Wang Jianye nodded slightly, still looking at the street: “Well, continue to follow up. Pay more attention to customers’ feedback on the new packages and make timely adjustments.”

Before he finished speaking, a gray-haired old customer walked into the restaurant and greeted Wang Jianye with a smile: “Boss Wang, I saw that the neighbor was having a low-price promotion, but I was determined to come to your restaurant. They can’t learn the taste and quality of your restaurant.”

A smile immediately broke out on Wang Jianye’s face, and he responded enthusiastically: “Thank you so much for your continued support. We have recently launched a new set meal that is very cost-effective. You may want to try it.” As he said that, he handed over the menu.

The old customer took the menu, looked through it carefully, and nodded: “Okay, let’s have a family meal. It happens that my family is here today, so let’s try it together.”

Meanwhile, in the restaurant kitchen, Chef Li was asking the waiter, “How is the order rate for the new set menu today? What is the customer feedback?”

The waiter quickly replied: “Master, the order rate is quite good. Many customers say that the set meal is well matched and tastes good. But one customer complained that the kimchi in the kimchi fried rice could be a little more sour.”

Master Li nodded thoughtfully: “Okay, I’ll make a note of it and adjust it next time.” After that, he turned and walked into the kitchen and began to discuss with the chefs how to improve the production of kimchi to make it better suit the taste needs of customers.

A few days later, the staff of the relevant department came to the rival branch to investigate, and Wang Jianye and Chen Yu were also notified to go and cooperate with the investigation. In the lobby of the rival branch, the atmosphere was slightly tense.

The staff member looked at Wang Jianye and Chen Yu with a serious face and said, “You reported this restaurant for unfair competition. Have you submitted all the evidence?”

Wang Jianye quickly responded: “They have all been submitted. We have collected photos and videos of them disrupting the market with low prices and maliciously soliciting customers at our door, and have organized them all.” As he said that, he handed the prepared information bag to the staff.

The staff member took the information and looked at the person in charge of the rival branch: “What do you have to say about these accusations?”

The manager of the rival branch showed a trace of panic on his face, and he stammered, “We…we are just promoting normally, there is no malicious competition. Maybe we did something inappropriate, but it was definitely not intentional.”

The staff member carefully examined the evidence and whispered to his colleagues from time to time. After a moment, he raised his head and his expression became more serious: “According to the investigation, your behavior is suspected of unfair competition and violates relevant regulations. You must rectify it immediately. We will continue to supervise you in the future.”

Coming out of the relevant department, Wang Jianye and Chen Yu looked at each other. Chen Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Boss Wang, they shouldn’t dare to mess around anymore.”

Wang Jianye still looked solemn and shook his head: “We can’t let our guard down and continue to do a good job in our operations and services. The market competition is fierce and there may be new challenges at any time.”

Back at the hotel, Wang Jianye decided to call a meeting for all employees. Employees came to the meeting room one after another, whispering to each other, guessing the content of the meeting. Wang Jianye stood on the stage and glanced at each employee: “This incident reminds us that market competition is cruel, but as long as we insist on quality and service, we are not afraid of any challenges. Everyone keep working hard to make our hotel better and better. We are a team, as long as we work together, there is no obstacle that we can’t overcome!”

There was warm applause from the audience, and the employees’ eyes were full of enthusiasm. After the meeting, everyone returned to their posts and performed their duties. Chen Yu returned to the office to continue optimizing the publicity plan and thinking about how to further enhance the popularity of the restaurant; Chef Li plunged into the kitchen to discuss the development of new dishes with the chef team, striving to bring more surprises to customers; Xiao Zhao was busy maintaining member relationships, calling members back to collect their opinions and suggestions.

With the joint efforts of everyone, Wang’s All-Series Restaurant has gradually regained its former bustle and business is booming. In the restaurant, customers are laughing and talking, and waiters are running around, serving warmly and attentively. In the kitchen, the fire is blazing, and the chefs are carefully preparing each dish, and the air is filled with tempting aromas.

As time went by, Wang Jianye began to think about new development directions. One day, he called Chen Yu, Master Li and Xiao Zhao to his office and said seriously, “I’m thinking that we can expand the takeaway business and further expand our market share. Nowadays, young people love to order takeaways, and this is a big market. What do you think?”

