All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

When Yang Xun saw the financial report for May, besides feeling a slight pain in his chest, he also breathed a long sigh of relief. The damn month-long promotion was finally over!

He's holding this report now, and it's giving him a terrible headache. He doesn't know how to explain it to the shareholders. A loss of over five million in a month is a figure that's giving Yang Xun a real headache.

The only consolation was that Lei Dongbao didn't gain much either; he suffered losses, and so did they. Although it was unclear how much they lost, they certainly lost a considerable amount.

Moreover, through this promotion, Cheng Yang Electrical Appliances City's leading position in the market has been further consolidated. Now, when people talk about buying electrical appliances, Cheng Yang Electrical Appliances City is the first place that comes to mind. Everyone knows that Cheng Yang Electrical Appliances is cheap!

Lei Dongbao clearly wouldn't let Cheng Yang Electric Appliances off so easily. He knew very well that many departments at Cheng Yang Electric Appliances were operating beyond capacity for this promotion, because the promotional items were often very temporary and they were frequently led by the nose by Jiang Cheng Electric Appliances.

Therefore, in order to cope with the tasks assigned at any time, the logistics department works overtime until late at night every day and is on call 24 hours a day, and many employees have long been complaining.

Moreover, according to Lei Dongbao, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances had already experienced a cash crunch due to the turmoil in the first half of the year. The current promotions have resulted in them owing suppliers astronomical sums of money. At this point, it's even more unthinkable for them to negotiate discounted prices.

By this point, many suppliers were probably feeling uneasy. This was exactly what Lei Dongbao wanted; he wanted to deliver a fatal blow to Cheng Yang Electric at its most vulnerable moment.

From June to August, it's the peak season for electric fans and air conditioners. Lei Dongbao didn't want to spend 1.5 million to buy the title of the second-largest player in the market.

On June 6th, Yang Xun saw the promotional flyer for Jiangcheng Electrical Appliances City again, which clearly stated...

"The June Summer Sale is officially on! Electric fans are up to 62% off, air conditioners are up to 82% off, and refrigerators are up to 84% off, keeping you cool all summer long!"

Yang Xun hadn't read any further. He felt a chill run through him; that bastard Lei Dongbao was really determined to fight him to the bitter end.

Yes, Yang Xun guessed correctly. Jiangcheng Electric's price war version 3.0 has officially started. Summer is the peak season for sales and revenue in the electrical appliance market. Now Cheng Yang Electric urgently needs to recover its losses during these few months of peak sales. Lei Dongbao is determined to block Cheng Yang Electric's path and wear Jiangcheng Electric down in this hot summer!

Lei Dongbao had been preparing for this counterattack for half a year; he wasn't about to let Jiangcheng Electric Appliances off so easily.

The game has only just begun.

Lei Dongbao's move once again struck Yang Xun's heart: should he follow or not?

Cheng Yang Electric Appliances is already extremely weak. In order to stabilize its suppliers, it only transferred all the funds in its accounts at the end of the month. Now it still owes a large sum of money to suppliers. If it continues to follow Jiang Cheng Electric Appliances' pace, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances' losses will increase further.

But if they don't follow, they'll suffer even more. Cheng Yang Electric Appliances has taken too big a step. If they fall behind and are suppressed during the peak sales seasons of June, July, and August, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances will fall behind Jiang Cheng Electric Appliances in all aspects. That hole will widen again. Falling behind one step at a time will lead to falling behind step by step. If Jiang Cheng Electric Appliances launches another price war next year, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances will be powerless to resist.

Yang Xun sat in his office thinking for an entire afternoon. In the evening, he left Jiangcheng and didn't return until the next morning, exhausted. He then issued an order to officially launch the summer promotion campaign. This time, he wouldn't follow in Jiangcheng Appliances' footsteps; he had to take the initiative.

Yang Xun is indeed a business genius. He knows very well that in May, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances was suppressed by Lei Dongbao and had to follow in Lei Dongbao's footsteps. That's why Cheng Yang Electric Appliances was in such a passive position. So now he must take the initiative.

So he quickly found several electric fan manufacturers and placed an order for 500,000 floor fans, asking them to produce them for Cheng Yang Electric at the lowest price and the fastest speed. Whoever offered the lowest price and could produce them within the specified time would get the order for 500,000 units. Moreover, he only wanted the floor fan as the product. He wanted to win this promotional war this summer with the most competitive single-product price!

