Also known as: "Support Role Focused on Making Money" and "The Grind to Riches in the '90s".
Wang Xiao, a rich woman at max level, transmigrated into a novel where a suppo...
Chapter 48 Color TVs Can Actually Be Sold (Bug Fix): Dumping is just ready-made advertising.
Chen Jingjing, standing to the side, could hardly take it all in. Wow, it's amazing!
The cashier here doesn't use a calculator or an abacus; it just uses a machine that looks a bit like a hair dryer to scan the cashier and then collect the money and give change in one smooth motion.
When the pink tote bag with the "Women's Street" logo was handed to her, the customer was still a little confused.
After observing several business transactions up close, Wang Xiao was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and use the camera himself.
What for? Of course, it's to take photos and publish advertorials.
Write articles posing as ordinary customers and publish them in newspapers praising the self-service clothing supermarket, thus creating a psychological suggestion among ordinary customers: the clothes here are of good quality and style, and most importantly, the service is first-class.
By the way, the most popular shopping mall in the country right now is Asia Department Store in Zhengzhou, which is famous for its excellent service. Let's ride its coattails and title this article "Jiangdong Now Has Its Own Asia Department Store".
Hmm, why submit an article to a newspaper? Television clearly has a much greater influence.
Firstly, thanks to the promotion through television news and TV commercials, "Women's Street" self-service clothing supermarket already has a certain level of brand awareness among television audiences, so repeating the advertising would be counterproductive and not very meaningful.
Secondly, newspapers are now an important medium of propaganda, even more influential than radio. Moreover, besides people urgently looking for jobs, the most important readers of newspapers are employees of government agencies and public institutions.
Although their income is not as high as that of large state-owned factories with good performance, they are still among the group with stable income and decent jobs compared to the whole society, and they also belong to the target customer group of clothing self-service supermarkets.
Moreover, due to their educational background and the nature of their work, they trust newspapers more than television, and the so-called user experience is more likely to win their hearts.
While snapping photos, Wang Xiao was also brainstorming content for a promotional article.
Just kidding. Every self-made internet celebrity who built their career from scratch, without the support of an influencer incubation agency, wasn't a copywriting expert.
The first wave of fans were almost entirely attracted by her looks, persona, and copywriting.
Wang Xiao quickly started brainstorming ideas for her short essay, but unfortunately Chen Jingjing couldn't stay with her cousin any longer.
Waaah, why can't their country have a two-day weekend like other countries?
One day off a week is simply not enough!
Wang Xiao casually reassured the little girl, saying one thing but meaning another: "It's okay, this is just a trial operation. We'll officially open next Sunday."
Sigh, can she say her heart is bleeding right now? She didn't even consider a trial operation in the first place.
She simply wanted to ride the wave of the food festival, putting on a fashion show every day to raise customer expectations to their peak, and then have a great start.
Well, plans are subject to change, so let's just go with the flow.
One must always be prepared, because who knows when a windfall of wealth might suddenly come crashing down on you.
For example, the "Women's Street" self-service clothing store was forced to open early under such unexpected circumstances, and in just half a day, it earned 150,000 yuan in sales.
When the store closed for the evening accounting, everyone was stunned when the total data from the cash register came out.
Especially the sales associates who had previously been trained at the Jinning Grand Hotel and admired the elegant waitresses there, instantly felt an overwhelming sense of collective honor.
150,000! That's 4.5 million a month, and 54 million a year. Most importantly, they get a commission—a 1% commission.
150,000, that's 1,500 yuan. There are about 100 of them, so each person can get about ten yuan.
Good heavens! They must earn at least two or three hundred a month, plus a base salary of one hundred yuan. Their income is comparable to, or even higher than, that of the waiters at the Jinning Hotel.
So, should I change jobs?
People always strive for better things.
Ignoring everyone's hesitation, Wang Xiao clapped his hands and said, "Keep it up! There's a tough battle ahead tomorrow, and it'll be even busier. Go back and get some rest."
Where to go back to? Back to the dorm, of course.
It was already 10 p.m., and the factory area was in the suburbs. Wang Xiao didn't dare let the saleswomen from all over the city go home on their own.
What if something goes wrong?
