China Overseas Chinese Network, August 25. According to the WeChat official account of the Chinese Journal of Chinese Travelling in Romania, one of the groups most affected by the new crown epidemic among the Chinese in Romania is the Chinese businessmen. They are implementing new social distancing and public health measures. At the same time, it faces the challenge of reducing employees and customers.
The reporter of "Lulu Luo Chinese Daily" interviewed some Chinese businessmen in the Romanian Red Dragon market, learned about the extent to which Chinese businessmen’s business was affected by the epidemic, and recorded the opportunities and challenges that Chinese businessmen faced in developing their businesses in adversity, and their Feelings and thoughts during this special period.
The reporter interviewed some Chinese businessmen in the "Red Dragon" wholesale market, which is the largest concentration of Chinese businessmen in Romania and one of the largest wholesale markets in Europe.
They are engaged in the wholesale business of clothing, footwear, bedding, accessories and other groceries.
The reporter also interviewed some retailers outside the wholesale market.
"In March 2020, the Red Dragon Market was closed for two months due to the epidemic. After the market was reopened in May, business was suddenly bleak." A Chinese businessman reflected, "Nearly one-third of the clothing wholesale shops here. They are all closed and closed. On the one hand, due to the economic downturn, a large number of small retail stores have closed down, and our customer base has also decreased a lot. However, regular customers have higher and higher requirements for the style and quality of products, and the stock of second-hand goods is very Difficult to deal with. On the other hand, logistics freight has skyrocketed, and operating costs such as store rents, warehouse fees, and employee salaries have greatly increased.
The Chinese businessman also said: "Our clothing market is mainly operated in accordance with the old model that has been operating for decades, and it feels relatively safe. Some young people choose to do retail in other towns and towns to open up the local market. The demand there will be relatively stable. The competition is small, pricing is free, and the impact is relatively small."
The third hall of the Honglong Market (Honglongsan) originally had 460 shops, and there are still more than 200 shops remaining since the outbreak.
A shoe wholesaler said: “There is basically no business here. There are also various taxes, store warehouse rents are also rising, and the government also requires higher employee salaries. In order to recover funds, we can only lower the price of the goods stocked in the warehouse. Sale. Basically, it's just relying on money to sustain it."
As for why he didn’t choose to open a retail store in the countryside or become an e-commerce company, the Chinese businessman explained: “Among the Chinese merchants who wholesale shoes, some go to the countryside to do retail and sell by themselves. The business is pretty good, but most shoe sellers It’s still not a simple matter to do wholesale and switch to retail. After all, it’s a risky investment from site selection and decoration to purchase operations. We don’t have so many manpower and energy. It’s also troublesome to open an online store, we don’t speak our language, and platform operation management is also difficult. I don’t understand very well, there are still many procedures and procedures. Thinking about it, it’s safe to do what you are doing. The current big environment can’t be changed by small businesses like us. We can only do everything we can to our destiny.”
Compared with shoe manufacturers, the household goods industry is more optimistic.
A Chinese businessman engaged in the wholesale of household goods described: “Thanks to the epidemic, the demand for indoor products has increased significantly, and the sales of household products have not fallen but increased. But the short bonus period only lasted for less than a year. Mainly Shipping prices have doubled five or six times. Now it’s difficult to book space and pick up boxes, as well as logistics delays. Even if the logistics cost is so high, we have to increase capital investment, increase the volume of goods purchased at one time, and stock up in large quantities. To ensure sufficient supply of products."
Attracted by the dividends of the home furnishing industry in the early stage of the epidemic, a large number of merchants poured into the bedding market, intensifying industry competition.
Because of the rapid increase in logistics costs, most of the small merchants are difficult to maintain, and the hoarding of goods can only rely on continuously lowering prices and lowering prices. The industry's profit margins are constantly being compressed.
A Chinese businessman said: "For a relatively large wholesaler like us, the gross profit rate has also dropped from 10% a year ago to the current 5%. The sales volume is large but the profit is thinner."
Some Chinese businessmen said with emotion: “Because of the epidemic, we cannot go back to the country of origin to purchase goods, and the quality of the purchases is difficult to guarantee. Especially for seasonal products, once the season is missed due to logistics delays, they can only wait for the next year. Not to mention. With the current sky-high logistics and various store rental management fees, we now only want to be able to sell the goods, so that we can have funds for circulation.