Yang Xun truly lived up to his reputation as a business genius. In a very short time, he found a way to deal with Lei Dongbao. He knew how fragile Cheng Yang Electric was internally. If he blindly confronted Lei Dongbao, he would only drag Cheng Yang Electric into the abyss because he would not be able to get past the supplier.

Yang Xun was certain that Lei Dongbao was very clear about the internal situation of Cheng Yan Electric Appliances. This was a life-or-death battle for Cheng Yan Electric Appliances, and he had to take the initiative to fight instead of being led by the nose by Lei Dongbao.

In just four days, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances' promotional leaflets were already out, offering a large floor fan for 59 yuan. It's from a well-known brand, luxurious and stylish, keeping you cool all summer long.

The promotional flyer prominently features a floor fan priced at 59 yuan, while other product promotions are described in vague terms, such as discounts starting at 8.8%, leaving consumers unclear about the actual discounts.

However, the metal floor fan priced at only 59 yuan was enough to attract people's attention. This move directly revived Cheng Yang Electric Appliances' customer traffic and sales rebounded instantly.

When Lei Dongbao saw the flyer, he was silent for a long time. Yang Xun is a real talent!

Chapter 98: The Final Battle is Imminent!

Chapter 98 of "Love in the Courtyard": The Final Battle is Imminent! Upon seeing Cheng Yang Appliances' promotional flyer, Lei Dongbao quickly understood Yang Xun's purpose. This kid is really quick-witted!

Lei Dongbao stared at the flyer for several minutes before a mysterious smile appeared on his lips.

This is very interesting; the best is yet to come!

Lei Dongbao had just mentally calculated whether Yang Xun would make a profit or a loss by selling the floor fan for 59 yuan a unit.

Lei Dongbao started his business with electric fans, so he could easily calculate these costs in his mind, based on purchasing 500,000 units per item.

Lei Dongbao estimated that the other party would give Yang Xun a factory price of around fifty yuan. With a factory price of fifty yuan, the retail price would be fifty-nine yuan. On the surface, there would be a gross profit of nine yuan, but in reality, Yang Xun would not make a single penny of profit.

Logistics costs, rent, labor, and taxes—for every 59-yuan electric fan sold, at least 10 yuan more is added to the cost. This is the cost price compressed to the extreme. In other words, if Yang Xun buys a fan for 50 yuan and sells it for 59 yuan, there is basically no profit.

This is the purchase price for 500,000 units, while Lei Dongbao's Jiangcheng Electric Appliances has a purchase price of 60 yuan per unit for the same product, and that's the price for major customers.

Individual buyers would have to pay at least 70 yuan to get this fan, which is usually priced at 128 yuan on the market. Yang Xun is selling it for 59 yuan a unit, which is cheaper than the wholesale price of Jiangcheng Electric Appliances. This is simply outrageous!

Clearly, Yang Xun never intended to make money from this floor fan. He set the price to be proactive and to entice Lei Dongbao to accept the challenge.

Back then, Lei Dongbao also sold floor fans for 59 yuan each, but those were second-hand Thunder brand products. Besides, there were only a few thousand of them at 59 yuan each, and he mostly sold them for 79 or 89 yuan. Yang Xun's brand-new floor fans were selling for 59 yuan, a price that Lei Dongbao really didn't dare to accept.

Summer is the peak season for electric fans. In this day and age, air conditioners costing several thousand yuan don't sell very well. The main profit comes from electric fans. Yang Xun is forcing Lei Dongbao to join the battle, taking the initiative, and causing Lei Dongbao to lose the initiative.

This flyer was like Yang Xun's declaration of war against Lei Dongbao; since it was a declaration of war, he naturally accepted it.

Since Yang Xun wants to use a price war on a single item to force Lei Dongbao to respond, Lei Dongbao naturally has to respond. If Cheng Yang Appliances City sells it for 59 yuan, then Jiang Cheng Appliances City can sell it for 69 yuan.

If you buy goods for 50 and I buy goods for 60, neither of us will make a profit.

Priced ten yuan higher than yours, this is also to let everyone know that the floor fan at Cheng Yang Appliance City is cheaper than the one at Jiangcheng Appliance City, so that everyone will go to Cheng Yang Appliance City to buy it.

Lei Dongbao acted immediately, and instructed the marketing department to begin reverse marketing.