Although this era doesn't emphasize holding employers accountable, and there's no concept of holding them responsible if something happens on the way home from a night shift, isn't it still better to be safe and sound? Try to avoid causing trouble if possible.
The so-called dormitories were actually the original factory offices, simply painted with lime, and the stock of the mattress factory was moved in, which became ready-made dormitories.
It wasn't that Wang Xiao was stingy, but rather that there really weren't many commercial housing options available. Even these makeshift dormitories converted from factory buildings were a pleasant surprise for many of the young women working in the shop.
It's a huge bed; you can stretch out and sleep comfortably without needing to sleep in a large wardrobe or hammock. The shop also provided them with a wardrobe so they could have a place to store their personal belongings.
You can take a bath at a public bathhouse; it costs two cents per bath.
They ate at the cafeteria, and the restaurant gave them meal tickets.
Such good conditions are something even regular factory workers might not be able to get.
Sigh, now that I think about it, Jinning Grand Hotel doesn't seem so appealing anymore.
Exhausted and sleepy, Wang Xiao weakly urged again, "Hurry up, hurry up. We'll be swamped tomorrow."
What the hell? Tomorrow is Monday, a normal workday. There aren't that many idle people coming to stroll around.
Whether it was the impressive traffic generated by the food festival, the large number of factories that had suspended operations, or the increased number of tourists who came after hearing the news, the store's revenue actually increased on Monday, reaching 200,000.
The best-selling item was a white shirt, vintage vest, and pleated skirt outfit worn by the second female lead, Diana, in "The Greed of Man." The second most popular item was also a white floral dress with a lace neckline worn by Diana in the show.
However, the sales of the two outfits worn by the female lead, Shi Yiming, combined did not match the sales of the second female lead's outfit.
Wang Xiao didn't think it was because Shi Yiming wasn't as popular as Diana; she guessed it was because the provincial TV station was broadcasting the drama a step slower than the municipal station.
In the show, Diana hasn't broken up with Qi Haonan yet; she's still his girlfriend. This kind of "invisible female lead halo" probably has some influence.
Wang Xiao, of course, did not hesitate to place an additional order with the garment factory and quickly replenish the stock.
Unfortunately, most of the outfits in this show are for autumn and winter. The provincial capital gets warm very quickly after the Qingming Festival, so many of these outfits won't be available until autumn.
In the following period, she placed her bets on "The Edge of Life." This show features quite a few eye-catching summer outfits.
Without Wang Xiao's prompting, Xiang Dong was so excited about the good sales that he didn't even have time to think about how well the clothes were selling. On the second night after the opening, he hurriedly boarded the train to Guangzhou.
The shipments were going faster than he expected, and he worried that if he didn't restock, the goods wouldn't last until the scheduled opening day.
The shelves were completely emptied by people. It felt great, but it really slowed down my ability to make money.
Tang Yicheng went with him this time, so at least with him there, the chances of being robbed on the street would be lower.
However, Wang Xiao felt it was still a waste of talent. She had finally brought Tang Yicheng to the point where he could barely stand on his own, and she didn't want him to just be a bodyguard.
Yes, we need to find someone else.
In this day and age, it's true that a boss's personal safety is hard to guarantee without a bodyguard.
It's just that choosing a bodyguard is indeed difficult.
Money can be a powerful motivator; even with the highest possible salary, it's not uncommon for bodyguards to collude with kidnappers to kill their hostages.
In a sense, loyalty and ability are inherently inversely related.
The stronger your capabilities, the more options you have, so you don't need to cling to just one thing.
We can only find someone with a strong sense of professional ethics.
Wang Xiao had no connections, so he had to ask Tang Yicheng for a recommendation.
We'll choose from them later.
This time, he and Xiang Dong went alone.
So on the second Sunday, the last day of the food festival, when Chen Jingjing came to see the excitement again, she was surprised to find that the store had been completely renovated.
Good heavens!
That speed is terrifying.
It hasn't even been a week yet.
However, the customers inside and outside the store paid no attention to any of this; everyone's attention was drawn to the exciting sights at the store entrance.
Today marks the official opening, and Wang Xiao's signature move remains the runway show, except this time the models are all Caucasian beauties.
