HLM – Chapter 126 Opening the Convenience Store

Besides the shelves, Anderson also purchased shopping carts. Wang Bo didn’t quite understand this and asked, “Buddy, do we really need shopping carts right now? We’re just a convenience store, not a supermarket. People don’t have that kind of demand yet.”

Anderson laughed, “Of course they’re necessary. These shopping carts are designed for convenience stores. When we expand into a supermarket later, we’ll use the large-sized ones.”

Seeing Wang Bo’s confused expression, Anderson explained further, “Boss, you know, it’s human nature to feel uncomfortable with empty space — people always want to fill it. So, by letting customers use carts, they’ll end up buying more.”

“I once read a research report — the average shopping cart in New Zealand today is twice the size it was twenty years ago, and three times the size of forty years ago. But consumer demand hasn’t grown proportionally.”

After chatting with Anderson, Wang Bo felt even more at ease. He believed the convenience store would thrive under Anderson’s management.

As for renovations, the biggest change was tearing down the wall where the front door had been. Anderson replaced it entirely with four tempered glass doors.

This change was made with future expansion into a supermarket in mind — more doors meant a higher capacity for foot traffic and gave customers a psychological impression: this is a big store.

Since it was still a convenience store for now, not all four doors were in use. Anderson opened just the center one and set up a cashier counter and a computer for surveillance at the entrance.

Next came stocking the goods — something Wang Bo didn’t need to worry about. Anderson had plenty of supply channels, and they didn’t even need to pay upfront. They could just leave a deposit and settle the bill at the end of the month.

Anderson explained, “Right now, our scale is too small, and we’re too far from the manufacturers’ outlets. So we have to rely on city-level suppliers, which is slightly more expensive. But once we grow bigger, we’ll have manufacturers deliver directly, and that’ll significantly cut costs.”

Watching the shelves gradually fill up, Wang Bo felt increasingly satisfied.

Just as Anderson had said earlier — people don’t like empty space and always want to fill it.

Opening a convenience store was a complicated task, especially in the early stages when it came to placing items and tagging them — it was a lot of hard work.

Wang Bo brought his crew to help, even pulling in Hani and his son.

But the most enthusiastic workers turned out to be Zhuang Ding and the little parrot, Commander. Especially Commander — most items in the store were light, and its little claws could easily pick them up.

So, the tiny parrot fluttered around like a miniature helicopter, zooming back and forth, constantly ferrying items into Wang Bo’s hands.

Anderson was in charge of the layout. He instructed everyone to place the expensive items near the front, saying, “This gives consumers the illusion that the other similar items further in are cheaper. For example, they see a block of cheese at 15 yuan first, then see others for 10 or even 8 yuan — they’ll feel like those are a bargain and be more likely to buy.”

Against the north wall of the convenience store stood a row of refrigerators and freezers stocked with cold drinks, ice cream, and meat. Anderson had the cowboy post a rationing sign, limiting each customer to two pounds of lamb and four pounds of beef per purchase.

“Why the rationing? Are you worried someone might buy it all and resell it at a higher price?” The cowboy shook his head, confused.

Anderson chuckled, “No, it’s to create urgency. It tells people that if they don’t act fast, the good stuff will be gone. This makes customers decide faster and encourages impulse purchases — often buying things they don’t really need or buying in excess.”

The cowboy replied, “Isn’t that unnecessary? Our ranch produces the best beef and lamb. Even without a rationing notice, people will still rush to buy.”

“You’re right,” Anderson nodded. “But the rationing signs aren’t just posted here — they’ll be in multiple areas. Our premium beef and lamb serve as examples. When customers realize these meats are actually great and truly limited, they’ll assume everything else on the ration list is also high-quality and worth grabbing fast.”

Wang Bo nodded in agreement. From now on, the ranch’s beef and lamb wouldn’t be sold loosely — anyone who wanted some would have to buy through the convenience store. This would drive more business to the store.

After hearing Anderson’s explanations, everyone was deeply impressed. Charlie shook hands with him and said, “There’s a Chinese saying: ‘Being worldly-wise is also a form of learning.’ Buddy, you’ve just taught me a vivid lesson!”

Anderson shrugged, “Honestly, these are just some minor tricks. I have more experience up my sleeve. For example, once we have internet access, we can offer free Wi-Fi, play soft music in the store, set up a café corner, or even provide free baby diapers in the restroom.”

“Of course, that’s for when we’ve scaled up. Once the store grows big enough, the more thoughtful services we offer, the longer customers will stay. The longer they stay, the more they’ll spend.”

Wang Bo clapped and praised him, “Buddy, you really are a cunning businessman!”

Anderson laughed heartily, “Give it some time, and you’ll be calling me a ruthless capitalist!”

After two full days of organizing, the convenience store’s merchandise was finally arranged neatly.

Looking at all the food, supplies, and gifts, Wang Bo felt immensely happy. He said, “You guys might not believe it, but when I was a kid, I dreamed of owning a store so I could eat and drink whatever I wanted.”

And he really meant it — sitting at the counter, Wang Bo opened a bottle of Budweiser beer, took a couple of swigs, and let out a satisfied burp.

Sipping his beer, he waved his hand, “Everyone, eat and drink whatever you want. This is our own store. Go wild!”

Anderson just smiled and shook his head, saying nothing. He didn’t stop anyone from taking stuff — but made sure everything was scanned first, keeping the accounts clear.

The convenience store’s bookkeeping was handled by Juan — he was an expert at this.

Wang Bo’s intuition was spot on — opening this store was absolutely necessary.

They had just finished organizing everything and were chatting and drinking when a Toyota Prado pulled up outside. Four young men and women entered the store and loaded up a cart with goods before leaving.

“Wow, a grand opening sale!” Wang Bo laughed. “Quick, Juan, tally up how much we made from that order.”

Juan glanced at the receipt and replied, “Twenty-five bucks profit, boss. They bought goods worth 220 yuan. The cost was 195 yuan.”

Wang Bo started calculating with anticipation, “Once traffic and the population increase, selling 20,000 yuan worth of goods a day won’t be a problem, right? That would mean… over 2,000 yuan in daily profit — sh*t, that’s so little!”

“Ah, sh*t! Ah, sh*t!” Commander chimed in right on cue.