The newly released flyer features the same model of floor fan as Cheng Yang Appliance Store, with almost a third of the page dedicated to a picture indicating a price of 69 yuan. The flyer uses a layout almost identical to Cheng Yang Appliance Store's, except that Cheng Yang Appliance Store's price is 59 yuan, while Jiangcheng Appliance Store's price is 69 yuan.

Apart from this floor fan, all other products are 5% cheaper than at Cheng Yang Appliances. Lei Dongbao wants everyone to know that if you want to buy a floor fan, hurry up and go to Cheng Yang Appliances, because it's really cheaper there!

Lei Dongbao's actions were incomprehensible to many people, not only the employees of Cheng Yang Electric Appliances on the other side, but also the employees of Jiangcheng Electric Appliances.

Everyone thought Lei Dongbao had admitted defeat.

If you're going to admit defeat, why are you still actively promoting your floor fan at 69 yuan a unit?

Because Cheng Yang Electric Appliances has been focusing almost all of its marketing efforts on this 59-yuan floor fan, people throughout Anhui and Zhejiang provinces now know that Cheng Yang Electric Appliances has a floor fan this year that only costs 59 yuan—super cheap!

In May, the price war between Cheng Yang Electrical Appliances City and Jiang Cheng Electrical Appliances City benefited ordinary people the most!

Ordinary people did not expect that the price war between the two sides would continue in June, and with such intensity. As Jiangcheng Electric Appliances fired the first shot, Chengyang Electric Appliances was not to be outdone. With its 59-yuan floor fan, who could compete with it!

Many people are still hoping that Jiangcheng Electrical Appliance City will offer a floor fan for 49 yuan. If that happens, Chengyang Electrical Appliance City will offer it for 39 yuan, and the two sides will fight tooth and nail. The people will happily enjoy the cheap electric fan. What a great thing!

Unexpectedly, Jiangcheng Appliances conceded defeat as soon as Chengyang Appliances made its move. Moreover, the way they conceded was quite unique. They clearly stated it on their promotional materials, as if they were afraid people wouldn't know that Chengyang Appliances' floor fans were cheaper than Jiangcheng Appliances'.

This reverse advertising strategy was extremely effective. The floor fan business at Cheng Yang Appliance City was booming. Floor fans accounted for more than 95% of the daily sales revenue of the entire appliance city because their floor fans were cheaper than those of other stores. However, other products were cheaper at Jiangcheng Appliance City.

After a month of price war, there is one positive aspect: now, when people buy appliances, the first brands that come to mind are Cheng Yang Appliances and Jiang Cheng Appliances, because their appliances are the cheapest. This has also cultivated a habit among ordinary people: when buying appliances, they now compare the promotional materials of both companies to see which one is cheaper.

Because the floor fans at Cheng Yang Electric Appliance City are so cheap, this summer, whenever people in An Yun Province and Zhijiang Province want to buy an electric fan, the first thing they think of is Cheng Yang Electric Appliance City's floor fans. Cheng Yang Electric Appliance City originally planned to sell 500,000 floor fans, but based on the current sales trend, that's far from enough. It seems that even 1 million units might barely satisfy the enthusiasm of the people.

Yang Xun was both surprised and delighted by the hot sales of the floor fan. At the price of 59 yuan, he really didn't make a single penny of profit. He had negotiated the price down to 49 yuan, and selling it for 59 yuan a unit meant that after deducting all expenses, he barely made any profit.

He had originally thought that Jiangcheng Electrical Appliances would respond, and he was prepared to continue lowering prices, even if it meant losing at least five yuan per unit, which was within his means. His only goal this time was to drag Jiangcheng Electrical Appliances down with him.

Because he knew that Jiangcheng Electric Appliances' wholesale price for floor fans was sixty, while his was forty-nine, he was prepared to fight Jiangcheng Electric Appliances to the death if the other party dared to wage a price war on this item, until Jiangcheng Electric Appliances was drained of its last drop of blood!

To his utter surprise, Jiangcheng Electric Appliances backed down as soon as he made his move, leaving him completely baffled. If Lei Dongbao really admitted defeat, then he could completely dominate the entire electric fan market this year with just this single product, the floor fan. Based on current sales, he estimated that Chengyang Electric Appliances could sell between one million and one million three hundred thousand floor fans this summer, because Chengyang Electric Appliances currently accounts for more than 90% of the total sales of floor fans in the market!

