Vexxt?

The vexxt hiatus is over…we traveled to china for the adoption of our daughter. This trip was about family, and getting all of the paperwork done so that we could bring our new daughter home. But, I took every opportunity to soak up a unique culture and the nuances of daily life in china. From this I bring a few observations:

• Space is at a premium. Retail space is at a potentially higher premium. We visited several of the local shopping districts; from clothes, souvenirs, jade, electronics, traditional medicine…you name it. In a lot of these areas the stores were essentially stalls packed with goods. Merchandising consisted of showing everything…and hiring young workers to talk with passerbys and lure them in. There was a carnival atmosphere to it; lots of loud music and noisy teenagers. Generally, there wasn’t empty wall space (or if they had it, counter space). It was completely filled with merchandise. Some of the stores spilled onto the sidewalk, they had so much stuff for so little space. Takeaway, you have no excuses to not make do with what you have.
• There is no apprehension about asking for the sale. At home, we visit a store in a traditional mall and feel ignored by the sales stuff. There we walked in and were shown merchandise samples by at least 2 employees- at the same time. And no one was deterred if we weren’t interested. And, the sale wasn’t over when you purchased something…they would keep pulling out merchandise until both feet were out of the store. Takeaway, keep asking for the sale.
• There is a huge workforce…restaurants had double to triple the number of employees that I expected. There was someone to take the order, someone to deliver the order, someone to serve the order, someone to pour the tea, someone to deliver napkins, etc…Customer Service is alive and well in China.
• There was no point of sale system at a lot of the stores…including bigger stores. Purchasing items frequently involved someone hand writing a ticket that you take to a centrally located cashier. You paid the cashier and brought your receipts back to show the clerk that originally wrote your ticket. Then they gave you the merchandise. Takeaway, not sure here…I say get a point of sale system for any retail operation.
• People are far more advanced technologically than we give them credit for. In the US there is the notion that China is still undeveloped outside of it’s factories. That is not true. Everyone has a cell phone…and everyone is proficient at communicating with text messages. The internet is very accessible, and the younger generation is probably just as wired as we are. Right now they have the upper hand in outsourced manufacturing, this will spill over in the knowledge management/IT fields.
• Production quality is outstanding for their television programs and commercials. Gone is the idea of state run, low-budget entertainment. Quality is not taken for granted.
• There is no concept of a line or queue. Clarification, there may be a line, but that never stopped anyone from ignoring it and proceeding to the counter. Takeaway- if you need something, go ask for it.