While the Second Concubine was filled with doubts, Xia Xiaolan told her to remain calm.

“Unless all the state-owned department stores implement an across-the-board price reduction, which would steal all our customers, their current strategy of rotating discounts on specific product categories will only attract customers interested in those particular items… We’ll lose some customers, but not all of them.”

With Asia Department Store choosing not to engage in the price war, the state-owned stores lost their unified target. Any alliance needs a cohesive goal. Without this target, the alliance’s stability would be significantly weakened.

Take the simplest example: Zijingshan Department Store was running promotions on women’s clothing, while Shangdu Department Store was discounting home appliances. No matter how you look at it, the home appliance sale would be more attractive to city residents. People could skip buying a piece or two of clothing, but when it came to big-ticket items like home appliances, such major discounts were rare opportunities that couldn’t be missed!

At that point, the state-owned stores wouldn’t just be competing for Asia Department Store’s customers; they would be fighting among themselves for customers. Xia Xiaolan was quite eager to see how Zijingshan Department Store would feel when more customers chose the Shangdu Department Store over them!

Seeing both Second Concubine and Song Minglan hesitating to speak, Xia Xiaolan explained further:

“When I say we won’t engage in their price war, I don’t mean we’ll do nothing. We’ll run promotions when appropriate, but we can’t let those state-owned stores set the rhythm. Take clothing for example – it’s September now, and while summer clothes are still wearable, won’t people need autumn clothes once October arrives? So clearing our summer inventory before October with discounts makes sense. It’s normal to sell them at even 60% or 50% off, not just 70% off like Zijingshan Department Store. But what shouldn’t be discounted, we won’t touch!”

What shouldn’t be discounted? Taking clothing as an example – autumn wear, of course. Nobody discounts new arrivals. Rapid price drops don’t necessarily make consumers happy. Especially those who previously paid full price – they’ll feel upset.

Asia Department Store wasn’t a supermarket; it was a mid-to-high-end department store. How could they abandon all sense of prestige? Moreover, advertising 50% off didn’t sound appealing. For off-season clothing, Xia Xiaolan preferred the “buy one get one free” approach – buy one piece of clothing and choose another from the special price section, paying only for the higher-priced item at checkout. Paying for one piece but getting two – wasn’t that the same as 50% off? Better than a half-price discount, it meant selling one more piece of inventory!

Since they had decided not to engage in the price war but still take some action, Song Minglan felt relieved. Following Xia Xiaolan’s instructions, he arranged for a provincial TV advertisement that evening.

“Asia Department Store shows appreciation to all customers! September 21st, buy one get one free on all summer wear, while supplies last!”

“Men’s wear, women’s wear, and summer sandals – all buy one get one free!”

“September 21st – if you dare to buy, we dare to give!”

Television advertisements were interesting now, with text scrolling at the bottom of the screen visible during any program.

Flyers were also necessary.

Large banners needed to be made overnight to hang on Asia Department Store’s exterior walls.

The store’s female honor guard would carry signs circling Second Seven Square – this advertising method proved quite effective.

Lu Hongbo from Zijingshan Department Store quickly received the news, and the heads of several state-owned stores gathered again.

“Old Lu’s method was right – young people just can’t keep their cool!”

“Old Lu, I heard you stopped someone from attending your wedding banquet. What if you made that young lady cry!”

Lu Hongbo glared: “Stop acting! You were all there at my wedding banquet when I blocked her. None of you objected to me being the bad guy. Now you’re here making snide remarks!”

Everyone laughed, saying they wouldn’t dare.

In any other situation, these men would find it hard to refuse a beautiful young lady, likely feeling sympathetic. But this was different. Show mercy? If they softened, they couldn’t even protect their own stores’ business.

Though state-owned stores didn’t evaluate performance, they had standards. If their performance was too poor during their management, others would replace them. When it came to their livelihoods, no one had the luxury of being gentlemanly.

Lu Hongbo was right – everyone had witnessed Xia Xiaolan being turned away from offering wedding congratulations the day before. This was Lu Hongbo’s statement and everyone’s tacitly approved method. They figured Asia Department Store’s young General Manager Xia wouldn’t tolerate such humiliation. Once angry, wouldn’t she just dance to their tune?

Just like now – when Zijingshan Department Store offered 30% off women’s clothing, Asia Department Store dared to announce buy one get one free on all summer wear, an even more aggressive move.

Buy one get one free meant no profit at all. Adding other costs, they’d lose money.

But something felt off, not quite right…

“Old Lu, they’ve announced buy one get one free – what’s your plan? Still, sticking with 30% off women’s wear? Isn’t that not attractive enough for the city folks?”

Lu Hongbo finally realized something and sneered, “This General Manager Xia is still playing tricks. What ‘full store buy one get one free heartfelt appreciation’? Look at the advertisement – it says summer wear. This promotion isn’t just competing with us; she’s using this chance to clear out-of-season clothing. There’s no sincerity in this kind of promotion. Zijingshan’s 30% off includes autumn wear!”

The managers who had been laughing earlier suddenly lost their enthusiasm. This Xia from the Asia Department Store was indeed shameless. Not taking this seriously at all. While they were joining forces to reduce prices, Asia Department Store was thinking about clearing inventory.

“Wait, Asia Department Store just opened at the end of August – they shouldn’t have much summer wear to begin with, and business has been good…”

Weren’t they just being played with? It seemed like a serious response, but it was just child’s play, clearing out their minimal ‘inventory.’

Now even Lu Hongbo felt uneasy.

But Lu Hongbo quickly regained his spirit: “The clothing price reduction is just an appetizer. The main course is the home appliance promotion. Shangdu Department Store is bleeding this time – let’s see how Asia Department Store responds!”

The manager of Shangdu Department Store felt bitter. Home appliances had high-profit margins and sold well normally. Using this category for major discounts to attract customers was painful.

But thinking again, if the Shangdu Department Store was suffering, the Hong Kong merchants behind the Asia Department Store must be hurting too. Several department stores sharing the loss to fight one Asia Department Store meant they bore the burden together, while Asia Department Store suffered alone… Though the Hong Kong merchants were wealthy, wasn’t their money still money?

Well, true, the Hong Kong merchants were indeed financially powerful!

“Old Lu, if Asia Department Store can afford the losses and matches all our promotions, what should we do?”

Lu Hongbo pondered for a moment: “Didn’t we say before, we need to be prepared for a long battle? Also, I want to organize a networking event, and invite all the suppliers to talk.”

Oh, planning to target Asia Department Store’s supply chain?

That was a good idea.

Everyone nodded in agreement, even urging Lu Hongbo to organize this networking event as soon as possible!