Chen Yu’s eyes lit up and he spoke first: “Boss Wang, this is a good idea. However, takeout is different from dining in. We have to consider issues such as packaging and delivery time. We have to find suitable packaging materials to ensure that the dishes are still hot and look good when they are delivered to the customers.”

Chef Li also nodded in agreement: “Yes, the portion and taste of the dishes must also be adjusted. Take-out may slightly affect the taste, and we have to find a way to compensate. For example, some dishes can have separate seasoning packets, allowing customers to add according to their preferences.”

Xiao Zhao also put forward his own opinion: “The membership can also be combined with the takeaway business to provide members with takeaway discounts to attract them to place orders.”

Everyone was talking to each other, and the discussion was lively.

……

Wang Jianye sat in his office, staring at the catering industry data report that kept scrolling on the computer screen, tapping his fingers on the desktop. The scale of the takeaway market continued to grow, and the data was very impressive, which made him determined to expand his online business. He picked up the phone and dialed Chen Yu’s number.

“Chen Yu, come to my office for a moment.” Wang Jianye said briefly and forcefully.

Not long after, Chen Yu hurried into the office. Before he had time to sit down, Wang Jianye pointed at the computer screen and said, “Look at these data. The takeaway market has great potential. We must quickly expand our online business. You will work with the technical team to develop an online ordering platform and optimize the delivery process. This matter will be left to you.”

Chen Yu looked at the data on the screen, a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes, and said: “Mr. Wang, this is indeed a good opportunity. However, developing a platform and optimizing the distribution process are not trivial matters, and we need to plan it well. I will go find the technical team and meet with them first to discuss a preliminary plan.”

“Okay, do it as soon as possible. Report to me if you have any questions at any time.” Wang Jianye said.

After leaving the office, Chen Yu went straight to the technical team’s office area. The technical team members were busy with their own work. Chen Yu clapped his hands and shouted, “Everyone stop for a moment. There is an important task. Mr. Wang has decided to expand the online business. We need to develop an online ordering platform together and optimize the delivery process. Everyone, please share your ideas.” The young programmer Xiao Li spoke first: “To develop an ordering platform, the functions must be comprehensive, such as displaying dishes, placing orders, paying, and tracking orders. And the interface must be simple and easy to use, so that customers can operate it conveniently.”

Another programmer, Xiao Zhang, went on to say: “For the delivery process, we need to connect well with the delivery company, monitor the delivery progress in real time, and ensure that we can accurately inform customers of the delivery time.”

Everyone was talking at once, and the discussion was very lively. Chen Yu was listening and writing down the key points in his notebook. After the discussion, Chen Yu said, “Everyone is right. Next, let’s divide the work. Xiao Li, you will be responsible for building the basic framework of the platform; Xiao Zhang, you will communicate with the distribution company to understand their processes and interfaces; others will help collect data and organize the information on the dishes.”

At the same time, Master Li also received Wang Jianye’s notice in the kitchen. He frowned and thought about how to adjust the packaging of the dishes to ensure that the quality of the dishes would not change when they were delivered. He called several backbones in the kitchen together and said, “Now that we are going to do the takeaway business, the packaging of the dishes must be changed. Everyone should think of ways to ensure that the dishes are still hot and taste the same when they are delivered to the customers.”

Chef Xiao Wang said: “Master, I think we can use those heat-insulating lunch boxes to make the food cool down more slowly.”

Another chef, Xiao Zhao, suggested: “It is best to package the sauce and the dishes separately, so that customers can mix them themselves when eating. This will prevent the sauce from softening the dishes and affecting the taste.”

Master Li nodded in agreement: “These are all good ideas. Let’s go to the market to find suitable packaging materials and buy a few to try and see which one works best.”

……

In the following days, the office was brightly lit, and Chen Yu and the technical team members devoted themselves to the development of the online ordering platform. The sounds of typing on the keyboards intertwined, forming a busy rhythm. Chen Yu put his hands in his pockets, walked quickly between the workstations, and his eyes kept scanning the codes on the computer screen.

“Xiao Li, test this order payment module again to see if there are any loopholes.” Chen Yu walked behind Xiao Li, leaned over slightly, his eyes fell on the screen, and said with concern.

