---
title: "Revamping County Town Shopping Malls with Private Domain Traffic"
description: "During the Mid-Autumn Festival, I visited a county town mall owner to discuss opportunities in lower-tier markets. Instead, he complained about the tough business environment, but we eventually explored how to use private domain traffic to revitalize his mall. By building a private traffic pool of 30,000-50,000 WeChat contacts and creating viral products, the mall can become a local consumption landmark."
author: "杨不坏"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-09-20"
categories: "E-commerce & Instant Retail, Retail Formats"
language: "en"
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attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/revamping-county-town-shopping-malls-with-private-domain-traffic-e969d184/"
citation: "杨不坏. “Revamping County Town Shopping Malls with Private Domain Traffic.” New Distribution, 2019-09-20. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/revamping-county-town-shopping-malls-with-private-domain-traffic-e969d184/"
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---

# Revamping County Town Shopping Malls with Private Domain Traffic

> During the Mid-Autumn Festival, I visited a county town mall owner to discuss opportunities in lower-tier markets. Instead, he complained about the tough business environment, but we eventually explored how to use private domain traffic to revitalize his mall. By building a private traffic pool of 30,000-50,000 WeChat contacts and creating viral products, the mall can become a local consumption landmark.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, I went home and met a mall owner in the county town. I visited him, originally intending to ask about opportunities in the county and discuss the new blue ocean of the lower-tier market. But in the end, he complained at length that business in the county was hard, with no way to make money, and that several enterprises should have gone bankrupt long ago, but conditions didn't allow it. Although his mall had very low profits, it barely managed to survive, which was considered good in the county.

So, from initially asking the boss for advice on how to make money in the county, it turned into him asking me for advice on mall marketing. After in-depth communication, we found that some ideas could indeed be implemented, so the boss called several managers into the office to discuss how to use private domain traffic to revamp the county mall. Here's the plan:

**Background and Insights**

First, let me briefly explain the background. The economy in our county is basically in a state of oversupply, and people's disposable income is quite limited. The average monthly wage is 2,000-3,000 yuan, and that's for those with stable jobs in the county; there are also many with unstable work. The average housing price in the county is 7,000-8,000 yuan per square meter, with good properties over 10,000. Excellent young people have gone to big cities, or at least to the city level. Those who stay behind, unwilling to leave their hometown, have emptied their parents' wallets to buy houses in the county.

From a fundamental perspective, it's hard to stimulate domestic demand in this county, as people's disposable income is severely insufficient. As for the mall situation, from large brand-anchored malls to Yonghui-scale medium and large supermarkets, and various hypermarkets, it's a red ocean market. Everyone is struggling to survive, and those that haven't gone bankrupt are considered to be doing well.

Now, the mall I'm talking about, let's call it "CH Mall" (hereinafter CH). It has one in our county and a total of 5 across surrounding counties, employing 2,500 people. It's a capital-intensive and labor-intensive industry. It offers everything from supermarkets, clothing, home appliances, to 3C products, but the special thing is that there are almost no brands in this mall; over 90% of the products are self-operated, meaning they buy and sell themselves. The target audience is ordinary well-off families, urban and rural users who seek cheapness over brands, like a self-operated Pinduoduo in the county.

The advantage of the self-operated mall model is that all counters are managed uniformly, and the entire mall can be mobilized at any time to cooperate, with execution penetrating every purchase process. This is something that brand-anchored malls don't have. Also, because it follows the mid-to-low-end route, this mall is relatively stable in the red ocean competition and has no risk of bankruptcy.

Now, let's talk about the quality of the county population and the consumers we face. Most online users in the county started using the internet after the popularization of 4G smartphones, only a few years ago. Their phone apps are relatively scarce, and WeChat is the most commonly used app, without a doubt. Some middle-aged rural people even have only WeChat on their phones. More avant-garde people also have Pinduoduo and Kuaishou. I surveyed a few childhood friends who dropped out of junior high school; they only watch Kuaishou, not Douyin. Although they have Pinduoduo, they rarely shop online, and most daily necessities are still bought offline.

So, to summarize the fundamentals: consumption only upgrades when young people from big cities return home during holidays. At other times, consumption is hard to upgrade, and most is just for basic needs. CH Mall's product sourcing is precisely anchored to mid-to-low-end essential consumption. On the consumer side, basically everyone under 50 has a smartphone and frequently uses WeChat.

So our question is: how to use private domain traffic to revitalize this mid-to-low-end mall and make it a viral landmark in the county?

**Building a Private Domain Traffic Pool**

**Step 1: First, gather people, i.e., build a private domain traffic pool.** This is relatively simple: add customers' WeChat. CH Mall has already started this step, with an initial goal of building a private traffic pool of 30,000-50,000 people.

So the question is how to get 50,000 customers to willingly and eagerly add the mall's personal WeChat. Here's a small insight: we are in Shandong, 150 kilometers from Confucius's hometown and 100 kilometers from Mo Yan's hometown. We are the most authentic Shandong people; we value relationships in doing things and drink when discussing business. Relationships are the lifeblood of county town life; having connections means having backing and advantages. So we can fully utilize people's desire to build relationships and establish connections with consumers.