Lei Dongbao's admission of defeat allowed Yang Xun to breathe a sigh of relief for the time being. With the continued hot sales of floor fans, the daily logistics warehouse transfers are now basically all for floor fans. Of the 500,000 units ordered, more than 300,000 units had been sold by the end of June. Cheng Yang Electric's working capital was also quickly recovered, greatly alleviating the financial pressure of the previous period.

He quickly contacted the electric fan factory again, this time for another 500,000 units. Because in the current market, the floor fan market has been dominated by Cheng Yang Electric City, and many electric fan factories will be left with nothing this year.

Now, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances has received another order for 500,000 units. A group of electric fan factories fought tooth and nail to win this order, and finally settled on a unit price of 45 yuan per unit!

This price has already given Cheng Yang Electric Appliances a profit of over five yuan. If the second batch of 500,000 units is sold, then this summer, they will have at least several million yuan in profit, which will basically cover most of the huge losses incurred in May.

Besides profits, Cheng Yang Electric Appliances is currently riding high, and has firmly established itself as the number one in its category. With just the floor fan, its monthly sales exceeded 18 million yuan. Including other miscellaneous sales, the total sales of Cheng Yang Electric Appliances in June exceeded 20 million yuan.

In June, the total sales of electric fans at Jiangcheng Electrical Appliance City were less than one million yuan. Including other sales, the total sales of the fifty stores were around four million yuan. Due to promotions, the profit in June was less than three hundred thousand yuan.

In other words, Jiangcheng Electrical Appliances had basically given up on the peak season for electric fan sales in June by 1986. Moreover, each time they advertised a promotion, they awkwardly promoted the 69-yuan floor fan. This reverse advertising strategy gave all the traffic to Chengyang Electrical Appliances.

Cheng Yang Electric Appliance City's floor fans are truly insane. Their prices have completely outmaneuvered other electric fan retailers in the market, because their retail prices are even lower than your wholesale prices. What are you going to offer them?

Yes, if we can't compete, we'll have to go out of business, or we'll just get our goods directly from you. Anyway, we don't have any sales right now, so getting our goods from scattered sources is not as good as getting them directly from your store. The price is even cheaper than what we get from you. His price not only attracts other retailers to get their goods from him, but also attracts many out-of-town customers who occasionally hear that the floor fans are so cheap, so they bring someone or come to buy one themselves.

In short, Cheng Yang Electric Appliance City sold over 300,000 floor fans in June, and by July, that number had jumped to 500,000. This sales volume made it the most outstanding product in the appliance market this year!

In July, Cheng Yang Electrical Appliance City made over two million yuan in profit from floor fan sales alone. Yang Xun was all smiles, and his bosses were also very excited, praising Yang Xun as a talent.

Lei Dongbao had been watching all of this with a cold eye. In June and July of this year, which were originally the two months with the best sales, Jiangcheng Electrical Appliances City would have made at least two million yuan in profit. However, the two months combined did not amount to more than 500,000 yuan.

In early August, Lei Dongbao sat in his office. The weather was still unbearably hot, but four floor fans in his office were blowing whirringly. Although the documents on his desk were weighed down by thick books, they were still blown up by the fans, making a crackling sound.

Lei Dongbao squinted, crossed his legs, and sat in his office chair, enjoying the breeze from the four floor fans. This unique scene felt a bit strange, but the employees outside the office were already used to it. Their boss not only had four floor fans, but he also bought them from a competitor's store.

Yes, these four floor fans were purchased for 59 yuan each. If Lei Dongbao were a customer, he would definitely think that he got a great deal on the floor fans. A full metal floor fan for 59 yuan seems like a good deal no matter how you look at it. But from the perspective of a competitor, Lei Dongbao also thinks he got a good deal.

These four electric fans were the first one Lei Dongbao bought in June, and the fourth one he bought yesterday. Every half month or so, he would pretend to be a passerby and stroll around Cheng Yang Electrical Appliance City. Looking at the floor fans that cost 59 yuan each, he always felt itchy and felt like he was missing out if he didn't buy one.

The four electric fans in front of me look almost identical at first glance, but a closer look reveals significant differences.

The first floor fan I bought in early June was noticeably better in terms of quality and weight than the later ones. The later ones were progressively worse in terms of details, and you could clearly see from the details that they were products made hastily to meet deadlines.

When they arrived at the one they had bought yesterday, Lei Dongbao stepped forward with a smile, tapped the casing, and examined the details closely. His smile immediately became even brighter.

