National Tide 1980.

Sure enough, all the Chinese customers understood the good intentions behind this "stinginess" and felt particularly reassured by this "honesty" in doing business.

An elderly couple who have lived in Japan for decades are likely people from Northeast China who were forced to come here during the war.

The elderly overseas Chinese lady went straight to the condiment section as soon as she entered the store, and after looking around for a while, she had only one feeling—satisfaction.

"Not only is the selection complete, but it's also incredibly cheap. They have everything: baijiu, huangjiu, soy sauce, rice vinegar, aged vinegar, white vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise. It reminds me of the oil and salt shops back in my hometown. But the prices are much cheaper than the general store we used to frequent. It's almost like a 30% discount."

“That’s not surprising,” the old man said. “The owner of the shop we went to was from Taiwan, so of course his stuff was expensive. The owner of this shop is clearly from the People’s Republic of China. He clearly states that he sells products from the mainland. So his stuff is definitely cheaper than in Taiwan. Besides, he didn’t bother with any shop renovations. All that money is in the goods. Like his advertising slogan says, his main selling point is ‘super cheap,’ cheap and great value.”

"Then let's buy things from this store from now on. Although it's a bit far away, we can save a lot of money each month."

“Of course,” the old man agreed with his wife without hesitation. “Who would buy something expensive when there’s something cheap? Besides, I always feel that Taiwanese food tastes a bit like Japanese food, a bit bland. It’s not as flavorful as the food from our hometown. Look at this shop, their vinegar is really from Shanxi. Their rice wine is from Shandong. Everything is authentic…”

Just then, the old lady's fingers brushed against the jars of soy sauce on the shelf, and an unexpected discovery made her even more excited.

She turned to her husband beside her and exclaimed, "Hey, old man, look! After all these years, we've finally found our hometown's miso in Tokyo again! I'm going to buy a few more bottles today!"

Her husband, however, spotted something even better nearby and immediately waved a bag of vermicelli and a bag of pickled cabbage at her.

"Oh my, soybean paste is nothing. Look, there's even pickled cabbage and glass noodles here! That's really rare. Let's buy some fatty pork later. You absolutely have to stew a whole pot of it for me today!"

That's nothing compared to what's really happening. Compared to other places, Chinese people from mainland China, who are often short of money, are even more excited about the cheap and high-quality goods here.

As soon as the international student Xiao Wang entered the store, he grabbed more than a dozen bags of Fuling pickled mustard tubers and five bags of Huhai Meilin luncheon meat from the shelf and put them into his shopping basket, as if he were grabbing them.

He then proudly showed it off to his companions.

"Today was definitely worth it! Look, the store run by our mutual aid association is really affordable. See, all the money saved on renovations has been put into the merchandise!"

He carefully calculated the prices, "Fuling pickled mustard tuber here costs 39 yen a bag, and Merlin luncheon meat costs 198 yen a piece. This price includes consumption tax, which is much cheaper than similar products in Japanese supermarkets. The key is that this is the taste of our hometown, and as a member of the mutual aid association, I can enjoy a 50% discount. After all that, it doesn't cost much."

My companion said, “That’s right. Everyone says our chairman is a great guy who cares about his fellow countrymen. He made his fortune in Japan but didn’t forget his poor friends. You can tell from this pricing that he’s only making money off the Japanese, not us. I’d like to see who dares to doubt the chairman’s character again.”

"Hey, don't say that. There are such petty people everywhere. They clearly take advantage of others and don't know how to be grateful for the favors they receive. Instead, they make wild guesses. I'm sure there will be people saying that the chairman is heartless and that the things he sells are much more expensive than in China."

"That only proves that these people are either stupid or malicious. They don't even consider that Japan has agricultural cooperatives, and imported food is subject to heavy taxes, so how could it be cheap? Although this price is more expensive than in China, considering shipping and taxes, it's already quite reasonable. Where else in Japan can you find such a low price? These two stores also accept membership points directly. How is this any different from them doing charity?"

“Yes, yes, food in Japan is really too expensive. In the past, I had to spend 1,000 yen a day on food and I still wasn’t full. Now it’s so much better. With this store, I can buy some pickled vegetables and canned goods, go back and cook some noodles, add an egg and some greens, and a meal can be quite good for 200 or 300 yen. It’s not much worse than a bowl of noodles at a ramen shop that costs 500 or 600 yen. It’s all thanks to the mutual aid association and the chairman.”