She's been holding back for so long just to find foreign models to boost the store's popularity.
Although going to the Soviet Union is not popular now, for most Chinese people, all white people are the same, belonging to a superior group.
How to put it in terms of being high-class? Wang Xiao remembered that before transmigrating into the book, he had accidentally read a primary school textbook from the 1990s called "Society," which contained geography, history, and some common social knowledge.
One chapter discusses race, and the accompanying images are as follows: a beautiful white girl in a standard British-style school uniform is sitting in a classroom; several yellow boys from a rural area are walking on what appears to be a loess plateau with military-style backpacks, smiling at the camera; and black children dressed as thugs are grinning outside a slum.
These three images may represent the current mainstream societal perception of the three races.
So, the subtle message being conveyed by these fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged Caucasian ladies walking the runway is: this self-service clothing supermarket is high-class, and I, as a customer, am also high-class.
╭(╯^╰)╮, In order to ensure that this event could be coordinated seamlessly, she really spent a lot of money on international long-distance calls.
Today, let's add a bold and vibrant touch.
This time, Wang Xiao didn't choose a Soviet song, but instead opted for a popular and upbeat English song, making it easier for onlookers to associate it with something fashionable.
After all, studying in the Soviet Union is now a far less desirable option than studying in the United States or Japan.
Besides the foreign models walking the runway, another way Wang Xiao arranged to attract customers was through a lucky draw.
Honestly, this tactic is nothing new; it's been used repeatedly since the 1980s, and the government even temporarily banned prize-winning sales promotions. But thirty years later, it remains a classic promotional method.
The fact that it's repeatedly used by meticulous merchants means it's effective.
Therefore, it's okay to hire older people, as long as they are useful.
Wang Xiao also put together a lottery, setting it up at the entrance of the self-service clothing supermarket, following the trend. Customers who spent over 50 yuan in a single transaction received one entry into the lottery, with six prize levels: First Prize: Camera; Second Prize: Watch; Third Prize: Digital Watch; Fourth Prize: Scarf; Fifth Prize: Soap; Sixth Prize: Toothpaste.
These are nothing compared to the famous Asia Department Store's giveaway of cars as prizes. A car can now buy several houses, while the cameras the supermarket is giving away are priced in the hundreds.
But the key is that its winning probability is high, incredibly high.
The spinning lottery wheel outside the supermarket is different from the standard model you usually see, where the lowest prize is huge and the first prize is so small that even your little finger would be ashamed of being too fat in front of it. It is divided into six equal parts, with each prize area being a 60° sector.
Oh my god, what does this mean? It means that every participant has a 1 in 6 chance of winning a camera.
Were there any idiots in the audience? No.
On the contrary, everyone has their own ulterior motives.
A sedan is impressive and powerful, but it's a prize with an odds of only one in tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands.
Can you compare that? It's a 1/6 probability, a 1/6 chance of touching a camera.
Hehe, with a camera, I won't have to worry about not being able to take pictures when I go out with my family and friends.
The odds are really accurate; 1 in 6, it's true. Basically, one in seven or eight people will win the jackpot. People around me kept screaming "Wow!"
After a while, everyone became numb to it, and only those who were unlucky enough to draw soap or toothpaste would receive sympathetic "Oh—" from those around them.
One young woman, defying all superstition, spent a fortune to buy a trench coat inspired by a Hong Kong drama, and won the sixth prize six times.
Finally, the heartbroken young woman burst into tears. The sales assistant next to her quickly handed her a lottery ticket, looking at her sincerely: "Try your luck with this prize."
And lo and behold! She actually won 20 yuan.
Even Wang Xiao, watching from the side, felt that this girl should go buy another lottery ticket.
With a probability of 1/6 to the power of 6, it would be a disservice to her divine touch if she didn't win the lottery.
Even more amazing than this young lady was another little girl, a real little girl, younger than Chen Jingjing, only in the first year of junior high school. She was drawing a prize for her mother and won the second prize on her first try—a watch made in the Soviet Union.
While everyone around her exclaimed "Wow!", she begged the sales assistant next to her if she could exchange it for the third-prize electronic watch.
