Boss Lu: A reborn life is destined to be without regrets!
Chapter 205 - 163. Their sleepless nights

Chapter 205: 163. Their sleepless nights

"The data growth is so low? What’s going on..."

In Hang City, inside a JK uniform store called Plaid Story, the owner, Ma Shiduo, frowned, constantly monitoring the real-time data of the store’s backend.

Piles of cigarette butts were accumulating in the ashtray, growing higher and his frown deepening along with them.

Plaid Story, true to its name, specialized in plaid skirts within the JK uniform category.

"Plaid skirts" are one of the most iconic items in JK uniforms.

To differentiate from the common pleated skirts sold on the market, enthusiasts and merchants have clear regulations on the fabric and pattern of plaid skirts, with the most important criteria being "stiffness."

A good set of pleats must be "sharp and stiff"; a pleated skirt that stays crisp without fanning out is considered a quality uniform skirt.

Ma Shiduo, a Neon exchange student with a deep passion for the second dimension, was quite knowledgeable about the JK uniform market.

Back then, the domestic market was booming with potential, and after graduating, he returned to Hang City without hesitation to embrace the JK uniform industry.

His secret from scratch was simple.

— Counterfeiting.

With the network and insights gained from his studies in Neon, he quickly contacted a suitable supply chain and replicated the Japanese brand’s JK uniforms almost to a T, selling at a fraction of the price.

With such a brute force strategy, he rapidly captured the market.

In 2014, there were very few competitors, and even fewer who could speak of originality.

Counterfeiting only required cloning and selling, whereas originality required much more consideration.

In less than a year, Ma Shiduo made a fortune.

Plaid Story had made a name for themselves in the newly-established niche of JK uniforms.

Of course, where there’s money to be made, people will follow and emulate.

Ma Shiduo had found a new business opportunity, and others naturally could use it as a lesson.

It’s just counterfeiting, after all, with practically no entry barriers.

Thus, the top-ranked JK uniform stores at the current stage were mostly selling counterfeit products.

Everyone kept their pricing harmonious with the Japanese brand averaging over 1000 RMB per set, we priced ours at 200-300 RMB per set, affordable for any interested girls.

No problem there!

But during this year’s November 11th sale, Ma Shiduo noticed something was off.

What seemed like a thriving blue ocean market was slowly being transformed by a disruptive player.

"This store... your mother must be making fake purchases, right?"

He refreshed the same page again and again, looking perplexed.

November 11th, a grand celebration.

It’s not just a traditional Singles’ Day; it’s also a widely recognized shopping festival in the new era.

Five years ago, on November 11th, Taobao mall started a promotional event on Singles’ Day intending to create a unique holiday that would make people remember Taobao.

Choosing this day was somewhat of a risky move.

It sits right in between the Golden Week of traditional retail in November and the Christmas promotion season.

But the weather changes around this time made it a prime time for people to buy winter clothes, and it was worth trying to see if an online promotional event could become an attractive avenue for consumers.

The event spiraled out of control, and "Double Eleven" became synonymous with e-commerce consumption festivals, even influencing the non-online shopping population and physical malls.

E-commerce platforms generally use this day to carry out large-scale discount promotions to boost sales.

And the November 11th of 2014, saw the most participant merchants ever.

Aside from the stores, the cooperation with 14 courier companies from Rookie Network especially increased their headcount by 250,000 couriers for today alone, and Tianmao, along with the merchants, deployed nearly a million customer service personnel.

Mr. Lu’s "Tanhua Customization" was also among them.

At the moment, Ma Shiduo was staring at the Tanhua Customization page, lost in thought until a burning sensation on his fingertips brought him back to reality.

"A unit price of 150 RMB for an original plaid skirt, what the hell are they up to?"

Ma Shiduo was no fool. In the word "original," he faintly saw the ambitions of Tanhua Customization.

"Damn... something’s fishy."

A sudden sense of crisis welled up inside him, and Ma Shiduo took out his phone, contacting a factory friend he had known for a long time.

There was a consensus in the industry about the huge profits in JK uniforms.

Plaid Story was collaborating with a local Hang City OEM factory, where the OEM link squeezed the profit margins quite low.

That is to say, for a JK plaid skirt priced at 250 RMB per unit, if the order quantity was high, the factory’s profits could be less than 10%.

The production standards for JK are quite high, even the counterfeits have to go through 29 manufacturing processes, making the unit cost quite transparent.

"A six-figure order, about how much profit margin can be controlled?"

The two made rough calculations over the phone, with fabric orders starting from 1000M-2000M, 1000 meters of fabric could make 800 skirts.

Being insiders, they knew that the cost for all-polyester fabric was about 10 RMB per meter, and Tr fabric was about 20 RMB per meter, with an initial order requiring at least 10,000-20,000 RMB in fabric costs.

Spread out, just the fabric cost per skirt was about 12.5-25 RMB.

Given the massive order, the factory’s processing fee could be kept at 20 RMB per skirt, so the total cost per skirt was 32.5-45 RMB.

For JK stores that focused on counterfeits, he didn’t even know how to compare the designer fees.