“I agree with that. No matter what, this Huaxia Products Store is really a welfare institution for us poor people. I need to buy some too. I think I can only work a few weekends at Takadanobaba next month to earn the rent. The 20,000 points on my membership card will be enough to last me until the end of next month.”

Unexpectedly, as he was reaching for items on the shelf, a female classmate patted him on the shoulder from behind, laughing. "You two should take less. Don't just eat pickled vegetables and noodles. If you keep doing that, you'll ruin your health. You need to buy something decent to eat. Look, over there in the dining area they sell steamed buns, pies, fried rice, and things like that. For us members, it's half price, so it's not expensive. I even saw a job ad over there. I just asked, and they're hiring part-time staff for the night shift. They plan to become open 24 hours after the New Year. They'll also add breakfast and late-night snacks, selling soy milk, fried dough sticks, pies, and porridge. If you want to work, why go to Takadanobaba? Why don't you apply and see if you can work here on weekends?"

"Such a good thing?" Both Xiao Wang and the person being photographed were excitedly wide-eyed by the good news from their female classmate, and quickly went to the dining area to see what was going on.

As for the Japanese "aristocrats" who patronize this place, although most of them look down on it after entering the store, and many, like the owner of the bathhouse, Sato, immediately turn away with disdain.

However, not everyone can maintain such an aloof and arrogant attitude indefinitely.

After all, they are also human beings.

Moreover, given the current economic situation, the gap between the rich and poor in Japanese society is widening, and Japan's relative poverty rate has been rising.

Therefore, some people still cannot resist truly cheap goods.

Mrs. Yamada, a Japanese housewife who originally intended to go to the supermarket to buy groceries, quickly became captivated by the place.

Although at first she was full of distrust and criticism towards this store with such a simple decoration.

In particular, when she saw some Japanese canned goods on the shelf being sold at a special price, her brow furrowed deeply. She even went to the store clerk herself and, as if dealing with a con artist, asked him directly, "Is this product in your store counterfeit? Why is it half the price of the supermarket?"

However, when the shop assistant repeatedly assured her that all the food in the store was of guaranteed quality and quantity, and explained that the reason why these canned goods were so cheap was simply because the source was some bankrupt Japanese businesses, and they could not guarantee a long-term supply.

Even though her brows were furrowed into a deep frown, she still seemed afraid of not buying enough, and threw several items into her shopping basket.

That wasn't all; when the shop assistant noticed that her gaze kept drifting towards the canned fruits from China on the shelf...

He extended an invitation to her, saying, "Would you like to try some? These fruits are very popular in China, and some of them are rarely seen in Japan."

They even proactively used clean toothpicks to pick up pieces of different fruits from the tasting box, placed them on a small paper plate, and handed them over.

Mrs. Yamada's expression relaxed completely; at least the shop assistant's generous attitude made her feel very comfortable.

No supermarket has ever served such a colorful plate of fruit samples to customers before; it's practically a fruit feast.

A moment later, she put pieces of canned fruit into her mouth one after another.

The moment the sweet and sour flavor exploded on her tongue, her eyes widened suddenly, she subconsciously made a "hmm" sound, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but she quickly pursed them again.

"How is it? Does it taste good?"

"It's alright, I guess. But Chinese yellow peaches still don't taste as good as Japanese canned fruit."

The shop assistant replied neither servilely nor arrogantly, "There is indeed a difference in taste; after all, the syrup in Chinese canned goods is thicker than that in Japanese canned goods."

"What kind of white fruit is this? This is the first time I've ever eaten it..."

"This is a lychee."

"litchi?"

"Yes, in China, there was a concubine named Yang Guifei during the Tang Dynasty. You should know her, right? This is her favorite fruit."

The shop assistant was very eloquent; in Japan, Yang Guifei is a well-known historical figure from China. Sure enough, Mrs. Yamada was completely moved.

"Yang Guifei, ah, I know that... Well... such a precious fruit must be very expensive..."

"That's true. This canned fruit is the most expensive in the store, about 249 yen."

"What? Only 259 yen! You're saying this is the most expensive canned lychees?"

"Yes, other varieties are cheaper. This canned yellow peach only costs 198 yen."

"You must be kidding. Canned yellow peaches in Japan cost 330 yen, and they're never that cheap, even on supermarket discounts."

"It's true, and the price includes consumption tax!"

"If that's the case, give me two lychee ones and one yellow peach one too."

"Okay, I've put it in your basket..."

"Ah, wait a minute, we're having guests over today. I've been thinking, how about I get three lychees and three yellow peaches each..."