Without even looking up, Xiao Li responded with his fingers rapidly tapping on the keyboard: “Okay, Brother Chen, I just tested it once, and I’ll check it again to make sure everything is OK.”

Chen Yu turned around and walked towards Xiao Zhang, asking, “Xiao Zhang, how is the communication with the delivery company going?”

Xiao Zhang pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and sighed helplessly: “Brother Chen, they said that the recent business volume is too large and the staff is short, so the delivery time may not be guaranteed. But I emphasized our needs to them, and they agreed to think of a solution.”

Chen Yu frowned, thought for a moment and said, “You should communicate with them again. This is a new business for us, and timely delivery is very important. See if you can get them to give priority to our orders.”

On the other side, the kitchen was also busy. Chef Li and several key members of the kitchen were busy among a pile of packaging materials. The ground was full of various lunch boxes, some of which had already been packed with dishes, and some were still unopened.

“Put this kimchi fried rice in and open it again after an hour.” Master Li picked up a portion of kimchi fried rice that had just come out of the pot and handed it to his assistant Xiao Wang.

Xiao Wang carefully put the fried rice into an insulated lunch box, checked the time, and said, “Master, remember the time and open it on time in an hour.”

After a while, assistant Xiao Zhao came over with a lunch box that had soup leaking out, and said, “Master, the sealing of this lunch box doesn’t seem to be very good, the soup is leaking out.”

Chef Li took the lunch box, examined it carefully, shook his head and said, “This is definitely not okay. Customers will definitely not be satisfied with this kind of takeaway. Let’s look for something else.”

In this way, after countless tests and adjustments, the online ordering platform was finally developed and the final plan for the food packaging was determined. Wang Jianye was invited by Chen Yu and Master Li to the office and kitchen to experience the operation process of the online ordering platform and check the finalized food packaging. He looked at the new ordering platform, nodded, and smiled with satisfaction, saying, “Not bad, everyone has worked hard during this period. Hurry up and launch it online to see the market reaction first.”

However, various problems arose in the early stages of operation. Chen Yu sat at his desk, staring at the pitifully small amount of order data on the computer screen, frowning. The phone kept ringing, all from customers complaining about delivery delays. He rubbed his temples helplessly and called together the technical team and the people responsible for delivery docking.

“Everyone, look, why is the order volume so small? Delivery is always delayed. We have to find out the problem quickly.” Chen Yu looked solemn, with a hint of anxiety in his tone.

Xiao Li twirled the pen in his hand and analyzed: “Maybe the platform promotion is not done well. Customers don’t even know that we have online ordering. I see that many competitors have a lot of advertising on social media and food delivery platforms, and our exposure is too low.”

Xiao Liu, who is in charge of delivery, looked helpless and spread his hands and said, “The delivery company has too much business recently and is short of staff, so there are always delays. I have communicated with them many times, but the effect is not obvious.”

Chen Yu called Master Li over again and asked about the dishes. Master Li pulled a chair over and sat down, saying, “Some customers have reported that although the dishes were well kept warm when they were delivered, the taste was still a little different from that of dine-in customers. I think the cooking method and the processing before packaging may need to be adjusted.”

Faced with these problems, the team members sat together and had a heated discussion. Some suggested setting up new user discounts on the platform to attract customers to place orders; others suggested signing a stricter contract with the delivery company to constrain delivery time.

Chen Yu listened carefully to everyone’s speeches and concluded, “In terms of promotion, we should increase our efforts and advertise more on social media and food delivery platforms. We can set up new user discounts to attract customers to try. In terms of delivery, Xiao Liu, you can communicate with the delivery company and ask them to prioritize our orders. If that doesn’t work, we can consider changing to another delivery company. Chef Li, regarding the taste of the dishes, see if you can adjust the cooking method, such as adjusting the time it takes to serve, or doing some special processing before packaging.”

Everyone took action. Chen Yu sat in front of the computer and contacted several advertising companies to communicate in detail the production requirements of promotional posters and videos. “Hello, Mr. Zhang, I’m Chen Yu from Wang’s All-in-One Hotel. We want to make some posters and videos to promote the online ordering platform, highlighting the characteristics of our dishes and preferential activities. Please arrange for a designer to contact me as soon as possible.” (End of this chapter)