Even disregarding them, at a unit price of 150 RMB (excluding accessories), the gross profit margin was between 70%-78%.

These were truly alarming figures, surpassing the profit margins typical in the garment industry.

The designer brand Jiangnan Cloth reported a comprehensive gross profit margin of 63.7% for the fiscal year 2014, and La Chapelle had maintained a profit margin around 60%.

The shop in front, Tanhua Customization, adopted a presell method, collecting full payments on the day of Double Eleven.

Ma Shiduo fixedly stared at the shop’s monthly sales of over 100,000 indications, and at a skirt called All Dreams, feeling somewhat dazed.

Sales had already broken through fifteen million, and even after deducting all costs, there was still at least an eight-figure sum recorded; this was real money in hand.

Could domestic uniforms sell such a large volume?

Moreover, what surprised him was that Tanhua Customization implemented a presale system without inventory.

That meant, financial costs and administrative expenses were much lower than those of traditional clothing enterprises, and the net profit margin absolutely trounced that of the traditional clothing enterprises.

"There really is something to it... The marketing is impressive, how did they manage that?"

Colleagues are competitors.

A trending product burst onto the scene, and it wasn’t only Ma Shiduo who was researching; all competitors were deciphering its secrets.

"Never mind, since it’s a hit product, let’s try imitating it."

Success depends on following a path.

Having deeply cultivated the uniform industry for so long, Ma Shiduo naturally had his unique tricks.

He was confident in controlling costs and using knock-offs to outcompete originals.

At the stroke of midnight on ’11/11’, a great part of China’s youth hadn’t slept.

Whether shopping or snatching deals, many, many people were awake.

Zhong Ruixi was among them.

Like millions of other young people waiting for ’11/11’, she was busy clearing her shopping cart.

She waited for discounts to buy seasonal clothes, favorite beauty products, and household necessities, lining them up for payment.

The same activity was happening amongst her roommates.

Young women were exchanging money-saving hints and daily-useful items and hearty laughter echoed in the dormitory.

Shopping was a unique kind of happiness, etched into girls’ DNA.

"Jia Jia! Let me tell you, this Estée Lauder foundation is perfect for you, absolutely flawless skin!"

Xu Ya waved her smartphone screen at Ni Jiayun, promoting the products she had ordered in their dormitory.

"Really? It seems a bit pricey... I’ll buy a small bottle to try first."

Ni Jiayun readily took Xu Ya’s advice; Xu Ya was considered an authority on beauty products in the dormitory, but Ni Jiayun had her expertise too.

"You see how sweetly Rui Rui is smiling, did the class president help you clear your cart?"

She was as attentive as ever.

"No, no... how could that be."

Zhong Ruixi’s pretty face blushed as she shook her head and denied it outright.

She knew that Lu Jincheng had made quite some money, not only in opening stores and companies but, according to Xu Ya, the dress named All Dreams had become a hit.

10,000+!

Despite online opinions that it’s normal for men to spend money on their girlfriends, including some of her roommates, she still hadn’t thought about letting Lu Jincheng clear her shopping cart.

The reason she was so happy was because Lu Jincheng had sent her a message.

"Lu Jincheng messaged me saying he had a suit custom-made for me."

"A custom-made All Dreams?"

Xu Ya, who had just paid the final installment, suddenly raised her voice.

Custom-made, a one-of-a-kind product.

The garment Mou Keyan wore was one of the initial custom-made pieces, reportedly created by enhancing the original design drawings and even including matching hair clips, hair rings, and a coordinated bow tie.

Originally, Zhong Ruixi would have been among the first to receive it, but her tall stature meant she couldn’t wear one-size-fits-all and had to wait for the next batch of custom pieces.

"I’m so envious of Rui Rui..."

"Me too, suddenly the dresses in the shopping cart don’t look as nice."

"+1!"

Mou Keyan hadn’t slept tonight either.

But her insomnia had nothing to do with clearing her shopping cart.

She had picked up her Porsche from the Light Valley 4S shop.

That year, the 718 wasn’t yet known as 718, the convertible was called Boxster, and the coupe was called Cayman, two separate series.

Below the Music and Dance College, a soft-top convertible sports car was parked, its classic bright Guards Red color, horizontally opposed four-cylinder, mid-engine, the car light-bodied and agile.

The car belonged to Mou Keyan.

Buying a car, and emptying a shopping cart, sounded similar, but were two completely different things.

A completely new shopping experience in life, a huge exhilaration of showing off, made her completely forget about clearing her shopping cart for ’11/11’.

"Miao Miao, can... can I drive it for a bit?"

On the drive back after picking up the car, Jiang Yu had taken countless photos on her phone.

She sat in the passenger seat, carefully looking around, touching here and there.

"Sure, no problem."

"I’ll take you to an open area near the industrial park later to give it a try."

The convertible roof open, Mou Keyan wore Gucci sunglasses, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on the window, the wind blew her curly hair behind her ears and played with the corners of her lips.

Luxury car, beautiful woman, passersby paid their respects with their eyes.

She was excited all night, and her roommates who went with her couldn’t sleep all night either.