The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 264 - 263 Hunger Marketing

Chapter 264: Chapter 263 Hunger Marketing

After it was over, Shen Mingzhu lay limply in Pei Yang’s arms, not wanting to move, and just as she was drifting off to sleep, she suddenly felt something cool on her neck.

She reached out a hand and touched a delicate necklace.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw a golden necklace with a pink pearl pendant the size of a fingernail hanging from it.

Pei Yang reached for the small mirror on the dressing table and held it up for her, his voice low and gentle, "Do you like it?"

While looking at herself in the mirror, Shen Mingzhu looked up at him, "Are you hiding your own private money?"

Pei Yang pinched her chin, "Do you have to put it in such a dampening way?"

Shen Mingzhu pouted, sat up, and kissed the man on the face, "I love it! Thank you, hubby."

"That’s more like it."

"So, are you secretly saving private money?"

Pei Yang: "..."

His gaze settled on Shen Mingzhu.

The woman’s skin was snow white and delicate; the fine gold chain around her neck looked anything but vulgarity, instead, it made her appear even more soft and captivating.

Pei Yang felt his blood surge, and his eyes darkened a shade.

Sensing his thoughts, Shen Mingzhu quickly buried herself under the covers, "I’m tired, I’m going to sleep now, good night, turn off the lights, please."

Pei Yang leaned over, holding her waist through the blanket, and whispered in her ear with a coaxing voice, "One last time, I’ll be gentle."

"No."

Shen Mingzhu’s half face was buried in the blanket, her voice muffled as she refused.

Pei Yang didn’t force any further, but his eyes, barely concealing his intentions, stared at her as if he wouldn’t rest until achieving his goal.

Shen Mingzhu looked at the man’s handsome brows and eyes, and her heart slowly softened.

Afterward, it wasn’t her heart that was soft, but her hand.

...

Three days after Shen Mingzhu’s birthday, Mingzhu Restaurant officially opened.

The shop currently sold products like gummy candies, flower cakes, egg yolk pastries, and snowflake crisps.

Gummy candies were fine for storing over a long period without affecting taste or texture, but flower cakes, egg yolk pastries, and snowflake crisps were all made and sold on the same day to ensure the best taste and flavor—no stale goods were sold.

After all, her target was the middle-to-high end consumer group; such customers were not chasing "cheap and cheerful" but valued quality and service more.

To attract customers and quickly establish the brand’s reputation, Shen Mingzhu launched a series of promotions.

She had Shen Hongmei and Du Juan, wearing work uniforms with the Mingzhu Restaurant logo, inviting customers to sample the products at the entrance of the shopping mall.

At the same time, she reached business cooperation with other brands in the mall.

For instance, spending up to a certain amount could earn customers a 20% discount coupon for Mingzhu Restaurant, or a free sample gift pack.

The expenses for the event were all covered by the food factory, and many brand stores were happy to do the favor.

Thanks to an unending stream of promotional tactics, the first day saw a rush of business, with two hundred flower cakes and egg yolk pastries and ten pounds of snowflake crisps sold out by four in the afternoon.

It didn’t matter if they sold out; customers who wanted to buy could pre-order.

Customers who pre-ordered could enjoy a 10% discount, and the first twenty customers who came to the store each day would also receive a mystery gift.

This would maximize the prevention of customers abandoning their pre-orders and encourage some customers to come early to the store to pick up the products.

In the evening, Du Juan and her husband, who should have finished their shift, Shen Hongmei, Pei Yang, all gathered in Shen Mingzhu’s office, waiting for her to tally up today’s revenue.

"How did it go, President Shen, how much did we make today?"

As soon as Shen Mingzhu stopped her abacus, Shen Chaobei eagerly asked.

Shen Mingzhu stood up, holding her waist, and wrote down the revenue on the small blackboard with chalk.

235.

"That much? Could there be a mistake?"

With the current income level of the average wage earner, that was almost half a year’s salary.

This was just the first day of opening; if this trend continued, the monthly revenue would be at least six or seven thousand, or even seven or eight thousand yuan.

