It was flat.
The snow was getting heavier and heavier.
From the 10th to the 12th, the whole city had been covered in snow for three days.
Jiangbei was one of the places most affected by the heavy snowstorm.
In other places, there were breaks during the three days, but in Jiangbei, the snow had not stopped for three days.
Far away Plaza was only a few steps away from the car, but Li Dong was covered with a light layer of snow.
Chen Ke wanted to help hold the umbrella, but Li Dong waved his hand and refused.
After getting in the car, Li Dong thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Far Away Square first."
The store Far Away Square was still one of the biggest stores Far Away.
It was the most suitable place to go.
…
It usually took Tan Yong more than half an hour to get there, which usually took more than ten minutes.
Tan Yong was very careful along the way, afraid that something might happen.
On both sides of the road, there were sanitation workers shoveling snow everywhere. The sanitation department's snow shovelers were also there.
But as soon as they shoveled a path, they were covered by falling snow again.
Chen Ke said softly, "The snow is too heavy. This is probably the heaviest snow I've ever seen in my life. I really hope it will end soon …"
Then, Chen Ke looked at Li Dong cautiously.
Her idea was the opposite of Li Dong's.
Perhaps in her opinion, Li Dong hoped that the heavier the snow, the better. After all, this was the only way to deal a heavy blow to the Taobao.
Seeing her evasive look, Li Dong said angrily, "Why are you looking at me? I also hope it will stop soon. The point is, will the heavens listen to me? I didn't cause the snow. The natural disaster is heartless. I can't change anything. Since I can't change anything, I should take the opportunity to fight for an advantage for us. I don't think it's profiting from a national disaster, right? "
Chen Ke hurriedly said, "No, how can this be considered profiting from a national disaster? We are obviously in urgent need of help. Since the Taobao can't deliver the goods, we can. Everyone should be grateful. "
Li Dong smiled and shook his head. After a while, he said, "Actually, I also hope that there won't be this snow. Do you believe me?"
Chen Ke quickly nodded and said, "I believe you."
Li Dong sighed and said, "Believe it or not, these are my true thoughts. Even without this snow, I would have defeated Taobao sooner or later. But when the snow disaster comes, more people will be affected. "
Li Dong said casually and didn't say anything else.
When the car arrived at Far away Square, Li Dong's expression changed slightly.
There was a long queue!
Far away Plaza was overcrowded today. There were even people queuing up to shop!
Li Dong was shocked. He hurriedly got off the car and walked to the back of the team.
He swept his gaze across the crowd in the queue. Even though it was snowing heavily and these people's faces were pale from the cold, none of them chose to leave.
Li Dong frowned and went up to talk to an old man.
After asking a few simple questions, Li Dong was completely stunned.
Why were people queuing up?
The snow was too heavy. Everyone was anxious. One reason was that they were here to buy supplies.
The other reason was related to Li Dong himself. He had been telling himself not to make a fortune when the country was in trouble.
Over the past few days, the prices of cereals and oils had been rising. In three days, it had increased by 5%.
Originally, Far away was prepared to increase the prices. But when it was reported to Li Dong, it was rejected by Li Dong.
Far away had a lot of stocks in the early stage. Li Dong felt that he could hold on.
But he didn't expect that because others raised the prices and he didn't, it would attract so many people to queue up.
The weather was freezing. If he fell or got sick from the cold, whose fault would it be?
At this time, Li Dong was a little helpless.
He couldn't blame others. In fact, he was not experienced enough. He didn't expect such a scene to happen.
This was only the Faraway Square. Perhaps there was a similar phenomenon in other places.
The people in the city were more worried about natural and man-made disasters than the people in the village. There was no other reason. It was because they couldn't be self-sufficient.
In the village, no matter how heavy the snow was, as long as it didn't exceed a few months, everyone could hold on.
That was because most farmers had surplus grain at home. As for vegetables, chickens, and ducks, they also had reserves.
It was different in the city. The snow was too heavy these few days. Some of the water pipes were frozen. Some power stations also had some problems. Water and electricity outages were common.
At this time, without water and electricity, everyone couldn't sit still anymore.
Also, the people in the city usually didn't store too much food. At this time, everyone was naturally worried that if the snow continued, there would be a shortage of supplies.
Therefore, while the young people were still working in the snow, the old people at home came out to buy daily necessities.
Far away was the largest supermarket chain in Jiangbei. Furthermore, the prices weren't high. If they didn't come here, where else could they go?
It was fine even if they had to queue. Anyway, the old people had nothing to do.
But they were fine. Li Dong was having a headache.
With so many people rushing to buy, could the Far away store last?
He knew that this snow would last for a long time. It had only been three days. If all the goods were sold out, what should he do next?
As the snow got deeper and deeper, the logistics became more and more difficult. Far away could meet the demand, but it couldn't withstand the people rushing to buy every day.
There were millions of people in Pingchuan. If it expanded to Jiangbei, there would be tens of millions of people. East China had hundreds of millions of people.
Far away only had 500 stores and 7,000 logistics employees. This couldn't go on.
Thinking of this, Li Dong, Chen Ke, and the others hurriedly squeezed into the crowd and walked into the square.
Along the way, many old people looked at them with dissatisfaction. Obviously, they felt that they were cutting the queue.
Li Dong didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't have time to explain. After squeezing for a while, they finally reached the supermarket on the second floor.
Compared to downstairs, the supermarket here was really overcrowded.