The reason given was that Soviet watches were outdated and couldn't compare to the fashionable electronic watches of Hong Kong.
Wang Xiao was speechless. "Well, I don't know what to say either."
Little sister, even though watches were cheap when they were acquired in the Soviet Union, one watch was still worth ten digital watches.
The latter were sold wholesale in Guangzhou for a few yuan each.
Some smuggled goods are even sold by the sack, weighed directly by weight.
But the most amazing thing is that the little girl's mother was very happy. She wasn't angry at all about her daughter's request to exchange her watch for a cheap digital watch, and happily let her have her way.
She is truly a rare mother with stable emotions.
Lured by the high odds of winning prizes, both those who wanted to buy clothes and those who originally just wanted to come and watch the fun ended up making purchases in the store.
Some people even bought 500 yuan worth of spring clothes in one go, which not only gave them 10 chances to win a prize, but also a VIP card.
Of course, it's not the kind of card swiping that you can directly swipe. Right now, mainland China doesn't even have bank cards, so naturally there are no card readers.
This small VIP card, which looks very much like a bank passbook, is a symbol of the customer's status.
Customers can not only get a 5% discount on future purchases with this card, but also receive the latest information on clothing store arrivals and receive occasional mystery gifts from the store.
What gift?
Mystery must be kept secret.
It's nothing special, just sending birthday cards and giving away small gifts like keychains and scarves based on shopping points.
These are all small expenses; the main focus is on building an emotional connection between customers and the store.
What Wang Xiao really put a lot of effort into preparing was the brochure, which featured the latest clothing combinations, of course, worn by models.
She had this in mind when she was selecting pretty young women as sales assistants; they were ready-made models delivered right to her door, saving her the trouble of racking her brains to find someone else.
She dressed everyone up as Hong Kong-style beauties, took them in batches to the TV station's studio where professional photographers took pictures of them, and then printed them into advertising brochures to give to every customer who came to shop or stroll around.
Even if customers are overwhelmed by the choices in the store but don't buy anything, they can't help but be tempted when they look at the beautiful photos taken by the pretty ladies at home.
Seriously, in the age of online shopping, aren't the clothes customers buy just photos and videos?
The latter is currently hampered by limitations, but she absolutely has to arrange the former.
As a woman and a consumer herself, she understands all too well the thought process between being slightly tempted and absolutely having to buy it. There has to be a trigger point to make her increasingly eager to buy it, to the point that she can't even sleep well at night until she gets it.
What about out-of-town customers who rarely come to the provincial capital? It's unrealistic to expect them to make the trip just for a piece of clothing.
Oh, no problem, you can order by mail.
Once the remittance slip is sent, the clothes will be shipped directly. So what if there's no mobile payment? As long as you're willing to spend the money, there's always a way to overcome difficulties.
This is a sales channel derived from physical stores.
Of course, Wang Xiao's efforts were not in vain.
Each saleswoman will receive 10 yuan for every photo that is used in her work.
When it came to the Soviet ladies who had come from afar, the price was slightly higher, with one photo costing the equivalent of five bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), or 12.5 yuan.
That's right, Wang Xiao also arranged for these girls to film a promotional video. She even took them to the Jinning Grand Hotel specifically to scout locations for the shoot, all to ensure good filming conditions.
Let's make a promotional brochure first and see how it goes. If the response is good, we'll hire foreign models to shoot posters again next time.
After the photos were taken, Wang Xiao treated everyone to a hamburger feast at the restaurant.
What a feast!
It wasn't that Wang Xiao was stingy and unwilling to treat the beautiful young ladies to a real Russian meal; rather, the girls had specifically asked for hamburgers.
Since McDonald's opened its first store in Moscow early last year, hamburgers have become a hot commodity in the city. Countless people have lined up to buy a hamburger that costs the equivalent of a monthly Moscow metro pass.
Now, even on Chinese soil, they still crave hamburgers.
Wang Xiao is definitely OK.
Jinning Grand Hotel originally offered hamburgers and sandwiches to entertain foreign guests. Later, at Wang Xiao's suggestion, they were also made available for sale at the service counter.
However, perhaps because they couldn't compete with the high quality and low price of the large meat buns, the sales of both were only so-so, and they didn't become the city-wide sensation that Wang Xiao had expected.
