With the Time Shop, I Too Am the Greatest Conglomerate of All Time

Episode 10. Online shopping mall.(2)

“Online shopping mall? What is it?”

“It’s pretty. It is a system that allows you to shop online, that is, by accessing the Internet.”

“Are you shopping online?”

It was not that there were no online shopping sites even now, but it was an unfamiliar concept to the extent that most people did not even know that such a site existed.

“Yes, merchants put a list of products they want to sell on their website, and consumers come in and pay for them. After that, when the merchants send the goods, the transaction is over. What a way.”

I was speechless as to whether my brother had a culture shock.

After a minute or two of thinking, the older brother opened his mouth.

“It’s a groundbreaking idea. If you really build a system that way, you won’t need a lot of people. But how could a website like this not exist yet? I don’t think it would be that difficult to make.”

“It is still there.”

It turned out that the Internet department store operated by the famous department store Lude and the online shopping mall called Otter Park operated by Daicom have already been operating since last year.

“okay? Why haven’t I heard of such a thing?”

“First of all, there are not many people who use the online shopping mall because there are few people who use the Internet. As a result, it is not publicized, so people do not know about it, and the number of users does not increase. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Of course, errors such as setting the same price for products in on- and off-stores also contributed to this small number of users, but the fundamental reason was that ‘people did not access the Internet well’.

“I will. But knowing that, you want to create an online shopping mall?”

“People will be more than happy to connect to the Internet when they see the advantages of our mall.”

“Advantages?”

“Yes, price and reliability. If our shopping mall products are cheaper than offline stores and the quality is reliable, consumers will eventually use our shopping mall.”

“Isn’t that too optimistic? Other online shopping malls don’t have their advantages, so it’s probably not that people don’t use them.”

“It is not without its advantages. But people don’t use it because they don’t know its advantages. So I’m going to tell you.”

“how?”

“Once the shopping mall site is complete, all orders coming through PC communication will be directed there. If you try it and like it, people will know and spread the word.”

If you have enough capital, it would be most effective to spread advertisements on mass media such as TV.

I couldn’t do that, so I was thinking of writing a kind of viral marketing operation (word of mouth operation).

I was planning to use PC communication, which is much more popular than the Internet, as a means of that.

“Well, now our customers are PC communication users, so once the rumors start, it will spread quickly.”

“Once we start gaining recognition like that, at some point we will become the mainstream.”

The low price was a huge plus.

In particular, it was clear that its merits would shine even more amid the cold wave of the IMF financial crisis to come this year.

Unlike the future, access to the Internet is quite cumbersome, but eventually people will connect to the Internet to buy items in our shopping malls.

In particular, competitors with huge capital such as Oksun would soon enter the market, but before that, they had to increase their market share as much as possible.

“Well. To be honest, I’m still not bad at selling only assembled computers. Even though I only worked for about a full month this month, my income is about this level, so next month will be even better. Is there any reason to start a new business in this situation?”

There are many reasons.

Pay off debts, take revenge, become rich, etc. There are only four or five things that come to mind right away.

“You are less greedy than you look. The more money you have, the better. You can earn more, so do you need a reason to earn more?”

My brother looked tired.

“What, did you have any money? Why is a guy who isn’t even twenty yet so darn money?”

It rained a lot.

Because I live in this Korea.

I’m really sad because I don’t have money.

So I don’t live like that anymore.

“What if money is good? Well anyway, so you’re going to object? “

“Are you going to give up if I oppose you?”

“no. I’ll do it alone. We’re going to start a new corporation.”

My brother sighed.

“Whoa, that’s right. Then I agree.”

“why? You seemed reluctant until just a moment ago? If it’s still enough.”

“If the online shopping mall goes well without me, I think my stomach will hurt. And I think it will work out somehow because you do it.”

“I don’t have greed, but I have a feeling. fufu. Online shopping malls will definitely do well.”

“..I hope so.”

“Then, hyung also agreed, so there will be no dividend for the time being?”

As if he hadn’t thought of that, the older brother asked with a surprised face.

“What?”

“All the spare funds have to be reinvested in the shopping mall business. We have to hire more staff, we need to create a site, and there will also be operating costs, so what does the dividend mean?”

“..Of course, there must be a lot of money going into it. But shouldn’t I have to eat and live?”

“I’ll give you some living expenses. Still, I can’t give you enough, so please use it sparingly for the time being.”

My brother looked at me with eyes full of resentment.

“.Were you such a ruthless guy in the first place?”

Originally, I didn’t want to pay the living expenses either.

The fact that the dividend was inevitably made because of the regression loan, I decided to keep as a secret to take to the grave.

“If you are dissatisfied, will you leave?”

“Really, really because I killed myself.”

“really? what?”

“..I’m going to use it to save my living expenses. So, let’s make that online shopping mall a success.”

“Yeah, fufu.”

next day.

As soon as I entered the office, Daewon-hyung beckoned to me.

“Director Kang. It just came.”

Strangely, I asked why they called me by my title in the office.

A man in his 30s with a face he had never seen before was sitting next to his brother.

As I approached, he gave a bewildered expression on his face, and then got up quickly from his seat.

“hello? This is Hongin Media Manager Jung Oh-chan.”

“Hongin Media?”

Not knowing what the situation was, I glanced at my brother, and he explained further.

“You asked me to find a website builder yesterday?”

“Ah, did you come here because of the website?”

“Yes, President Jang gave a simple explanation, but I heard that Director Kang knows the details of the request. I came here to listen to the details and greet you.”

The crew member next to him smirked.

