He who lets others be, lets them be; he who is strong, let him be strong, I will shine like the bright moon over the great river.
Price wars are undoubtedly the most shameless tactic in business warfare.
This kind of tactic is like killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own.
It's entirely about paving the way with money. You sell for one yuan, I sell for eighty cents. You sell for eighty cents, I'll go straight to fifty.
There are even times when the merchant sells at forty cents for an item that cost fifty cents to acquire.
No one is a fool; there's no need to feign innocence.
The goal is to monopolize the market and gain a dominant position, after which they can set prices as they please.
The money spent on the price war would then be earned back, at least doubled.
Yan Ruyu hesitated for a long time. "Zhang Tianxing, why don't we also lower our prices? We'll sell at cost, and I don't believe they'll continue to drop theirs."
Upon hearing Yan Ruyu's words, Zhang Tianxing let out a wry smile. "My dear elder sister, are you joking? You're thinking too naively. This isn't child's play; the business world is a more terrifying place than a battlefield, full of people who would chew you up and spit you out."
Since the opponent has initiated a targeted encirclement with the first price drop, if you lower your prices, they will definitely follow suit.
A price war, once it begins, will only end when one side collapses.
"Sister Yu, you suggesting a price war is one strategy, but how much money are you willing to spend on it, or how much are you prepared to lose?" A price war is a money-burning game, a test of who can endure the longest. The one who can't hold on is eliminated, and the survivor takes all.
Zhang Tianxing thought for a moment and said to Yan Ruyu, "How about this, Sister Yu? Let's not engage in a price war for now. It's mutually destructive and purely a case of losing money to gain attention."
"We're just stealing customers. If they steal our customers, we steal theirs!" Yan Ruyu said with great indignation.
Looking at Zhang Tianxing, who had just bought the electronics factory building and reportedly owned a cannery as well, this benefactor should not be short of money.
"Zhang Tianxing, don't you also have a cannery? How about we run a promotion and give away canned goods with purchases? That would definitely put the shops around us out of business in minutes." Yan Ruyu suddenly had a brilliant idea.
Giving away delicious canned goods for free would surely lead to astronomical daily revenue.
It's just burning money, but we'll burn canned goods. This idea is great; Yan Ruyu was almost impressed with herself.
Upon hearing Yan Ruyu's idea, Zhang Tianxing was caught between laughter and tears. "Please spare me, Sister Yu. Don't even think about my meager fortune. According to your plan, it's not about how much money we'll make, you're clearly trying to sell me out."
"Hmph, stingy, you skinflint!" Yan Ruyu grumbled discontentedly. "Regardless, you have to come up with a solution, or our crayfish hot pot will be finished."
"Don't worry, Sister Yu. We can introduce set menus. As for the surrounding restaurants targeting our set menus, don't worry too much. I only have two requirements: quality and service. As for the price, as long as we don't lose money, that's fine. Also, let's start a membership program where menu prices can be discounted," Zhang Tianxing stated his plan.
Yan Ruyu's eyes widened, her face full of shock. "Your brilliant idea is this? Zhang Tianxing, will this idea of yours work? Why do I feel like you're clearly trying to drive the crayfish hot pot out of business?"
Zhang Tianxing's proposal was too simple. Yan Ruyu felt that the only way to survive the surrounding encirclement was to lower prices.
However, Zhang Tianxing explicitly disagreed with lowering prices.
Yan Ruyu had no other options. She decided to consider Zhang Tianxing's suggestions: introducing set menus and offering discounts for members. It seemed like a decent plan.
She wasn't sure how effective it would be. No matter what they did, the surrounding restaurants would surely follow suit immediately.
Yan Ruyu was also very troubled. She knew that if she lowered prices, the opponent would immediately do the same.
She hadn't expected Zhang Tianxing to disagree with engaging in a price war.
As Zhang Tianxing put it, "If they want to start a price war, let them lower their prices. Let's see how many days they can sustain it, and we'll just sell service."
Zhang Tianxing didn't have high expectations for these restaurants. As long as they weren't making money, as long as they weren't losing money, that was fine.
Everything is difficult at the beginning. Once they overcome this hurdle, the crayfish hot pot will have truly established itself in Zhonghai City.
"Crayfish hot pot introduces a membership service: top up 200 yuan and get 50 yuan free, with a 10% discount on orders."
"Honey, the crayfish hot pot has a top-up promotion. Should we top up some money?"
"The surrounding places also have top-up promotions, but I feel I still prefer the set menus at the crayfish hot pot."
"The prices at the crayfish hot pot are quite stable. These few places around here seem so cheap. Next time, we'll eat at these ones."
"That's because these places want to drive the crayfish hot pot out of business. I didn't expect the crayfish hot pot to still be bustling with people; I really don't understand."
"The food there is delicious, and the service is good. As soon as my child is out, we always go to the crayfish hot pot to eat. Their prices are acceptable, maybe a little on the expensive side, but the service attitude is good. If I'm eating alone, I'd go for the cheaper options, but when dining with family and friends, we still go to the crayfish hot pot because it's delicious and not overly expensive."
The owners of the surrounding restaurants were starting to lose their composure.
"This crayfish hot pot is still holding on. Is this person foolish? I told them I also have hot pot, but they insisted on taking their child to the crayfish hot pot."
"It seems the crayfish hot pot has a plan. Compared to the crayfish hot pot, we're still a tiny bit lacking."
"It's too late to say anything now. Either the crayfish hot pot dies, or we do. We have no other choice."
"Exactly. If we can't defeat the crayfish hot pot now, once they establish themselves, there will be no place for us to survive."
The few owners spoke their minds about their situation, and Wu Jiuping was among them.
"I can't hold on any longer. Since the price war started, I've been losing a thousand yuan as soon as I open my eyes. In less than half a month, 20,000 yuan is gone. Brothers, what should we do?"
"Old Zhou, we're also in a difficult position. If we don't lower our prices, we have no customers, and if we have no customers, you're still losing money, right? As long as we hold on until the day the crayfish hot pot goes out of business, our hardships will be over."
"I understand everything you're saying, but we can't hold on any longer. We're out of money. It's not that we don't want to persevere; it's that our wallets don't allow us to."
Hearing Boss Zhou's words, the others nodded in agreement.
"Exactly, it's not that we don't want to fight, it's that our wallets are too thin. We can't afford to fight anymore. What do we do?"
It's said that it's better to have a god-like opponent than a pig-like teammate. Wu Jiuping felt a surge of anger. He couldn't scheme with such lesser men. The young Zhang Tianxing had once again thwarted his ambition.
I hate him!!
Wu Jiuping could no longer suppress himself, and a mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth.
"Young Master Wu, wake up! Don't spit blood. If you spit any more, it'll be over..."