This shows how unpredictable consumer tastes can be.
However, the hamburgers and sandwiches that the locals in Jiangdong didn't seem to like were really to the liking of these young ladies. They ate heartily without any guilt, each of them finishing an average of a large hamburger and a sandwich, plus a cup of strong milk tea; only then did they follow Tang Yicheng to the steel factory's guesthouse to stay.
Wang Xiao hadn't budgeted to treat them to a stay at the Jinning Grand Hotel, which cost 500 yuan a night. It wasn't that she couldn't afford it, but rather that capitalists felt it was unnecessary.
She lifted her foot to walk with the others back to the factory, just in time to check her accounts at the "Women's Street" self-service clothing supermarket.
Since being forced to open early, the store's turnover has been 150,000, 200,000, 210,000, 180,000, 220,000 (several tour groups from out-of-town companies came that day, plus the first customer to request to mail-order clothing), and 230,000.
Today is Sunday, the last day of the food festival, and there are even more customers than before, with orders coming in like crazy.
Wang Xiao felt that sales would surge today.
Well, if things go well, maintaining a daily turnover of around 100,000 yuan shouldn't be a problem.
After deducting all costs and expenses, one can still earn tens of millions a year just by selling clothes.
It's truly infuriating that when this number appeared in Wang Xiao's mind, she didn't feel any excitement about becoming a multi-millionaire.
It's pretty obvious.
It was exactly as she had expected.
Okay, Wang Xiao admitted that the real reason was that reselling Soviet goods made money faster.
Those cameras, night vision devices, telescopes, watches, and the like were sold in wholesale orders of hundreds or thousands, with a single order equaling the daily turnover of a self-service supermarket.
Her current cash balance has exceeded ten million.
She specifically chose Soviet cameras and watches as the first and second prizes, partly because they were cheap to get, and partly to advertise and remind wholesalers that they could buy their goods from the large factory's stores.
Does it work? Of course.
She's already sold 1,000 watches and 500 cameras to the big factory. That number should keep rising.
Cough cough, if it weren't for the short-lived lucrative period of reselling Soviet goods, and the fact that once the Soviet Union collapsed, a massive influx of resellers would flood in and the market would be quickly divided up; Wang Xiao would definitely have devoted himself to such a low-investment, high-profit business.
It's a pity it won't work; who knows how long this piece of meat will last?
Even now, she benefits from the fact that most traders dealing in Soviet goods are concentrated in the north, leaving a large untapped market in the south; otherwise, how could she sell her goods so easily?
On the contrary, although the profit margin of the clothing business is currently lower, well, that's only in comparison; the period of high profitability in the clothing industry is very long, at least until the real estate and e-commerce economies take off, it will be quite profitable.
So Wang Xiao is going to take a long-term approach.
They acquire properties and open clothing stores in major cities across the country. When e-commerce takes off, they shift their offline sales to online sales. Then, when property prices soar to their peak, they sell the properties, recoup their funds, and exit the market.
Sigh, those who reap the benefits of the times are just so ordinary.
So for this first self-service clothing supermarket, she had to make a name for herself.
Wang Xiao thought to herself that she should also take advantage of the internet boom and start a clothing sales website as soon as possible.
Once a large influx of hot money enters the internet industry, this clothing website will inevitably be acquired. At that point, she'll assess the situation and decide whether to invest or simply take the money and leave.
By the way, the most urgent task is to get the men's clothing sales going as soon as possible.
During this food festival, several men who accompanied their girlfriends and sisters to go shopping saw the Diana-inspired items in the store and asked about the same items worn by Qi Haonan from the TV series "The Greed of Man".
After Qi Haonan, there is no one left to love in Hong Kong dramas.
It's no exaggeration.
Qi Haonan on TV is truly charming; no wonder he's so popular.
Wang Xiao felt that he was still too timid and should have cleaned up the palm mattress factory and started selling men's clothing sooner.
Think about it carefully, and you'll see that gay men these days are quite fashionable and willing to spend money on themselves.
The main problem is that medical and educational services have not yet been industrialized, and people's housing is still allocated by their work units.
