Chapter 280: Promotional Plans
Chapter 280: Promotional Plans
The Tranquil Cloud Inn was bustling with activities during the late hours of the morning. In one of the private staff rooms of the Inn, Xiang Ling was busy checking the accounts of the previous month. She didn’t have to actually worry about the accounts because Zuan Hu barely ever made any mistakes as the senior accountant.
"My Lady, all three new shops are ready to start their businesses. We are just waiting for your next order." An Mei spoke as she poured Xiang Ling a cup of fresh herbal tea.
"Everyone has done a great job. I just took a small tour through the shops before arriving here and saw how perfectly everything has been arranged. You all deserve a nice reward this time." Xiang Ling was indeed happy with how everyone performed in her absence.
After the success of Inn’s business, she purchased a lot of lands around the Inn, and the three new shops were built right opposite the Inn with a street like road passing between them.
An Mei smiled softly as she spoke, "You are already paying us such high salaries and bonuses, you should refrain yourself from spoiling us too much." Her tone was slightly teasing, yet, still respectful.
Xiang Ling spared the young woman a quick look as she responded, "You know that I never reward any of you without certain reasons. If you are being rewarded, it means you deserve it."
The smile on An Mei’s lips became bigger as she nodded her head in understanding. She watched in silence as Xiang Ling finished checking the accounts and finally completed her work.
Once she was free from work, Xiang Ling turned her attention toward An Mei and spoke, "Since we are planning to open our new shops during upcoming Lantern festival, we should start preparing for it as there’s only ten days left before the arrival of the festival."
An Mei nodded her head in understanding and added, "What do you want us to do, My Lady?"
"We will need to make enough noise about the opening of our new shops that it will attract enough customers on the opening day. Make announcements in the Inn every evening at the end of the dance performances. Tell the customers in detail about the three shops and the products we will be selling. The same announcements should be made in the Dongzhi City and all nearby cities and towns. Inform everyone that there will be special performances, free food, fun games, and other activities organized by the Inn and the three shops."
An Mei grabbed a parchment and the brush as she started quickly noting down all the tasks that Xiang Ling was mentioning.
"Also announce that those who will buy products from one of the shops will receive a discount of ten percent, those who will buy products from two shops will get discount of twenty percent, and those who will buy products from all three of our shops will get a thirty percent discount. In addition to these discounts, if the guests staying at the Inn during the festival will buy products from any of our shops, they will receive a thirty percent discount, and if they will buy products from all three shops, they will receive a discount of fifty percent."
An Mei stopped writing and turned her confused gaze at Xiang Ling. "My Lady, will we not end up in loss if we gave them such high discounts?"
Xiang Ling immediately shook her head in a negative response before she explained, "You are missing the actual part here. We are trying to promote our businesses to attract customers. It’s normal to invest a little bit in the promotion. What do you think will happen once those people out there will get a taste of the wine made by your Young Master Li?"
Sparks filled An Mei’s eyes as realization dawned over her. Ever since she tasted the wine made by Second Young Master, she knew that the wine business would be booming just like the Inn’s business in no time. Even though she hadn’t tasted any high quality wines in her life, she could tell by everyone’s reactions that the wine made by Second Young Master was exceptional.
"You are right, My Lady. Second Young Master’s wine will become a hit overnight. As for our garment and cosmetic shops, I’m sure they will attract enough customers as well. I did see some samples made by the embroidery group back in the days, and I can tell that the young ladies and the Madams will love the clothes. And the cosmetics that you have taught the girls to make was even praised by Second Young Madam Chao who had been using the high quality cosmetics of the biggest cosmetic shop in the entire Dongzhi City, but now she only uses the cosmetics made by the girls."
The more she spoke, the more excited An Mei became as she was able to see all three shops succeeding in their respective businesses.
"That’s right. Our products are more than ready for the market, we just need enough publicity to give our businesses a good start. That’s why I have decided to use the upcoming Lantern Festival to open our new shops with all this buzz and tempting offers. Let’s hope everything goes according to the plan." Xiang Ling was quite confident about her plans just as much as she was confident about her products.
The two women talked for a little bit longer, discussing further plans and deciding who would be taking up on which job of the promotional plans. By the time they finished and walked out of the room, it was already lunch time.
An Mei took her leave first and headed to discuss the promotional plans with others. On the other hand, Xiang Ling made her way downstairs to find her first brother so that they could have lunch together. She was on her way down the stairs when her gaze landed on a group of familiar faces.