Guo Shaoming, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sa Sa International Holdings, Director of New Asia College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong Cosmetics Industry Association. The cheap cosmetics supermarket he founded, Sa Sa, has won two awards: "The Most Popular Brand in China" and "The Most Popular Hong Kong Brand in Mainland China", and he has won the first "Hong Kong Business Wizards" award. Guo Shaoming is now a businessman, in fact, he was a government official in his early years.
From a public official to a businessman, Guo Shaoming’s legendary life experience began in the early 1970s in a small cosmetics shop named Sasa in the Presidential Mall in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. In 1978, Guo Shaoming and his wife who worked as a beauty consultant tried to operate cosmetics in a self-service supermarket in the Presidential Mall. They were the first to set up cosmetics open shelves in Hong Kong, selling a variety of cosmetics and offering discounts to attract customers.
Sasa's cosmetics sales model in the form of a cheap supermarket has been recognized by the market, and the Sasa in the Presidential Mall in Causeway Bay has become a popular cosmetics shop. In 1997, Sa Sa was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Subsequently, Sa Sa expanded its stores to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Macau and the Mainland. From a small-scale storefront to a multinational and trans-regional large-scale cosmetics chain store, Sasa has become a classic grassroots successful marketing case.
Guo Shaoming's first cosmetics budget supermarket business model is the primary factor for Sa Sa's success. The business strategy of moderate prices and small profits but quick turnover has brought great returns to Sa Sa. Sasa, which relies on the flow of goods to make a profit on the price difference, has more and more branches and lower and lower purchase prices, which are 20% to 50% lower than the cosmetic counters of department stores. This mode of opening stores not only saved Sa Sa's channel costs, but also won a reputation for Sa Sa. Sa Sa has become a must-go shopping place for mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong. In 2007, the per capita consumption of mainland tourists in Sa Sa was 600 yuan.
Salsa in Hong Kong makes a transaction every 2 seconds, selling a lipstick every 10 seconds and a bottle of perfume every 12 seconds. Relying on the power of the chain, Sa Sa is now one of the largest cosmetic supermarket chains in the Mainland. The brand and chain marketing model has laid a good foundation for Sa Sa's diversification path. Now Sa Sa Beauty+ Beauty Center has provided beauty and body services to hundreds of thousands of VIP members. Sa Sa has also set up beauty treatment rooms in cosmetics retail stores to provide customers with one-stop beauty services.
has only 20,000 Hong Kong dollars, and its first day of business was only 32 Hong Kong dollars. In just 30 years, in Guo Shaoming's hands, Sa Sa's annual turnover has reached nearly 3 billion Hong Kong dollars, and Sa Sa has quickly grown into Asia's largest cosmetics chain. Guo Shaoming said that by 2011, there will be 100 Sasa stores in the Mainland, Guo Shaoming's cosmetic kingdom will expand, and his leading position in cosmetics retail and beauty services in Asia will be more stable.
This article is from My Best Business, published under the authorization of the entrepreneurial family, and slightly edited and modified. The copyright belongs to the author. The content only represents the author's independent point of view. [Follow the Entrepreneur Official Account (ID: chuangyejia), and understand the most profitable 7000 businesses in China]
