning, store visuals, and off-street parking.
Third, cooperation models, such as quasi-real estate, quasi-advertising agency models, seamless management docking models, supply chain strategy models, and collaborative marketing models—
Each of the 100-plus factors has 100-plus matching possibilities, giving rise to myriad variations.
There are many variations, but mastering a few key ones can lead to relative success. For example, Walmart and Ito Yokado cannot be number one in every store, but they generally won't be too bad.
The many variations also mean that success or failure cannot be fully replicated. So, deliberately pursuing being the best in the world, making a splash, or achieving fame in one battle also faces many uncontrollable factors.
In consulting practice, I used "parking lot area" as an example to sketch a parabolic model:
When parking is insufficient, customers buying regular goods will "decide where to shop based on parking convenience";
When the parking lot exceeds demand and appears empty, it affects consumer confidence and increases operating costs, impacting the company's cost competitiveness.
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Things are so complex, what should we do?
Zhuangzi compared the pros and cons of two approaches.
Zhuangzi said: "My life has a limit, but knowledge has no limit. To pursue the limitless with the limited is dangerous."
Zhuangzi considered pursuing the limitless with the limited dangerous, but McDonald's has already calculated how many meters a shopper on a pedestrian street walks before feeling the need for food, so they open stores and wait for the rabbit. Walmart's efforts in product mix differentiation and cost advantage have reached the level of "core supplier—seamless management docking."
If you have money, you can be willful and not fear the limitlessness of knowledge.
What I want to introduce is another approach that Zhuangzi endorsed: "dissecting the ox like Cook Ding."
All factors determining performance form a whole, like an ox. Each factor constrains any other factor and ultimately affects sales performance.
Choose a factor you like, and use appropriate tools, models, experience, and insight.
In this way, although we still cannot replicate Ito Shuangnan, and cannot match McDonald's or Walmart's "pursuing the limitless with the limited," it is enough to be content with small wealth.
III. Case Studies
1. Twelve Seas Mineral Water
(1) Background
The best water in the world: the only medium-soft water among glacial mineral waters, and the only high-altitude mineral water among medium-soft waters.
It comes from the picturesque Xiaoxiangling in Liangshan, Sichuan, where the scenery is more beautiful than a painting.
The water quality is excellent, so the price is the highest in China—more than double that of Tibet 5100 and double that of French Evian.
It's about three times the price of Evergrande.
After hiring Shanghai Lianzhi Zhida Company to conduct market research, our company organized the marketing.
(2) Terminal Performance
We have developed markets in five provinces and cities across the country. Among them, the Chengdu market, which we directly operate, adopts various terminal marketing models.
One model is "community small store resident marketing."
The best store under this model currently sells 270,000 yuan per month, and the worst sells 80,000. The developed stores outperform the second-best water seller in the store by 10 to 100 times.
(3) Conclusion
Low price or high price, each has its winning strategy. The key is not the level but the match;
Don't struggle; performance doesn't come from effort. Low price and high price each have their own blessings!
Big stores or small stores, big stores on bustling commercial streets, and small stores in quiet communities, each has its winning strategy. The key is not size or location but matching;
Don't force it, don't beg, don't push sales. When all factors—product, terminal, consumer—match, performance comes without effort; otherwise, effort only increases frustration.
2. Braised Food Chain Company L
Due to many criticisms of the company's history, I won't name it.
(1) Background
Industry and format background:
Franchise chains are a relatively dark industry in China, often associated with pyramid schemes and fraud. Experts estimate that since the 1990s, in clothing, beauty salons, catering, supermarkets, and other fields, 98% of those who franchised others' brands have suffered losses.
There are also many cases where the entire system collapses, and the franchisor disappears after collecting franchise fees.
Of course, there are also many franchisees who operate independently and stop purchasing from the original franchisor.
Industry and format characteristics:
Emphasis on attracting investment and franchise fees. No emphasis on franchisee services, no concern for franchisees' reorders or sustainable cooperation.
Company background:
Famous for 10 years, with a big reputation.
Like the entire industry and format: many franchise stores close every year—
Difference: It attempted to introduce terminal marketing techniques to help franchisees grow.
(2) Cooperation
Project name: Doubling Single-Store Performance
Results: Before cooperation, the best single-store performance was 2,900 yuan per day; after cooperation, the worst was 2,900 yuan, and the best was 12,000 yuan.
Growth path:
The franchisor's directly operated stores first set an example, using facts to persuade franchisees to follow;
Marketing planning and "incentive planning" always work together, advancing in tandem;
To avoid negative factors left over from history, various models were implemented, such as store manager responsibility system and regional manager contract management;
Products were moderately personalized: standard products + differentiated products, mandatory actions + optional actions;
Go beyond the terminal to do terminal work: radiate to surrounding internet cafes, office buildings, and nightclubs. Introduced two partners: Intel (Internet Cafe) and China Resources Snow Breweries.
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(3) Conclusion
Making money is easy; dividing money is hard;
Planning is easy; management is hard;
In companies where "employees no longer trust the boss," implementing planning and management in tandem is even harder;
Introducing resources is easy; integrating resources is hard;
IV. Happy Marketing
Our above cases and other cases share the same principle. We know we are small and weak, so we must start from scratch. We also encourage ourselves: "Deposit money in the bank, in fixed deposits; tomorrow's breakfast is in the market."
We don't "pursue the limitless with the limited." We lower our stance and engage in happy marketing.
- Any product can always find a terminal like this:
The product's quality, price, packaging style, promotion intensity, and the terminal's atmosphere, consumer positioning, and everything else just "dock without friction."
When the channel has no friction and consumers buy without obstacles, isn't that great?
- Any terminal can always find the match of "core supplier—core customer"
The joy of a terminal store comes from matching;
Trouble comes from short-sighted forcing: you charge entry fees for products that don't sell well, then push sales, which ruins the product mix and loses consumers—
- Change changes because of change
All product characteristics, all terminal characteristics, and all consumer characteristics are constantly changing.
In market research conclusions, what matters is not the "known" but the "changeable" that can be inferred from the "known." The "changeable" is even more important for formulating marketing strategies!
For example, a "frictionless channel" can change a product's reputation, thereby affecting all other factors.
Don't force change; let it change because it can change, and make it favorable to you. Isn't that great?
Finally, let's elevate the philosophy of this article with a story from Zhuangzi:
Zhuangzi said:
Marketing should be joyful by nature;
Making money should not require effort;
When encountering difficulties, facing them head-on is like Li Kui; using strategies to solve them is like Zhuge Liang; letting difficulties dissolve on their own is like King Wu of Zhou, or Zhuangzi.
Earning money by hard labor is for ordinary people; using money to make money is for businessmen; dissecting the ox like Cook Ding, grasping the key, and letting angles bring wealth is for the "Confucian merchant" or "Taoist merchant."
Zeng Xiangwen, renowned marketing expert, expert in small and micro enterprise growth. General Manager of Sichuan Yinuo Brand Management Co., Ltd., Senior Consultant of Kotler Consulting Group, expert and columnist for this publication. Has served over 100 enterprises in more than 20 industries including liquor and food, and published over 100 special research articles on marketing.
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