Without these three major burdens, wouldn't ordinary people just focus on eating, drinking, and having fun?
As Wang Xiao walked out, lost in thought, he was stopped again when he reached the restaurant entrance.
Mr. Wu, the factory manager of Longhua TV Factory, said anxiously, "Oh, Mr. Wang, you have to help us."
Tang Yicheng chuckled inwardly when he saw Director Wu's men.
Are you in a hurry now? During the Spring Festival, everyone in the factory acted like a big shot, unwilling to lift a finger to open the warehouse door and send out the goods.
I really admire them. The factory can't even pay out holiday bonuses, so how can they still have such a happy holiday?
Now that's better.
Wang Xiao turned around and went to find a television factory in Beijing.
They've already shipped out three batches of goods, cleared out their inventory, and paid off most of their triangular debts. They're now completely debt-free.
This immense wealth originally belonged to the Longhua TV Factory.
It's their fault for not wanting it back then.
Wang Xiao was particularly polite and even took the initiative to comfort the other party: "Wait for next time. If someone wants a TV next time, I will definitely be the first to contact our Longhua TV Factory."
It's probably impossible in the short term.
Since the beginning of the year, she has handled the sale of 30,000 television sets. Her Soviet partners also need time to clear their stock in Mongolia.
With that, Wang Xiao nodded to the other person and prepared to walk away.
Factory Director Wu stopped her, saying, "No, no, no, Engineer Wang, let's sit down and have a good talk. Actually, what I'm most worried about is the color TV."
Why?
Firstly, black and white televisions were inexpensive to produce, and secondly, even with excess inventory, they could still be sold off in batches in rural areas with a little effort.
Secondly, color TVs were in high demand a few years ago, and supply couldn't meet demand. Under the direction of the Light Industry Bureau, they worked tirelessly to produce more, and output kept reaching new highs.
In addition, the production cost of color TVs is high. Once they are stockpiled, tens of millions of yuan are stuck in the warehouse, which could directly bankrupt the factory.
The factory is now worried every day about how to sell color TVs, and has even mobilized all the employees to go out and promote them, but unfortunately the results are minimal.
Wang Xiao suggested, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Color TVs are expensive, so why don't the factory try to offer discounts? People still want to watch color TVs, and they'll naturally buy them if they're cheaper."
Factory Director Wu poured out his grievances: "I want to lower my salary, but they won't let me."
At this point, to put it bluntly, the Longhua TV factory—or rather, all the color TV manufacturers in the country—are no longer concerned about whether they're making a profit or loss; everyone is just thinking about how much capital they can recover.
Otherwise, the factory simply couldn't keep up with the situation, which has dragged on from the year before last until now.
However, just as it will be difficult for real estate companies to lower prices to save themselves 30 years from now, the price of color TVs cannot be lowered at will.
Lowering prices arbitrarily disrupts market order and can lead to penalties, potentially even imprisonment.
Wang Xiao was helpless: "Well, there's nothing I can do about it."
Factory Director Wu, however, did not believe it.
Although he didn't know Wang Xiao's true background, he always believed that the other party was very capable.
So this time he insisted on pulling someone aside: "Hey, Engineer Wang, then you should give us some good advice."
Wang Xiao glanced at the sky and saw that it wasn't too late yet. He also thought that harmony could bring wealth, and that Longhua TV Factory had several million yuan in debt with the steel factory. So he didn't refuse outright, but instead asked the Soviet girls for their opinion: "Would you like to sit down and have another bottle of Coke?"
The young women were quite easy to talk to and drank their cola heartily.
Wang Xiao raised his watch for Director Wu to see: "We really can't chat any longer. I have an appointment with someone and I have to get back to the factory as soon as possible."
Factory Director Wu smiled broadly: "Hey, about our color TVs, could you think of a way to help us connect to the Russians' network as well? Don't worry, our factory has rules, and the commission will definitely be substantial."
Wang Xiao was truly helpless: "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that the Russians don't think much of our color TVs. There's nothing we can do about it. They are the big brother of socialism, they don't trust their own technology, and they certainly won't trust ours."
How to put it? This is the drawback of being part of a faction: the lack of a mystery filter.
