Sports 100 Zhang Guolun: Entrepreneurship Through "Connections"

"Channel is king" is the only way for the retail industry to succeed. It is no exception for Zhang Guolun, CEO of Shanghai Yisheng Trade Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yisheng commerce"). Its "sports 100" large-scale sports leisure brand retail shop has more than 60 stores.

In order to achieve such a scale, Zhang spent nearly 12 years.

The growth rate of such a growth rate seems slow in the industry, but Zhang Guolun disagrees.

He thinks he is a conservative person, and there will not be too many radical practices. He thinks there will be a price behind the rapid growth.

"Fast fish eat slow fish is true, but in this process, if the foundation is not well done, no matter how fast, it will eventually fall out."

Zhang Guolun said.

For this reason, the first thing Zhang Guolun did after two years' campaign 100 was the injection of $10 million from Lan Xin, Asia. Instead of opening more chain stores, he spent most of his money on upgrading computer systems, training schools and improving the regional structure.

Zhang Guolun, frankly speaking, said that in the company's development process, the last two rounds of financing were originally planned for the year and next year's listing, but now that Hongkong's IPO is too low, Zhang Guolun intends to postpone the year and focus on its own construction.

At present, "sports 100" has completed the layout of 16 cities in the six major regions of the country. There are more than 10000 kinds of merchandise. It has collected hundreds of famous sports brands and leisure brands at home and abroad, and has introduced large fitness massage equipment, ball games, feather nets, small sporting goods such as protective gear, poker pieces and so on.

Compared with the new and innovative business models in the industry, Zhang Guolun prefers simplicity. "Sports 100" is the main sales channel in the shopping mall. In his view, a simple business model is easier to replicate and easier to maintain.

When he was in college, Zhang Guolun was a fanatical sports enthusiast. He once represented University of Hong Kong united to take part in the competition.

After graduating from University, Zhang Guolun went to Britain to study MBA, and chose retail as the focus in marketing.

In the early 90s of last century, Zhang Guolun returned to Beijing to help a Hong Kong listed companies expand its business in the mainland.

"At that time, PUMA was the earliest sports brand in the mainland, and we were their only trademark Licensing companies in the mainland."

In 1997, due to the impact of the Asian financial turmoil, Zhang Guolun's listed company was dragged down by the real estate business and was on the verge of bankruptcy. In the end, the company abandoned the sale of sporting goods.

"It really pushed me to Liangshan at that time."

Zhang Guolun said, "the company is gone, but I don't want to change careers. I simply start my own business."

Zhang Guolun founded Yisheng commerce, relying on the intra circle relationship accumulated by the former agent PUMA brand.

At that time, many sports brands opened stores, and in order to compete with them, Zhang Guolun thought of working hard on brands.

After trying to sell several brands in the same store, he found that customers' acceptance was significantly higher than before. After a survey of some customers, they found that they hoped to enjoy one-stop shopping.

"Let customers no longer run around the stores, but there are many brand choices at the same time, just like a sports supermarket."

Zhang Guolun said that this is also his original intention of adjusting strategy and establishing "sports 100".

After making decisions, Zhang Guolun's next step is to strive for cooperation with many sports brands.

"At that time, I introduced my concept to the general manager of NIKE China with my laptop, and they soon accepted the cooperation with us."

Zhang Guolun said, "such a one-stop concept has long existed in foreign countries, so cooperation with many brands will become a success."

In addition to this, Zhang Guolun also found that at that time, the consciousness of national fitness in the mainland was rather weak. Few people would buy fitness equipment, and the former sporting goods store was often held together with stationery stores, not only small but also incomplete products. The lack of this piece of market happened to give him an opportunity to integrate.

In 1997, Zhang Guolun rented the area of 4000 square meters of the 100th goods East Building on Nanjing East Road, and opened the first "sports 100".

After a period of exploration, Zhang Guolun found that 75% of the consumers in sports 100 chose to buy sports clothes for casual wear.

To this end, he abandoned the idea of focusing on sports brand and gradually introduced leisure brands.

After the success of the first store, sports 100 began to expand to other provinces and cities in 2001.

Zhang Guolun told reporters that "sports 100" now mainly shops in shopping centers, department stores and large supermarkets in the world, and each store is close to 3000 square meters.

It takes 3 years for an average store, from opening to the book, on average, Zhang Guolun admits.

In this cycle, rent is the biggest cost, and in recent years it has increased two or three times.

He said that in general, the rental contracts signed between them and shopping malls are in 10~20 years, and only by signing longer lease years and moving to the higher floors can the rent be kept relatively stable.

At present, many sports brands in the mainland are directly registered with the rise of the Chinese market.

Zhang Guolun said frankly that this group is its biggest competitor.

But he said that at present, there are still a few brands that have the ability to set up independent stores. Most brands still can not afford the expenses of daily management, personnel input, rents and so on. This also gives "sports 100" an opportunity to expand the market.

Ye Yixing, general manager of New World Department Assistant, told reporters that similar to "sports 100" so many brands of packaging mode, for the mall, recruit one is equal to dozens of brands, and the rent is fixed, shopping malls are also willing to accept.

It is learnt that "sports 100" is not only responsible for the management of the whole system, but also achieves cooperation with all sports brands through the mode of direct marketing, sales agency and special counters.

Zhang Guolun said that the current cooperation with the brand is mainly based on counters, occupying nearly 80% of the proportion.

"Sports 100" is the main source of revenue, and the terms of cooperation are determined according to the location of the store.

Zhang Guolun said that in the past 5 years, "sports 100" has maintained an annual growth rate of over 25%. This year's sales volume will reach more than ten billion yuan, and the net profit rate will generally be between 2% and 5%.

But he is obviously not satisfied with such a result. "We are striving to gradually expand the proportion of direct battalion so that we can occupy more shares."