For the industry, a distributor may seem like an “ordinary” role, but for a company, they are crucial partners. It’s their silent dedication that helps businesses and brands achieve some level of success and market recognition.
The Zuliz Distributor Series Stories aim to engage with the outstanding distributors of Zuliz elderly shoes, revisiting their entrepreneurial journeys, sharing sales techniques, and exploring great business opportunities together. Within these stories, you may find some success tips, touching tales, or discussions about the pitfalls they encountered. Hopefully, these stories will bring readers more inspiration and reflection.
Our featured distributor in this edition of Zuliz’s distributor story is Sang Shoude.
Sang Shoude, in 2021, crossed paths with Zuliz and opened his first Zuliz elderly shoe store after inspecting the factory in Suixian County. Within two years, he established seven Zuliz stores in Shouguang City, Weifang, Shandong Province – including Luocheng Quanfuyuan Store, Century Square Store, Shopping Center Store, Ginza Quanfuyuan Store, Zhongbai Store, Jialejia Street Store, and Xueyuan Road Store. Not only did he achieve remarkable sales performance, but he also earned a good reputation locally. The Jialejia Street Store, opened in October 2023, reached a high sales figure of 150,000 yuan in its first month.
Boss Sang can be described as a compassionate, capable, and responsible entrepreneur of the new era. He believes that managing Zuliz is not just about doing business but also about conveying the concept of “caring for the elderly and warming the sunset years.”
Zuliz in my heart represents the longing for a better life.
Through our conversation, we learned that before getting involved with Zuliz, Boss Sang was in the leather goods business, with rich sales experience and like-minded peers. Through interactions with these partners, he fortuitously discovered the Zuliz brand. After a thorough investigation, he believed that Zuliz’s strict control from raw material selection to production processes allows them to gain market recognition for quality.
Sang Shoude was deeply moved not only by the concept and values that the Zulijian brand conveys but also by its warmth. He sees Zulijian as a brand with a lot of heart, capable of expressing a longing for a better life and advocating for young people to show love and care for their parents. Therefore, he believes that choosing a brand like Zulijian is his practical way of joining the ranks of caring for the elderly, which he finds very meaningful.
When asked what motivated him to open so many Zulijian stores, he said, “Firstly, the Zulijian brand has high value, coupled with the increasingly serious trend of aging and the strong demand for the silver economy. I firmly believe it has great development potential. Zulijian is already thriving in Shouguang, and next, I hope to establish a stable foundation!” It was Sang’s keen market insight, decisive decision-making, high recognition, and confidence in the brand that enabled him to seize opportunities time and time again, leading to significant success in Zulijian’s operations in Shouguang.
From 0 to 7+1, from thriving to establishing a stable foundation.
In 2021, due to environmental factors, opening a store was not a favorable choice. Nevertheless, he decisively opened the first Zulijian store. He said, “Although it was tough at that time, it did not shake my confidence in opening the store, nor did it affect the love that the elderly have for our Zulijian.” During a challenging period in offline sales, Boss Sang paved a path of prosperity in Shouguang. When asked about his successful “recipe,” he shared the following four points:
Sang Shoude’s previous experience in the leather goods business at the mall made him keenly aware that the location of a store directly impacts its success or failure. Therefore, before opening Zulijian stores, he conducted detailed location surveys. After gaining basic control over the foot traffic in various places and at different times, he precisely positioned each store in bustling areas on the streets or in shopping centers. This strategic approach, with high foot traffic and exposure, led to high conversion rates and profits.
- Provide excellent service for an ultimate experience
Boss Sang values the service provided by his employees. Before each employee starts their work, they undergo one-on-one training on product knowledge and service standards.
Firstly, he requires every store manager and staff member to have a comprehensive understanding of the products’ features and advantages. They should be able to clearly answer customers’ questions and provide professional recommendations. This training enables store employees to better introduce products to consumers, help them understand the product’s benefits, and enhance their trust in the store.
Secondly, he emphasizes that employees should treat every customer who enters the store like family, especially showing genuine care for elderly customers. They should listen to customers’ needs and concerns, provide suitable solutions, and offer more attentive and thoughtful service.
His employees genuinely treat customers like family, providing heartfelt service to each one. Recently, an elderly person visited the store, and while the staff member was helping him try on shoes, they noticed his long toenails through his socks. Considering the winter season and the elderly man’s difficulty in movement due to thick clothing, the staff member kindly trimmed his toenails and helped him put on his socks. This seemingly small gesture deeply reflected their respect and care for the customer.
Such service details abound in their practices. They stand outside the store, ready to assist elderly customers up the steps when they arrive. When customers leave the store, regardless of making a purchase, they support the elderly down the steps. Additionally, at street-side stores, they help elderly individuals with limited mobility cross the road.
- Effective promotion with integrated online and offline campaigns
Boss Sang personally handled the promotion of seven stores, developing a successful promotional model. This model was successfully implemented in the street-side Jialejia store opened in October 23. Through integrated online and offline promotion, the store quickly gained local recognition upon its opening.
Offline single-page promotion involved distributing 30,000 flyers in local bustling markets over three days. This strategy targeted a majority of middle-aged and elderly individuals frequenting the markets, precisely Zulijian’s key demographic. As a result, this promotional method proved highly effective, yielding significant results with minimal effort. For online promotion, he also engaged influential local internet celebrities to conduct on-site activities, harnessing the power of spontaneous crowd-generated content for effective online promotion.
- Be bold in investment decisions
Bold investments often come with significant risks but also hold vast possibilities. When opening the first store, Sang Shoude, despite having confidence in the Zulijian brand, did not have complete certainty. After extensive market research and training courses, he bravely took the first step.
He believes that the first step towards success is having the courage to invest and try new things. Only with sharp market insights and unwavering faith can one seize opportunities and realize their dreams.
Zuliztrategic location surveys, to the genuine care for the elderly, hands-on promotion, and a daring investment spirit, all laid the cornerstone for his path to success.
Online live streaming, persistence awakened success
Boss Sang has always believed in the enormous potential of online live streaming, so he began building an online live streaming room last year. Despite lacking professional online operation and marketing training, Sang’s wife consistently conducted six to eight hours of live streaming daily. Though the live streaming room initially struggled to gain traction, they did not give up.
They always believed in the power of authenticity, presenting shoes in the most genuine manner without fancy words or elaborate techniques, just like chatting with family. The live streaming room evolved from being unnoticed, unable to sell a single pair of shoes in four hours, to gradually accumulating traffic. After months of hard work, the live streaming room finally bore fruit in February this year, achieving sales of nearly 300,000 in a single month.
The initial success made Boss Sang realize the importance of a professional team. He began seeking a professional operations team, learning marketing skills, and increasing the exposure of the live streaming room. He hopes to attract more consumers through continuous experimentation and adjustments.
After two years of hard work, the splendid achievements of seven stores bear witness to Boss Sang’s extraordinary courage, unwavering perseverance, and genuine attitude towards others. We believe that under his leadership, his stores will achieve even more remarkable results.
In the closing interview, Boss Sang said, “Zulijian is the leader in the elderly shoe industry. Nine out of ten elderly individuals know our brand, and they truly like and appreciate it.” Its brand influence extends beyond simply making shoes, embodying the transmission of the concept of caring for the elderly and bringing warmth to the sunset years.
