Chapter 570: The Future is Online
After its smooth opening, Wanlong Plaza maintained sky-high popularity for several consecutive days.
As a newly opened commercial complex in Pearl City, its modern facilities far surpassed those of the aging department stores. With superior environment, better shopping experience, plus abundant events and activities, it naturally attracted huge crowds of visitors.
On opening day alone, foot traffic exceeded 80,000 visitors. The three-day cumulative total approached 200,000, with overall sales breaking through the 20 million mark.
Among all tenants, Wanlong Supermarket delivered the most outstanding performance, accounting for nearly one-third of total sales.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, Liu Yutong once again brought her assistants Su Mansu and Lan Die to inspect the mall. Though she called it an inspection, she simply wanted to go shopping herself, so she hadn’t notified anyone.
After buying some clothes in the mall, she made her way to the third floor and spotted her old classmate Guo Yani next to a Fisherman’s Delight branch. To her surprise, Guo Yani had opened her store right beside the restaurant and was offering free hand care services at the entrance, running a cross-promotion with the eatery.
Fisherman’s Delight was currently one of the most renowned restaurant chains in Pearl City.
This success came because Fisherman’s Delight had achieved perfection in both service and flavor, making it nearly impossible not to thrive. During holidays, the restaurant would even see queues stretching around the block as customers waited for tables.
To soothe waiting customers’ frustrations, the restaurant had thoughtfully introduced a series of amenities, including seating, complimentary tea, and snacks.
Guo Yani had precisely targeted this business opportunity and foot traffic, choosing to locate her branch beside the restaurant and offering free hand care services to give waiting women hand treatments, thereby promoting her beauty salon.
When Liu Yutong spotted Guo Yani, the girl was wearing her work uniform, focused on providing a free hand treatment to a customer.
Honestly, she was quite clever, leveraging the traffic from Liu Yutong’s restaurant chain—skills Liu Yutong had never taught her.
Only after that customer left did Liu Yutong step forward.
“Boss Guo, business seems to be booming.”
Guo Yani looked up at the voice, and seeing Liu Yutong, immediately stood up.
“Oh my, is the big boss doing an incognito visit? Why didn’t you give me advance notice so I could roll out the red carpet!” she joked with a laugh.
“Cut the formalities.”
Liu Yutong smiled and naturally sat down in the chair opposite her, extending her hand. “Just finished shopping, my hands are a bit dry. Would Boss Guo personally attend to them?”
“The honor is mine, my patron!”
Guo Yani offered compliments while taking out her tools. She first carefully wiped Liu Yutong’s hands with a warm, damp towel before beginning the treatment.
“How does it feel? Settling in well these first few days since opening?” Liu Yutong asked.
“Couldn’t be better.”
While applying cuticle cream to Liu Yutong’s hands, Guo Yani expressed her gratitude.
“Yutong, thank you so much. If you hadn’t invested money and reserved this spot for me, I never would have dared dream of opening a store in Wanlong Plaza. You know, my staff and I have provided over a hundred free treatments in just a few days, converting more than thirty into consultations and membership cards. Our projected revenue is almost catching up to my old shop’s monthly earnings.”
“By the way, I’ve transferred your share to your account on time. Don’t forget to check the books, big boss!”
Guo Yani’s salon, named Elegant Time, had Liu Yutong as its largest investor. According to their original seventy-thirty split agreement, Liu Yutong could collect seventy percent of profits without doing a thing.
“No rush with the money. Don’t you think I trust you? Now that you’re on the right track, I can rest easy.”
“You’re really laid-back, but I’m truly honored!”
“………”
Guo Yani then applied hand cream, performing the final massage steps, before asking a question she’d been pondering for a while.
“Yutong, my chain store is up and running, and business is decent, but I still feel uncertain. What’s the next step to make this business more stable and bigger? Point me in the right direction, big boss?”
After some thought, Liu Yutong said, “Focus more on online channels. Take Wanhui Preferred, for example—the opportunities there are huge. You can set up shop directly, then launch online booking with offline experience discount packages to attract more online customers to visit. You could also sell your salon’s well-reviewed skincare products on e-commerce platforms. Making money through e-commerce is still relatively easy.”
“Really?”
“Just remember one thing: the future of business lies in the seamless integration of online and offline.”
“I understand! Yutong, you’re amazing! How didn’t I think of that? When I get back, I’ll research how to set up group deals and online sales.”
At this point, Guo Yani suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, speaking of which, Yutong, let me tell you something. Just a couple days ago, a few foreign customers came in. They actually knew about you! I never imagined your reputation has spread overseas.”
Liu Yutong’s eyes narrowed. “Oh? What did they say?”
After thinking, Guo Yani shook her head. “Most of the time those foreigners were speaking their own language, which I couldn’t understand, but they seemed quite interested in you. Maybe they want to visit? After all, you’re Pearl City’s most outstanding young entrepreneur.”
“Oh right, one of them was even injured, with gauze wrapped around his head, looked like he’d been beaten up.”
“Beaten up?”
“Yeah, looked like it. But that’s understandable—that guy talked non-stop, jabbering endlessly like a broken record, so annoying I wanted to smack him just to shut him up,” Guo Yani said jokingly.
A talkative foreigner?
The name instantly surfaced in Liu Yutong’s mind—Jess, the foreigner she’d briefly encountered in South City.
After finishing the hand treatment, Liu Yutong chatted with Guo Yani a bit more before leaving.
As soon as she got in the car, she instructed, “Call Ma Da first. Tell him to come see me at my place.”
“Yes, boss,” Su Mansu responded.
Ten minutes later, at Qiongyue Bay Villa District.
When Liu Yutong’s car arrived, she saw a black sedan parked at her doorstep. Yaya hopped out of the car carrying a small bag.
The little girl spotted Liu Yutong getting out of the car behind her and immediately came running over excitedly.
“Sister!”
Liu Yutong squatted down, opening her arms to catch the little cannonball throwing herself into her embrace.
“Yaya, back from the zoo?”
“Yes!” Yaya nodded vigorously, lifting her small face with big eyes sparkling as she looked at Liu Yutong and began chattering excitedly about all the animals she’d seen at the zoo today.
While listening, Liu Yutong took her hand and walked into the villa.
The housekeeper had already prepared dinner. Just as Liu Yutong, Yaya, and the others finished washing their hands and sat down to eat, Ma Da arrived in a whirlwind.