“Senior, I don’t even know what boss Jang is. Why are you here all of a sudden?”

“I am here for work. You are a customer and you have to treat them with respect. Besides, Director Kang is also here.”

Looking closely, Daewon seemed to have known him for a long time.

“Do you know anyone?”

“Yeah, college senior. Have you known each other for 5 years? I’m working for a website builder, so when I contacted them, they came to me within an hour. “

“haha. I don’t have a lot of work these days, so the manager’s noticing was no joke. As soon as I got a call from Mr. Jang, he was pushed away as if he was being chased out and told me to go and get a stamp.”

Passed in terms of gender.

Even though he should have known that I was younger, he didn’t seem particularly disrespectful.

Even though Daewon was a junior that his older brother knew, he seemed to have a personality that clearly distinguishes between public and private life to the extent that he used his honorific title.

It wasn’t a luxurious suit, but the overall outfit looked neat, showing that he paid attention to it.

‘It’s okay.’

First impressions weren’t bad.

“You have worked hard to come. Then, shall we talk in detail?”

As if to listen, Manager Jeong straightened his posture and took out his notebook.

“As you may have heard, we are planning to create a shopping mall where you can shop online.”

“Yes, I have heard of the simple concept, but how can I make it concretely?”

“I have four main requirements. The first will be text-oriented, and the second will have a built-in search system.”

“Four requirements, the first is…”

Manager Jeong carefully wrote down what I said in his notebook and looked up.

“I wrote it all down. Keep talking.”

“The third is to allow the customer who has purchased the product to rate their satisfaction with the product, and the fourth is to have a stage to confirm that the customer has received the product.”

Director Jeong looked at the contents of the notebook again and asked.

“The first requirement, the reason why you asked to make it mainly through text, seems to be because the communication speed is so slow, and the third and fourth are also understandable. If that happens, the unit price will go up a lot.”

“When there are many products, it is difficult to find the necessary items one by one. In addition, prices can be different even for the same product, so a system that can search by price or product is essential.”

Shopping online is more cumbersome than buying things in an offline store.

It was natural that customers would not use our shopping mall if the inconvenience went beyond the advantage of low price.

Therefore, it was necessary to have a system that is convenient for shopping even if it costs money.

“I see what you mean. If we put together the conditions you requested and get a quote, it will cost about 8 million won and it will take about 6 weeks.”

Daewon asked the older brother with a look of surprise.

“800 million won? No, senior, what kind of site do you get 8 million won each?”

Manager Jung put on an expression saying, ‘Is there such an ignorant person?’

“Chairman Jang, it is completely different from a shopping site and a regular site that promotes companies. Basically, because communication between multiple members is made, the structure is complex, and adding a search system requires a lot of resources. He was from the computer science department, so I thought he would know it well, but I guess he wasn’t.”

I mourn for my brother who made a mistake and couldn’t find it.

“The price is good, but the duration is a problem.”

Still, there is a long way to go to put the online shopping mall business on track before the IMF financial crisis, but I couldn’t waste 6 weeks from the start.

“I made it as short as possible. If you want to pull more than that, you have to put more people in, and the cost goes up.”

“It doesn’t matter if the cost doubles. Please finish it in three weeks.”

“yes?”

“If you finish it within three weeks, I will give you 16 million won.”

Daewon hyung grabbed my shoulder with a surprised expression.

“Jeongwoon.. No, moving by Kang, 8 million won is expensive, but you’re going to spend 16 million won?”

“Six weeks is too long. We should start right away, but we can’t do it, so we have to stretch it out as much as possible.”

“..Is that why you need to be in such a hurry?”

“Yes, it is well worth spending at least 8 million won more.”

Daewon hyung looked at my face and didn’t dry it anymore.

“..I get it. There must be a reason why you thought so.”

I said to Manager Jeong, who had a confused face as to who to listen to.

“Chief Jeong. Is it possible to finish it in three weeks?”

“Yes, it is possible, but would you really mind the cost?”

“it’s okay. Then I know that it will be finished within three weeks and I will wait for you.”

When Manager Jeong glanced at Daewon, the older brother nodded.

He got up from his seat with a relieved expression on his face.

“Chief Jang. Mr. Kang. Thank you for your order. We will go to the company and send you an accurate quote.”

My position was a director, but since it was a small company with only 5 employees including the president, it didn’t mean much.

I was even younger.

However, Manager Jeong maintained a respectful attitude throughout the meeting as if he were treating an executive of a large company.

Wow, the more I look at him, the more I like him.

If there is an opportunity, I would like to work together.

“Then go take a look.”

“Yes, good bye.”

After meeting with Manager Noon Chan Noon, I stopped by a public phone booth near the office.

Today is April 1st.

It was the maturity date of the first regression loan.

When I picked up the receiver and inserted the card, a familiar ARS voice greeted me.

“Hello. Customer Jaewoon Kang. There are 0 days, 6 hours 45 minutes and 13 seconds left until the first loan repayment deadline. Please press 1 to repay the loan, 2 to check the amount of the loan to be repaid, and 3 to check the current assets.”

I pressed number 1 without hesitation.

“The 1st loan of ₩4,166,000 will be deducted from your assets of ₩5,012,000. If you agree, press 1 again.”

Press 1 again.

So far this has been as planned.

“The loan deduction has been completed. A gift is offered as a token of appreciation for your sincere repayment. Please select a category. “

The story of a random gift threw me into chaos.

‘Gifts? What else is a gift? No, most of all, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing.’

Regardless of my circumstances, ARS continued.