4: Chapter 4 The Sock-Ripping Challenge
She folded her arms again, maintaining a defensive posture.
"How are you going to sell them? You have to tell me why first."
Chen Hao asked in return.
"Let me ask you, how is the quality of your stockings? Can they be torn?"
"The quality is quite good; they definitely won't tear."
"They won't tear, right? My sales method uses two strategies: Psychological Marketing and Gamified Marketing. We'll hold a 'stocking tearing' event. Since you say they won't tear, we'll offer a 100-yuan reward for every pair someone manages to tear."
"If they do get torn, who's paying the reward?"
Chen Hao sighed inwardly. Women—especially this beautiful one—could be so stubborn.
"I'll pay, alright!"
Just then, a Female Customer arrived. Chen Hao immediately approached her, launching an offensive with his silver tongue.
"Have you bought thin stockings like these before? Do they get holes easily, snag, or lack elasticity?"
"With our stockings, if even one of those things happens, we'll give them to you for free and reward you with 100 yuan!"
The Female Customer immediately became interested and said she'd give it a try.
Chen Hao handed her a pair. The Female Customer used every ounce of her strength, her face contorting with effort, but the stockings were elastic like rubber bands. They just kept stretching and wouldn't tear at all.
Chen Hao cheered her on from the side.
"Use a bit more strength! If you tear it, you get 100 yuan!"
"Ah!"
The Female Customer really gave it her all for that 100 yuan, which attracted many hurried passersby to stop and watch.
Eventually, the Female Customer ran out of strength and gave up on the Stocking Tearing Challenge.
Chen Hao immediately spoke up.
"If you can't tear them, you have to buy them. 30 yuan a pair."
The Female Customer replied at once.
"I'll take two pairs—one black and one nude."
While the Beautiful Boss Lady was collecting the payment, Chen Hao held up a cardboard sign and shouted to the onlookers.
"Stocking Tearing Challenge! Anyone want to give it a go?"
When everyone saw the sign promising a 100-yuan reward for tearing them, they all became very interested.
"Do you really give 100 yuan if they tear?"
Chen Hao immediately confirmed.
"We really will!"
People scrambled to sign up. Soon, a group of women could be seen frantically trying to tear stockings in front of the stall.
This caused many people on the street and the road to stop and watch. In just a few minutes, a large crowd of curious onlookers had gathered.
Chen Hao whispered an explanation to the Beautiful Boss Lady.
"People love to join a crowd; it's called the Herd Effect. By using a game challenge, you gather shoppers together. As the crowd grows, you won't have to worry about sales anymore."
"No, definitely not. 30 yuan each."
By now, the Beautiful Boss Lady was swamped, collecting payments one after another.
Chen Hao stepped forward and waved.
"Starting the second wave! Anyone else want to take the challenge?"
Women have less strength and definitely couldn't tear them. A Female Customer tentatively asked if her boyfriend could try.
Chen Hao said immediately.
"He can, but if your boyfriend can't tear them either, will you buy a few more pairs?"
The heckling Female Customer immediately replied.
"If my boyfriend can't tear them, I'll buy ten pairs!"
"It's a deal! For men taking the challenge, there's a 5-second time limit. Start tearing!"
Her boyfriend was pushed forward. He grabbed the stockings and began tearing, but even though he strained until his face was flushed, the result was the same. After ten seconds, the stockings remained intact.
The Female Customer had no choice but to go to the stall and pick out ten pairs of stockings.
Other customers, both men and women, were all eager to try.
There's another psychological aspect to marketing.
Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't. People just refuse to back down.
Once the game challenge was announced, everyone wanted to participate regardless of gender. It didn't matter if they failed, but what if they succeeded? They'd earn a 100-yuan bonus for free. Everyone wanted to try!
In just ten minutes, the stocking stall was mobbed. From a distance, it was surrounded by layers of people. Even customers from the food stalls across the street came over out of curiosity to see the excitement.
And so, wave after wave of customers came.
Girls who lost the challenge bought stockings.
Guys who lost the challenge bought stockings for their girlfriends.
An hour passed, and sales reached 300 pairs.
Two hours passed, and sales reached 800 pairs.
After ten o'clock, foot traffic noticeably decreased, and the crowd began to thin, but stocking sales didn't slow down.
The stall had been piled high with stockings, but by 11 PM, the cumulative sales hit 1,500 pairs. The stock on the stall was visibly depleted, nearly gone.
The Beautiful Boss Lady went from initial distrust to grinning from ear to ear during the game. By around 11 PM, she even personally handed Chen Hao some water.
[Current Favorability: 40]
If for nothing else, the non-stop income alone was equivalent to several months of her usual sales.
1,500 pairs at 30 yuan each meant they had earned 45,000 yuan in one night. If every night could be this successful, they'd make 450,000 in ten days and 1.35 million in a month.
They were striking it rich!
How could she not be happy?
While packing up the stall, Chen Hao took a sip of mineral water and, seeing the boss lady's beaming face, asked.
"Did I sell them all?"
The Beautiful Boss Lady immediately nodded in agreement.
"Yes, yes, yes! You sold so many!"
Chen Hao didn't withhold his secrets and began explaining his sales philosophy.
"Who says business is hard these days? If you just sit and wait for customers, you'll eventually fail. In the internet age, if the stall economy wants to beat e-commerce, the business model must come first. You have to understand Psychological Marketing."
"Amidst laughter and within a game, pair after pair of stockings are sold."
The Beautiful Boss Lady listened intently; she hadn't even listened to her professors this closely back in school.
"Today was a live demonstration. You've learned it on the spot. Do you know how to sell goods now?"
The Beautiful Boss Lady was all smiles and nodded vigorously.
"I get it, I get it."
Chen Hao asked tentatively.
"Does what we said before still count? After selling for so long, aren't you going to treat me to a late-night snack?"
To his surprise, the Beautiful Boss Lady grabbed Chen Hao's arm and started to lead him away.
"Come on, let's go to my shop."
All the remaining stockings were packed into boxes. They had arrived with over twenty boxes, but now less than two remained. Each of them carried a box and placed it on the handcart, then they strolled out of the night market. After several twists and turns, they arrived at a brick-and-mortar stocking shop.
Chen Hao remarked immediately.
"Oh, you have a physical store? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"If I'd known you had a store, we could have added Membership Marketing. I guarantee you'd be selling day and night, counting money until your hands cramped every day."
The Beautiful Boss Lady said with a smile.
"We have plenty of time. You can teach me while we eat."
She opened the rolling shutter, and the two entered the shop. She immediately took out her phone and ordered a delicious late-night snack from nearby.
Chen Hao observed the shop's interior; there was a bed and signs of someone living there.
"Do you live in the shop at night?"
"Yeah. I just graduated from university and didn't want to go back to my hometown, so I stayed in the big city to start a business. Business really wasn't good before. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have been able to keep going."
Chen Hao followed her lead.
"That's why I say, you can't do business without knowing the right model."
"I'll know once you teach me."
She extended her hand and said with a beaming smile.
"Let's introduce ourselves formally. My name is Zhang Menglu."