The last floor fan was visibly of much worse quality. It seemed that Yang Xun was very good at driving down prices. No business is without its tricks. Yang Xun made his profits by squeezing his suppliers. In order to make a profit, the suppliers would naturally find other ways to do so. Replacing parts was the simplest and most direct method. Lei Dongbao wanted to sing a song at this moment. He had waited so long, and today had finally come.

Lei Dongbao doesn't plan to make a move now to deliver the final fatal blow to Cheng Yang Electric Appliances. He'll let things play out for a while longer. This batch of goods only just started selling yesterday. He wants to let more of it enter the market first, so that it will be more convincing and resonate more with the public.

Lei Dongbao never expected that the reverse marketing strategy would be so effective in this era, driving almost all customers to Cheng Yang Electrical Appliance City.

When Yang Xun offered the floor fan for 59 yuan, Lei Dongbao had two options in mind. First, he could not be fooled and simply admit defeat, since his purchase price was only 60 yuan per unit. Competing with the other party on price would clearly put him at a disadvantage.

The second option was to follow suit and approach the electric fan manufacturers to discuss single-product cooperation, also negotiating a price of 500,000 units. However, Lei Dongbao estimated that he definitely wouldn't be able to negotiate the same price as Yang Xun, because Yang Xun's connections would definitely give him an advantage.

Moreover, once Lei Dongbao responds, he will likely be put on the defensive, because Yang Xun has the initiative this time. If he launches a feint, what if the other party actually only purchased 50,000 units instead of 500,000?

Their final product is a table fan. They'll offer a table fan for 39 yuan and then offer you a floor fan for 59 yuan, forcing you to sell at a loss. The more you sell, the more you lose. When you switch to a table fan, they'll come up with other promotional tactics. In short, Jiangcheng Appliances will definitely end up in a mess because you're just following in their footsteps, and you'll never be able to outmaneuver them.

So Lei Dongbao thought about it for a long time and finally chose the third option, which was to help Yang Xun and his Cheng Yang Electric Appliances. Didn't you want to sell the floor fans for 59 yuan each?

Then I'll send you on your way, making Cheng Yang Appliances the most dazzling star this summer, making your single product sell like hotcakes, and ultimately leading you to your own demise.

From the very beginning, Lei Dongbao was well aware that Cheng Yang Electric Appliances had a fatal flaw: its after-sales service was outsourced, and they adopted two cooperation methods.

In typical prefecture-level cities, repair shops settle repair fees on a per-service basis. For example, they charge a certain amount for each on-site repair and a certain amount for customers to bring their appliances to the repair shop. These settlements are made quarterly. In short, because of long-term cooperation, the prices are very low.

Another type of cooperation involves charging a fixed monthly contract fee, regardless of the number of repairs required that month.

Whether it's charging by the number of repairs or a contract fee, there's a clear drawback: if the number of repairs is too high, the repairman will definitely be unhappy. Especially with monthly contracts, if the number of repairs in the local area increases, the other party will definitely feel cheated, so they will definitely try to squeeze money out of the customer. This has resulted in Cheng Yang Electric's after-sales reputation being consistently poor.

Yang Xun's latest product, a single blockbuster, sold over a million units in three months. This number will inevitably lead to an increase in after-sales repairs. If it were a normal quality electric fan, this wouldn't be a big problem, since metal floor fans generally don't have widespread after-sales issues, unless...!

Yes, unless the product is made with substandard materials or is rushed and poorly manufactured, only such products will cause widespread after-sales issues within the warranty period.

So in order to complete this plan, Lei Dongbao did not hesitate to engage in reverse marketing, willingly playing a supporting role in the peak summer of 1986, and willingly making every flyer he distributed look like it was promoting his competitors.

Even the fan design on the flyer was almost identical to the other party's. The only difference was that the other party's price was 59 yuan, while his was 69 yuan. That 10 yuan price difference was meant to make everyone understand that the other party's fan was cheaper than his. Everyone, hurry up and go to Cheng Yang Electrical Appliance City to buy one!

This reverse marketing strategy was very successful. The price of 69 yuan was a way of telling Yang Xun that his bottom price was 69 yuan and that he had already given up. If Yang Xun were to raise the price, Yang Xun would have to lower his price to compete with him. This forced Yang Xun to sell at a price no higher than 59 yuan.