The Chinese people still have a sense of kinship with the Soviet Union, at least as an older brother.
The reverse won't work: Back then, I was the one who supported your family's industrial development. Do you think I don't know your own worth?
Factory Director Wu became anxious: "Our color TVs aren't that bad either. Our Longhua TV Factory has never had a color TV explosion."
Wang Xiao shrugged: "You know what use it is if I know? I have to convince the Russians. Where would I get this ability?"
Factory Director Wu said hopefully, "Think of a way."
Wang Xiao could only shake her head again. Of course she wanted to earn the money that was offered to her, as the profit margin for color TVs was much higher than that for black and white TVs.
But she wasn't capable of earning all kinds of money.
She was getting fed up with the pestering and was just thinking about how to make a quick getaway when someone came over to greet her and introduce her to a new customer.
Foreign businessmen from South Korea want to try their luck in mainland China to see if there are any suitable investment projects.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to escape Director Wu's incessant chatter, Wang Xiao smiled and asked him in English which projects he was most satisfied with and what his requirements were for the investment site.
It turned out to be a coincidence.
This Korean businessman's family also owns a television factory. According to him, their televisions are very popular, and their color TVs sell very well in Europe.
Wang Xiao listened and nodded, "Okay, as long as you have sales channels, that's fine."
Otherwise, if you produce tons of goods now and rely on the mainland market, it's hard to say when the fog will clear and the sun will shine again.
After hearing her explanation, the Korean businessman looked disappointed, and the conversation could not continue.
Fearing that Factory Director Wu would start nagging again, Wang Xiao simply pulled the middleman who was drinking tea nearby and asked, "What? Mr. An isn't looking to do processing with supplied materials, but is hoping for the mainland market? Aren't his color TVs selling very well in Europe?"
The middleman chuckled: "It's precisely because they're selling so well that the European Television Manufacturers Association accused them of dumping. They couldn't withstand the accusations, so they turned their attention to the mainland market."
Wang Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "It's selling so well!"
She had always thought that Japanese color TVs were the most competitive in the Asian market at that time, but she didn't expect that South Korea was just as good.
The middleman became interested and continued, "It's not just South Korea; they dislike it from all over Asia. Like Singapore. Oh, and I heard that color TVs from mainland China are also being investigated for dumping. Director Wu, don't you agree?"
Factory Director Wu was a little confused when he was mentioned, and nodded blankly: "Yes, but our factory doesn't export much anyway, so it won't have much of an impact."
He instinctively felt that dumping was a bad word, so he subconsciously wanted to distance himself from it.
Seeing him waving his hands repeatedly, Wang Xiao was at a loss for words.
You should have said so earlier! Your TVs are exported to Europe, and their price-performance ratio is so high that the European TV industry has become wary and kicked you out. How can you pretend that this doesn't exist?
Factory Director Wu desperately tried to defend himself: "It really has no impact, and we weren't expecting it anyway."
To be precise, they were just incidentally included and didn't think they had much to do with opening up the European market.
This time, if someone wants to carry out anti-dumping measures, they're just caught in the tail end of the storm.
However, Wang Xiao looked serious and insisted that Director Wu bring over all the relevant documents.
She is useful.
What's the use?
Let's use it to open up the color TV market in Moscow.
In this era, the two major camps of capitalism and socialism were still in a state of struggle, and it was clear that the former had the upper hand.
The simplest and most direct manifestation of this is that people in socialist countries have a strange kind of trust in commodities from the capitalist world.
In short, everyone is chasing after imported goods.
Don't Muscovites distrust the quality of Chinese color TVs?
Western Europeans, whom they envied, abandoned their own country's products and instead chased after Chinese color TVs. The rush to buy them even overwhelmed local TV manufacturers, who then united to try and drive Chinese TVs out of the market.
What does this mean? It means that Huaxia color TVs are high-quality, affordable, and of excellent quality!
If that's the case, why are you still pursuing European and Japanese color TVs? Shouldn't the top-quality, cost-effective Chinese-made color TVs be your first choice?
Wang Xiao became more and more excited as she thought about it. She felt that she had finally found the key to opening up the sales of Huaxia color TVs in the Moscow market.