Yes, the low price of the goods is the biggest competitive advantage of Da Dao products.

Despite not spending much money on renovations, the old shelves are so narrow that only one person can pass sideways, and the goods are piled up almost to the ceiling.

But this "messy aesthetics" is precisely its philosophy of survival.

The core logic is to eliminate everything except selling goods, such as decoration and services. The main purpose is to save every penny of decoration costs and put them back on the product label at a lower price, so that consumers feel they are getting a good deal and a bargain.

This extreme cost reduction allows Daido Goods to offer products at 10% to 30% cheaper than those sold through department stores such as Ito-Yokado and Aeon.

The shop owner, Ning Weimin, even possesses two of the most effective tools to guarantee low prices: stockpiling leftover stock and cross-border sourcing.

The so-called hoarding of surplus goods refers to acquiring slow-moving products from local Japanese companies at low prices.

Ning Weimin had ample financial resources, and the Da Dao industry and the madams of Ginza helped him search for and gather supplies.

So whether it's a bankrupt company or leftover stock from a factory, he can turn it into his own products.

Although these products have various shortcomings, they offer irresistible low prices for consumers.

He had already used this tactic many times back when he was in the country.

It turns out that even slow-moving products can become bestsellers if the price is low enough.

Cross-border procurement involves profiting from the price differences of goods in different markets in China and Japan.

In the past, Ning Weimin only relied on collecting scrap to obtain large quantities of cheap goods from Japan, which he then shipped back to China to sell.

But now, he can also transport goods that are cheaper in China than in Japan to Japan via cargo ships to sell.

In other words, the goods sold by Dadao Products are imported from overseas. Due to the different systems of the two countries, the Republic has extremely low labor production costs, which can increase the profit margin by 20% to 40%. This gives him the confidence to set flexible prices and win the favor of customers.

Therefore, Ning Weimin was not afraid of anyone having prejudices against Da Dao Wuchan, because he could drastically reduce the prices of the goods in his store to the point of shocking the Japanese.

Even though Tokyo already has a fairly large-scale, future low-price supermarket giant—Don Quijote—it can't compete with him.

He was confident that as long as these people looked at the prices of the various goods in the store, their prejudices and dissatisfaction would quickly melt away, and they would start to worry that the owner might go bankrupt because he was too generous by offering such low prices.

As Mrs. Yamada, a housewife, remarked while queuing to pay, "No matter how good the fresh fruit is at Ito-Yokado, it's not as good as the 600 yen can of three yellow peaches from Daito Busan."

However, if we take a dialectical and objective approach and look at it from the perspective of long-term business planning, we must admit that the low-price strategy also has its limitations.

In any industry, including retail, those who rely solely on price wars to survive will ultimately only become the bottom rung of the industry.

It's important to understand that while low prices may be a winning strategy in the short term, they ultimately lead to cutthroat competition in the long run.

The biggest drawback of a low-price strategy is that corporate profits are limited, employee benefits are generally poor, and young people are unwilling to work there.

To put it bluntly, cheap goods ultimately rely on meeting basic needs, and their biggest business ceiling is the difficulty in attracting mid-to-high-end customers.

Some self-proclaimed social elites, no matter how affordable the price, will not make a special trip to "connect with the common people".

They'd rather spend more money at upscale supermarkets for peace of mind—isn't that a reflection of social class dynamics?

If the economic situation improves significantly and consumers become more discerning, supermarkets that rely solely on the "poor man's economy" for survival will likely face increasing difficulties in transforming their businesses.

If we keep offering "extremely low" prices to the end, consumers will eventually become increasingly "picky".

The industry is a bottomless pit of infighting; no one can say for sure that they might end up crying and leaving the stage.

Therefore, there should be a bottom line to being cheap, and quality should be upheld. Cheap is not the key to success; high cost-performance is the true key to success.

In order to win people's hearts in the long run, in addition to just thinking about how to be cheap, we also need to fight for innovation and service.

It makes people feel that shopping in the store can upgrade their quality of life and sense of happiness.

In this way, even if the price is slightly higher than that of similar supermarkets, customers will feel it's worth it, and this is the direction worth striving for in the long run.

Fortunately, Ning Weimin still has his own unique advantages in this regard, which allows him to stand out from the competition of other top performers, not be afraid of competition from his peers, and remain invincible.

That stems from the superior cultural attributes and the monopolistic, affiliated business model of the Concern, which disregards martial ethics. (End of Chapter)