Shen Mingzhu reported the revenue of each product category, leaving Shen Chaobei licking his lips in amazement.

Cakes and gummies at five yuan per pound, snowflake crisps at eight yuan per pound—city folks really were willing to spend.

In fact, when Shen Mingzhu set the retail prices for the floral cakes and snowflake pastries, Shen Chaobei had strongly opposed it.

Although others were not as vehement as Shen Chaobei, they also believed her pricing was too high.

But Shen Mingzhu had her own ideas.

Every era has its wealthy, what’s lacking are ways to make these wealthy people willing to part with their money.

With high-quality ingredients, plus a technique and formula that are more than thirty years ahead of their time, she didn’t believe she wouldn’t be able to earn their money.

After announcing the good news, Shen Mingzhu arranged work for the next morning.

"The customer has ordered three jin of snowflake pastries, five jin of floral cakes, and four jin of mooncakes with egg yolk. Hongmei, tomorrow morning at 5:30 you come to the factory to organize the chefs to make them, and make sure to deliver the goods to the store before 9 o’clock."

Shen Hongmei quickly nodded, then reminded, "President Shen, these are just the pre-orders. How much should we prepare for sale in the shop?"

"We will only make the amount that’s been pre-ordered."

This decision left everyone utterly perplexed.

Shen Chaobei: "With the opening success, shouldn’t we make a bit more? We can’t just rely on customer pre-orders."

"That’s right, for now we will only make what customers have pre-ordered and not sell any extras."

"Then if people want to buy and can’t find any, won’t they just go and buy from other shops?"

Shen Mingzhu smiled, "Scarcity makes something more valuable. The harder something is to buy, the more people will scramble for it. This is called hunger marketing."

...

When the meeting finished and she returned home, it was almost 11 o’clock.

Shen Mingzhu was quite tired; she washed up hastily and went straight to sleep.

The next day before dawn, she groped her way out of bed.

"Need to use the bathroom? Let me help you."

Pei Yang was woken by her movements, thinking she needed to get up during the night, and hurriedly got out of bed to support her.

Shen Mingzhu whispered, "I’m worried Hongmei might not be up yet, I’ll call the factory and check if she’s there."

Knowing she woke early for this reason, Pei Yang couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, "You’ve delegated the work already; you shouldn’t worry so much. If Hongmei can’t even handle this little task, then there’s no need for her to stay by your side."

After the call, confirming that the chefs had already started working, only then did Shen Mingzhu ease her mind.

After using the bathroom, she planned to go back to bed to continue sleeping, but she only took a few steps before feeling a kick in her belly.

"What’s wrong?"

Seeing her stop with a strange look on her face, Pei Yang asked with concern.

Shen Mingzhu looked at him with dissatisfaction, "Your daughter kicked me again."

Pei Yang watched her stomach, where little round lumps were popping up now here, now there, and reached out with a gentle hand to stroke her belly, "Guoguo, be good, don’t bother your mom."

Perhaps sensing his soothing touch, the baby’s movement soon stopped.

"All right, she’s not bothering you anymore; hurry back to bed to sleep."

Shen Mingzhu humphed, "Your daughter listens to you. I can’t calm her down at all."

"You and she are sharing one body right now. If you don’t sleep, neither can she, so of course she’s going to kick up a fuss."

"So it’s my fault?"

"Acknowledging your mistake is good."

"Get away from me!"

"I understand, you women always mean the opposite of what you say..."

...

As it turned out, Shen Mingzhu’s hunger marketing strategy was very effective.

In the week since the opening, the daily volume of pre-orders had steadily increased, and together with the sale of gummy candies, the daily turnover stabilized at around two hundred.

"Manager Yao, you’re back from your business trip?"

Shen Mingzhu had just arrived at the store when Yao An, leading two members of the management team on an inspection tour, came her way, and she hurried out to greet them.

Yao An exchanged pleasantries with her briefly and suddenly said, "The second young lady is looking at shoes on the second floor; aren’t you going up to greet her?"

Shen Mingzhu hadn’t even realized who the second young lady was when she heard Yao An say, "Actually, making an exception to let you rent a space here was also the second young lady’s idea."

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