Chapter 641: Membership System

On a balcony that could accommodate over a dozen people, a girl wearing a dress played the violin with a light, lively touch, the sound emanating from the two speakers right beside her.

In this era, entertainment options were scarce; even open-air movies were chased after by the masses, let alone this kind of open-air artistic performance. Even under the feet of the Son of Heaven, the people of the Imperial Capital rarely saw such a thing.

The crowd grew larger and larger. Seeing Jian Qiu turned back to look; it was a dense, black mass of people. She whispered to Zhou Andong, "Today is the first day, and there are already so many people. Once word spreads in a couple of days, there will definitely be even more. Safety cannot be ignored."

Zhou Andong nodded. In this era, where crowds gathered, pickpockets and local ruffians were inevitable. Safety truly had to be taken seriously; otherwise, once an incident occurred, there would be no need to think about continuing the balcony shows, and even Dicos would be implicated.

"Contact Jiangzhou tomorrow and have eight security guards sent over. A store this big cannot be without security. Also, contact the Wang Fujing Police Station. Give them a bit of sponsorship money every year and have them send a few people over every night to maintain order. They should be very willing."

Seeing Jian Qiu nodded: "With police officers from the station maintaining order, plus our own security guards, it will definitely serve as a deterrent to some criminals."

Zhou Andong said: "Besides sponsorship money, we can also send the police some meal vouchers—fifty or a hundred yuan—to eat at Dicos. The vouchers can be used as cash."

Seeing Jian Qiu pondered for a moment: "We could also sell these meal vouchers to the public. For example, for forty yuan, one could purchase fifty yuan worth of vouchers. This would bind the customers; if they want to eat burgers, they would have to come to us."

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "We can set up a VIP membership system. Stored value gets a discount; for example, store one hundred, get a 98% discount; store two hundred, get a 95% discount. We can also set up a VIP area where only members can sit and eat."

"Also, VIP membership cards can be tiered based on the amount stored. Store one hundred for a white card, two hundred for a black card, three hundred for a gold card, and so on. Furthermore, members can enjoy corresponding services at any Dicos nationwide."

Seeing Jian Qiu's eyes lit up: "When I was studying abroad, some luxury brands already had VIP membership systems, and some merchants also used membership systems for promotions, but none were as detailed as what you've described."

Zhou Andong smiled and asked: "You studied in the UK; how much do you know about membership systems?"

Seeing Jian Qiu said proudly: "You can't stump me on this. The traditional membership card system originated in the entertainment industry. In 17th-century Europe, feudal aristocrats, disdaining to associate with commoners, organized various types of closed clubs—that is, membership clubs, also known as VIP clubs."

Zhou Andong laughed: "A tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face. In the hearts of the vast majority of people, face is more important than anything else. And membership represents a kind of honor and status. Being able to enjoy certain special preferential treatments will give the membership class a sense of belonging."

Not to mention anything else, just look at later generations: a 300,000 to 400,000 yuan Japanese minivan would sell for over a million in the country, and people would still pay a premium of hundreds of thousands.

Even then, those nouveau riche would flock to it, adding money themselves just to get the car as quickly as possible—adding tens or hundreds of thousands.

Are those nouveau riche really just fools with too much money? To put it plainly, it's actually just for the sake of face.

Seeing Jian Qiu said: "Having members enjoy corresponding services at any Dicos nationwide—that's a bit difficult to execute."

Zhou Andong asked: "What's difficult about it?"

Seeing Jian Qiu said: "Stored value is for consumption. If they consume at this store today and that store tomorrow, how is the remaining balance calculated?"

Zhou Andong said: "That's easy to handle. For example, a membership card issued by Store No. 1 can use the money on the card when consuming at Store No. 1. When consuming at other stores, they can enjoy the corresponding discounts and services, but the settlement must be done in cash."

Seeing Jian Qiu frowned: "Will that work?"

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "Those who can afford membership and stored value don't care about the payment method. What they care about is face, the status symbol the membership card brings them, and the sense of honor of their class."

Seeing Jian Qiu pondered for a moment, nodded, and said: "What you say makes sense."

Zhou Andong said: "Talk to An Jing about this later. The membership system should be implemented as soon as possible; this can cultivate a batch of loyal customers."

"Friends in the audience, good evening!"

The violin performance ended, and Miss Yang stood on the balcony, immediately causing a stir in the crowd.

"Yang, Yang, Yang..."

A young man was so excited he couldn't speak.

"How much do you all know about the Dicos Balcony Music Show?"

Miss Yang held the microphone, standing at the edge of the balcony, leaning slightly forward to look at the crowd below, allowing the audience to see her clearly.

"Does no one know?" Miss Yang said with a smile: "The Balcony Music Show is a large-scale public welfare music performance hosted by the Dicos Group."

"It starts every year on May 1st and ends on October 15th. The performance time is every night from 6:00 to 8:00. There will be passionate rock bands, novel and interesting song and dance performances, youthful and trendy fashion songs, and we will also invite artists from all over the world to perform."

"Clap, clap, clap..."

Enthusiastic applause erupted below. From May to October every year, there would be performances every day; they could come to watch every night.

"Now, I announce!" Miss Yang shouted with some excitement, "The first Dicos Balcony Music Show is grandly opening. Please listen to the song 'Good Days'!"

The music started, and Jiang Yuyue, wearing sportswear, a baseball cap, and headphones, appeared on the balcony.

The scene went quiet for a moment, followed immediately by cheers.

"Jiang Yuyue!"

"Jiang Yuyue!"

The older ones were quite calm, but those boys and girls were shouting excitedly, mixed with whistles; it could be described as a mountain-shaking roar.

"Hey, the happy gongs and drums beat out the joy of the year, the beautiful dances bring daily jubilation, the sunlight's oil paint paints today's days red, the flowers of life are our smiles..."

As the singing started, the scene slowly quieted down.

Seeing Jian Qiu said with a smile: "Look at Yuyue's style; she's becoming more and more like a big singing star."

Zhou Andong said: "She is already a big singing star now."

Seeing Jian Qiu asked: "I heard you wrote a new song for An Jing?"

Zhou Andong nodded: "Yes!"

Seeing Jian Qiu asked: "Is it good?"

Zhou Andong said: "You'll be able to hear it in a little while."

"Ordinary disco, ordinary disco, ordinary disco..."

The moment the music stopped, the scene began to roar "Ordinary Disco."

Jiang Yuyue looked down, listening to the cheers; it really felt like holding a concert. She raised her hand and pressed it downward.

The shouting gradually disappeared. Jiang Yuyue took a breath and said with a smile: "Do you want to hear 'Ordinary Disco'?"

"Yes!" The shouting was deafening.

"Okay!" Jiang Yuyue agreed readily, "Music!" ===== CHAPTER 642 =====