But will the Soviets really accept Chinese color TVs according to her vision?
She believed it was possible.
Why? Because people living under the same ideology share significant commonalities in certain aspects.
For example, Feiyue sneakers. Wang Xiao remembers that when he was in junior high school, these shoes suddenly became popular, and a shoe store near his home even sold out.
It was because Feiyue shoes were popular in Europe and America at the time that the news reached China, triggering a wave of buying frenzy.
Human beings have a strange tendency to admire the strong; they always trust the choices of those they believe are more capable than themselves.
By extension, Wang Xiao believed that Huaxia color TVs, having obtained European market certification, would definitely shine brightly in the Soviet Union.
But how could the Soviet people find out about this?
Without saying a word, Wang Xiao immediately made an international long-distance call.
Since the Soviets wouldn't actively follow the developments of Chinese color TVs, let's just deliver the news to them, let them see and hear it for themselves.
Moscow time is five hours behind Beijing time, so it's still afternoon.
After Wang Xiao made the call, the other party called back readily, but wasn't very interested in her idea of promoting Huaxia TVs.
After all, changing the deep-rooted ideas of ordinary people requires painstaking effort and is very time-consuming and laborious.
Their other businesses are doing well, and they don't want to be pioneers, wasting a lot of time and energy.
“It won’t take long,” Wang Xiao said with a smile. “Just broadcast the news on TV, newspapers, and radio for a while, and you’ll see results quickly.”
The other party remained unmoved, and quite bluntly emphasized that the Soviets were not very interested in the situation in China, and that they were more interested in seeing new developments in Europe and America.
Wang Xiao sighed inwardly. The collapse of the Soviet Union was indeed justified; one could see the signs from the public's mindset.
However, this is a good thing for her, as it is precisely the point where she can make a breakthrough.
She smiled broadly: "It's European news, a proper European news flash."
What news?
Beware! Chinese color TVs are being dumped in Europe.
It is reported that in recent years, Huaxia color TVs have entered the European market in large quantities. Due to their low price and high quality, they have sold very well, which has aroused the vigilance of local European manufacturers.
Since 1988, the European Television Manufacturers Association has raised the issue of color television dumping. At their request, Europe initiated an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese color television manufacturers, and the results will be announced soon.
In the past, Huaxia's color TV production lines were all imported from Europe and Japan.
Unexpectedly, the student surpasses the master, and the apprentice's teaching leads to the master's starvation.
After more than a decade of development, today's Huaxia color TVs are shining brightly in the European market thanks to their top-notch price-performance ratio, even threatening the survival of European color TV manufacturers.
It truly is a case of fortunes changing every thirty years.
When Europe and Japan exported their production lines to China, did they ever imagine this day would come?
————————
The information regarding Europe's anti-dumping measures against Chinese color TVs at the time primarily comes from a 2002 interview in *Sanlian Life Weekly* titled "How Can Chinese Color TVs Return to Europe?"
More than a decade ago, when Chinese televisions were still small, the EU had already closed its doors. In the late 1980s, Chinese color TVs began exporting to Europe. Although they were small-sized, their low prices alerted the EU's color TV industry, leading to allegations of dumping. Now, the EU has partially lifted anti-dumping duties on Chinese color TVs. Does this signal that Europe has reopened the long-closed Chinese television market? To find out, our reporter interviewed Ms. Lanzabeth, the press officer of the EU Delegation to China.
Sanlian Life Weekly: What were the EU's considerations when it began imposing anti-dumping duties on Chinese color TVs more than a decade ago?
Lansa Bey: The earliest anti-dumping case was filed in 1988 by the European Television Manufacturers Association, which first raised the issue of television dumping. Based on their request, the EU initiated anti-dumping investigations against television manufacturers in China and other Asian countries. We can say with certainty that the EU's investigation was thorough, scientific, and comprehensive. In April 1990, the European Commission determined that 15.5cm and 42cm color televisions originating from South Korea were being dumped; in July 1991, it determined that dumping also existed in products from China. The final ruling to impose anti-dumping duties on color televisions from China and other Asian countries was based on the EU's investigation results. It should be noted that the EU's anti-dumping measures on color televisions were not only targeted at China; products from Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand were also included.