First, we shape the private traffic account as a floor manager or counter team leader. These are middle-level managers in the mall, each managing several counters or a floor of counters, with some authority. In practice, these middle managers can personally add customers using their phones. Never post a QR code for scanning; add them personally. As for timing, it can be flexible, such as during shopping or at checkout. The script can be adjusted flexibly, but it should show scarcity. For example, an aunt might later spread the word to other aunts, saying, "I know the floor manager at CH. Add his WeChat, and you'll know about events in advance." This is a form of social showing off.

The county town has a permanent population of over 100,000, plus people from surrounding townships who come to shop. If we operate 10 personal WeChat accounts, that's 30,000-50,000 people, roughly 30,000-50,000 families, linking 150,000-200,000 people. Our county has a total population of over 500,000. With a little fission, we can create a viral hit that sweeps the entire county.

**Creating Viral Hits**

**Next is how to operate this private traffic pool. It must not be treated as an advertising platform; that would make it less scarce. We need to look at it with a sustainable development perspective.**

The idea I discussed with CH is to use private traffic to create viral products. In the early stage, use it very sparingly, but ultimately maximize its benefits.

First, let me share an insight on why we do this. A few days ago, a new supermarket opened in our town, and the prawns were particularly cheap. My sister's friend learned about it first, then told my sister, who told other sisters and my mother. So our whole family bought prawns. Another relative wanted to buy more the next day, but they were sold out. That prawn was our town's viral product, formed entirely by word of mouth.

This means that in a county town, which is a relatively closed acquaintance society, information spreads quickly through word of mouth, and the credibility and conversion rate are extremely high. Using my previous concept, the county is a naturally closed cognitive dome, and creating trends in a closed environment is relatively easy.

So it's feasible to create viral products for CH in the county. By using data from added personal WeChat accounts, sales data, repurchase rates, and other measurable data for product selection, we can ferment and spread within the private traffic pool, then share via group buying models on Moments, ultimately creating viral products in the county.

If we operate 10 personal WeChat accounts, we can classify activity levels: B-level activities are just posting on Moments; A-level activities can be category-specific, with group notifications in one or two accounts and WeChat group promotions; S-level activities are comprehensive category viral hits that leverage purchasing power across the entire county.

**Becoming a County Consumption Landmark**

**Building private traffic is not the goal; it's a means. Creating viral products is not the goal; it's a process. The ultimate goal is to make CH Mall a consumption landmark in the county.**

Through activities, we shape the mall's positioning; through sustainable viral products, we shape consumer mindset. This is actually Alibaba's marketing strategy, but it can also be applied to a county mall. I estimate that if execution goes smoothly, it will take half a year to build the private traffic pool, and another year to operate viral activities, leading to a round of revenue growth. Then, through viral product operations, we enhance the mall's image of good quality and low price, which will drive overall sales, using single products to drive the whole, ultimately forming a county consumption landmark.

Once this mindset is achieved, it might create an effect similar to Carrefour or Walmart, where families regularly come to purchase daily necessities. At that point, consumption upgrades or brand entries are just matters of means.

At the same time, this mall is also developing its own brands, mainly focusing on grain, oil, and daily consumer goods, mostly daily necessities. My suggestion here is that selling through its own channels is not costly, so it can try more. Through private traffic viral operations, it can first become a hit in the five counties, and then have the opportunity to expand beyond CH Mall, which is also a path.

**Summary**

After talking around the county this time, I found that personal WeChat accounts are hardly utilized. Unlike Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, people in the county have almost only relatives and classmates in their WeChat, usually around 100 people, not many. Merchants are still working hard on official accounts, with readership of over 100, mostly employees. I decisively suggested stopping updates: "Your small business doesn't need an official account." Even for a five-story mall, 10 personal WeChat accounts can capture most consumers, and there's no need for advanced CRM tools; manual management by floor managers is sufficient.

Personal WeChat accounts are extremely efficient for communication in the county. Social relationships are simple, and Shandong people value connections. An ordinary person adding the mall's floor manager, who can notify them of events in time, is also a connection. So when spreading discount information and activities through this connection, the conversion rate will be high.

At the same time, public opinion in the county is relatively closed. As long as there is information worth spreading, it can quickly become popular across the county through word of mouth in WeChat family groups. Compared to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the cost of information dissemination in the county is very low. Given such soil, using private traffic for a bit of consumer management to create county-wide viral products is very promising.

Last year when I went home, I had a chat with the CH mall owner. Last time, we talked about new retail, and how Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com are transforming traditional retail in lower-tier markets. I suggested he consider integrating their smart retail systems, but he looked confused, thinking I was a big talker. This time, I told him about private traffic: add all consumers to personal WeChat, and when you reach 50,000, you're the retail king of the county. With 200,000 private traffic across five counties, revenue will definitely rise to a new level. This time, he took notes seriously. I hope it helps him.

Source: Yang Buhuai (ID: yangbuhuai01)
Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan upon publication.


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 杨不坏
- Published: 2019-09-20
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/revamping-county-town-shopping-malls-with-private-domain-traffic-e969d184/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DrmAW1fSx75IDbAMPKsc_w

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