Behind a few cashiers, there was a long queue. It was as crowded as when the Dongping store opened, or even more crowded. At least when the Dongping store opened, the queue didn't extend to the outside.
Seeing this, Li Dong said to Chen Ke, "Call the store manager here. We can't go on like this. We have to evacuate the crowd. If anything happens, such as a stampede or a fire, our reputation Far away will be ruined! "
Chen Ke's face turned serious. She was no longer the little girl she used to be.
She had learned a lot and experienced a lot in the past two years.
If they let it go on, and the snow didn't stop, Far away would be in big trouble.
Not only did they have to be careful of accidents, but they also had to consider whether Far away could withstand such a huge pressure.
The logistics channel was now prioritized for the shopping mall. If the supermarket's business was booming every day, the logistics had to be divided.
In the end, Far away might not be able to withstand the pressure. How could they talk about suppressing Taobao?
They stood at the corner of the door and didn't go in. They probably couldn't squeeze in even if they wanted to.
A few minutes later, the store manager squeezed out, sweating profusely.
When he saw Li Dong, the store manager said with a bitter face, "Chairman, why are you here at this time?"
If it was any other time, the store manager couldn't wait for Li Dong to come and see how well they were doing when business was so good.
But now, the store manager really had a headache.
Li Dong couldn't be bothered to say more. He said quickly, "Make arrangements immediately. Let the old men and women queuing outside enter the shopping mall! You're making a fool of yourselves! It's snowing so heavily outside. What if something happens? Also, don't you know how to do some publicity work? It's only been snowing for three days. It's not like before. Buying now … "
"Chairman, it's not that we don't have any publicity work. The key is that no one listens to us." The store manager complained incessantly, "We've said it over and over again, but these old people have nothing to do. They're afraid that they won't be able to buy anything if it continues to snow, so they refuse to leave. Also, this has something to do with us not raising prices. Chairman, the other grocery stores and small and medium-sized supermarkets have all raised prices. We're famous to begin with. If we don't raise prices now, we'll be cheaper than the grocery stores. How can they not come? "
There was a hint of resentment in the store manager's words. It wasn't a good thing for employees to show resentment toward the chairman.
But the store manager really couldn't think too much about it. There were so many people. How could he not be worried?
If there was a fire now, he wouldn't be able to escape!
The entire shopping mall was densely packed with people. Where could he run to?
This was really closely related to his family's life. At this time, he could only put aside whether he was working or not.
Li Dong didn't blame him. He pondered for a moment and said, "What if we raise prices now?"
The store manager thought for a moment before saying, "Actually, we should have raised the prices right from the start. If we suddenly raise the prices now, it won't be effective if the increase is too low. Far away, I'm afraid I won't be able to lift my head if the price increase is too high. Everyone has been queuing up until now. If we suddenly raise prices so much, the people in front will spend 100 yuan, and the people behind will spend 110 yuan. They're all buying the same thing. How can they be happy? "
Chen Ke saw that the store manager was getting more and more out of hand. His words were clearly filled with blame. She couldn't help but reprimand him, "Store Manager Liu, is there no other way other than raising the prices?"
The store manager suddenly came to his senses and smiled embarrassedly.
He glanced at Li Dong and saw that Li Dong was deep in thought. The store manager heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Chairman, it's not that there's no other way."
Li Dong came back to his senses and raised his head. "Say it!"
"We can do some publicity, but it won't be effective if we just rely on ourselves. It's best if the government can do it. Also, the cinema upstairs is still empty. We can divert some of our staff there. If we move the grain and oil business upstairs, it won't be so crowded here. Also, we can now open up phone or online orders and have the goods delivered … "
As he spoke, Li Dong was already stunned.
Wasn't this the deeper O2O model?
Previously, Li Dong had said that they could use the supermarkets' reserves to meet the development of the shopping mall.
Now, the supermarkets actually suggested that they could use the shopping mall to divert the crowd in the supermarkets.
In the past, it was one-sided cooperation between the supermarkets and the shopping mall. Now, it was both sides cooperating with each other.
Would this work?
Just when Li Dong was feeling troubled, the store manager continued, "Of course, we have to limit the scope. For example, our Longhua store will only accept orders within a 5 km radius … "
Li Dong couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure? You should know that the people who come to the supermarkets are uncles and aunties. They don't usually come in contact with the internet. "
"That's why I said we need to add in phone orders. This is a special period.
It might not work in the past, but it's definitely possible now.
After all, these uncles and aunties are old. Will their families really let them go out at this time?
It can't be helped. As long as we advertise, young people can go online, and the uncles and aunties can also order through the phone.
At this time, they won't be picky about the quality of the goods.
Also, we can take photos of the congestion in the supermarkets. I think those uncles and aunties will not be willing to queue in the snow. "
Li Dong thought for a while. This might be an opportunity.
It was usually difficult to combine the online and offline industries.
But now, it was an opportunity.
But there were still many difficulties. Logistics costs, unifying the shopping mall and the supermarkets, and the distribution of goods.
Of course, if the public can accept this model, these problems will not be a problem.
In Feng Yu's previous life, many e-commerce and retail companies wanted to unify the online and offline industries but could not do it.
It was not because they did not have the technology or capability. It was because the consumer's habits were different.
But now, the situation had changed.
The arrival of the snow disaster had forced everyone to change their spending habits.
Li Dong thought about this and looked at the young store manager opposite him. This guy is a talent.
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