The Chinese businessman also added: "My children are good at Romanian and English. Now they are running an independent e-commerce company and managing online goods transactions. The orders are still considerable. At least there is no pressure from store rents, and there is no need to resemble the retail industry. That way, the workload is too heavy and employees are highly mobile. After doing business for so many years, I feel that understanding of customers and grasping of business information are of the utmost importance at all times."
A Chinese businessman who runs a department store wholesale said: “The epidemic has challenges and opportunities. Our groceries generally involve household goods, so our business for local retail is quite good. Moreover, the epidemic has greatly promoted the development of local e-commerce and logistics in Romania. E-commerce merchants have taken a fancy to my product and booked it out in advance."
A Chinese businessman who runs a retail store has his own strategy for the current market operation. He said: "For traditional wholesalers, the impact of the epidemic is still second, mainly because the large chain retail groups that continue to settle in Romania have intensified market competition. Like the original Carrefour and Auchan, now the very popular Mega and Lidl, the operation of such large enterprises has price advantages, stable supply of supplies, systematic staffing, coupled with their continuously expanding online platform, and finished products. More, more professional services, and our own logistics and transportation guarantees. These are far beyond our small and medium-sized wholesalers. The development of online shopping in Romania is bound to become the mainstream trend in the future. We can only seek to step by step in the drastic changes of the times. To seek change."
The location of the Chinese businessman was closed for four months during the epidemic last year, and the store was also closed for three months.
She said: "During this period, we have no purchases and no customers, but the shop rent and employee salaries have to be paid. Considering that everyone is staying at home, the local express delivery in Luoguo is also operating normally. During the closure of the store, I decided to switch to the Internet. In the market, increased investment in online operations, coupled with later publicity, the current orders are very substantial. After the epidemic stabilized, I mainly operated by combining physical retail and online shopping orders, but the single purchase volume decreased, and the number of purchases increased , The specific adjustment is based on business conditions. In summary, it is to master the capital chain and control the purchase volume. In my opinion, the epidemic will accelerate the development of the Internet, and online shopping has become everyone's main consumption method. The epidemic has only accelerated this trend."
At present, the main difficulties faced by Chinese businessmen in Romania under the epidemic are as follows:
Logistics difficulties.
The foreign trade shipping market is tight with containers, and ocean shipping prices have repeatedly hit new highs.
Difficulty in booking space, high freight, delayed or even stagnant logistics, the operating costs of Chinese businessmen have increased significantly, and the burden is particularly heavy;
The market is shrinking.
With the economic downturn and rising prices, a large number of local retail stores in Luogu have closed down, and the source of customers in the wholesale market has drastically reduced;
Increased costs.
Heavy taxation (VAT 19%, profit tax 16%, operating tax 1-3%, personal income tax, labor tax) Chinese businessmen also face problems such as rising store warehouse rents, increased employee salaries, and labor shortages;
market competition.
More and more large-scale chain retail groups have settled in the local area, cross-border e-commerce has intensified competition in the traditional wholesale market, and the phenomenon of small self-employed selling goods and lowering prices;
product problem.
Delays in goods caused seasonal products to go out of season and stockpiles in warehouses.
Under the epidemic, Chinese businessmen cannot go back to the country of origin to pick up goods, and the quality of the goods cannot be guaranteed.
At the same time, the epidemic has also brought new development opportunities.
Romania's current e-commerce is developing rapidly, and the local logistics industry is booming accordingly.
Chinese businessmen try to achieve breakthroughs in adversity through transformation and upgrading through cross-border e-commerce and online retail.
In terms of customers, the rise of online e-commerce has increased the source of customers in the offline wholesale market, and the sales of household and seasonal products are very impressive.
Some wholesalers try to expand local retail business and realize self-approval and self-sale.
Facing difficulties, Chinese businessmen also encountered new challenges while making operational adjustments.
As far as the local retail industry is concerned, although it has the advantages of a fixed source of customers (local residents), stable demand, and less competitive pressure compared to the wholesale industry, it also faces various problems, such as limited prime locations and relatively high investment risks. High; the purchased products are diversified and the management workload is large; the long-term operation is guarded and the workload is too heavy; the employee mobility is high, and the loyalty and trust is low.
Although e-commerce platforms have no rent, no employees, lower costs, higher operational flexibility, and wider coverage compared to physical operations, there are also problems such as unstable customer sources and online transaction risks. Among them, foreign language models for the local market and new types of Operational operations and cumbersome procedures have even persuaded a group of Chinese businessmen who are trying to transform and expand their businesses.
(Bai Yinan, Chinese)