"I'll give you a story in exchange for a cup of hand." the latest marketing method for the popularity of the store.

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Cafes, taverns, bookstores. These small literary and art shops are nothing new in first-tier cities, but how to open an identifiable store takes them a lot of thought. For operators, this kind of small literary and art shop should not only carefully calculate and control the cost, but also add appropriate "feelings" in order to create the uniqueness of the small shop. Getting customers to tell their interesting life stories is becoming a common choice for more and more operators. Through storytelling, customers can get a cup of coffee, a pot of wine or even a sofa seat for free. "I have a story. Do you have any wine?" This familiar "Internet celebrity" sentence has now become a reality.

"changing stories" has become a popular marketing tool for small shops.

"I'll give you a story in exchange for a glass of wine." and "I have wine. Do you have a story?" "you share the story, I share the sofa". In the course of a recent visit, the reporter found that "storytelling" has become a common choice for many small literary and art shops, and in this way, they have also created a space atmosphere with "stories." it can provide a similar place for anxious and bewildered urbanites to confide in and have spiritual sustenance.

"Cup of Joe" is a self-branded coffee shop located in the Pearl River New Town of Guangzhou, which insists on hand-made coffee. "I use a cup of hand, in exchange for a cup of coffee" has also become the ethos of the store. In the first half of this year, shop owner Yuan Yuan has listened to dozens of stories, including girls working in a flower shop, senior girls from Taipei, graduates facing job hunting, and so on, and shared these stories to Douban station, making Cup of Joe a warm coffee shop.

The Happy Post Tavern, a tavern with good food, wine and classical song and dance performances, has opened two stores in Guangzhou with an average daily passenger flow of more than 200, and the business is very popular with customers. The reporter learned that one of the reasons why this tavern is so popular is that "the space atmosphere is very jianghu, where time seems to slow down and allow the shopkeeper to listen to your story." The customer Summer said. Here, guests can get a free pot of wine as long as they perform on the stage or share a story with the shopkeeper. There are more than 20 categories, such as flower carvings, peach blossom brew, daughter red and so on. The stories the shopkeeper Lunzi heard were sad and happy, or happy in the workplace, or emotionally frustrated. The tavern has also become a place for customers to vent their emotions and relieve stress.

Similarly, storytelling is also a feature of 1200bookshop, a 24-hour bookstore in Guangzhou. The bookstore, which opened in July 2014, now has four branches. In order to ensure the quality of the story, shopkeeper Liu Eryi also recruited writers to collect a series of stories related to 1200bookshop. Sofa guests, street children who come to the store, and storytellers who come here late at night may all be included in his stories.

The reporter learned that some stores will take this way of "storytelling" in exchange for goods or services as a major feature of their long-term business, but others just dabble in it and present it with one or two storytelling theme activities. such as trading a story for a book, a movie, a meal, and so on. "storytelling can add to the literary and artistic features of a small shop, but if you want to turn it into a store's main feature, there must be other support outside of literature and art." Miss Wang, who is now the operator of two coffee shops, told reporters.

There are other supports in addition to "feelings".

"storytelling" is only one of the features to enrich the connotation of the shop. The reporter learned that whether it is a cafe, a pub or a bookstore, in addition to the main business, there will be catering and other assistance. In addition to wine, Lunzi's pub is supplemented by Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, which invested more than 1 million yuan in the early stage and returned to the capital in less than half a year. Yuanyuan Cafe invested more than 300,000 yuan in the early stage, and about half of the money was spent on equipment. Because it is located in the Pearl River New City, the monthly store rent is tens of thousands of yuan, coupled with labor and other expenses, the monthly turnover must reach at least 20,000 yuan in order to maintain operation. Therefore, in addition to coffee, the shop relies on desserts to help. "half of the revenue comes from coffee and half from desserts."

1200bookshop has grown from its first store in 2014 to four branches today. Take the sports east road store as an example, it covers an area of about 150 square meters, and the shopkeeper invested more than 1 million in the early stage. It is understood that the investment was raised by 30 shareholders, of which 200000 was spent on decoration, 150000 yuan on equipment, 200000 yuan on books, plus rent, and there was little left. However, the shopkeeper is not worried about losing money, and has set up a "late-night canteen" that echoes the "late-night story" to balance his income and expenditure through the assistance of food and beverage. During the visit, the reporter found that the price of coffee and catering here is about 3060 yuan, and the per capita consumption is also about 50 yuan. It is understood that 80% of the monthly income of the bookstore comes from catering. "if the monthly turnover can reach about 120000 yuan, it will basically achieve a break-even."

"at a time when all kinds of stylish literature and art shops emerge one after another, it is difficult to rely on the original main business to survive. So more and more shops begin to cross the border and join hands with various types of organizations and activities. " Wu you, who has a lot of research on the operation of small stores, believes that activities such as "storytelling" can bring a regular and stable source of customers to this kind of small literary and art shops, and that they will also become a good attraction for external publicity. At the same time, certain features of the store will also make the store more recognizable.

Wang Xiaohua, an insider in the industry, also believes that creativity is the magic weapon of small shop management, and storytelling is one of them. It is understood that at present, many cafes and bookstores have begun to cooperate regularly with outdoors and book clubs, such as film exhibitions, readings, and so on, as well as with some excellent craftsmen or other individuals. such as holding small photography exhibitions, sharing meetings, manual classes, and so on. "the more prominent the features are, the better the shops that can play will be able to achieve better development." Wu you said.

"Story" is based on personal experience.

It is understood that these small literary shops do not have too many restrictions on the theme and content of stories told by customers, but they are mainly based on personal experience, experience, and so on. "the purpose of not setting a theme is to allow more people to participate, and to relieve pressure from storytelling." Yuanyuan said. When opening a shop, she will meet all kinds of people, and Yuanyuan hears a variety of stories, and what impresses her most is a guy named "Hidden Light". At the age of 15, due to poor results in the high school entrance examination, Niguang stopped studying and started a life of walking around, spending three years basically traveling all over China. While walking, Niiguang supported himself by writing and contributing, doing odd jobs, and worked as a celestial burial master in Xizang for a whole year. When Xizang came back, he became a makeup artist in the funeral industry in Guangzhou. "everyone will feel unlucky, and classmates, friends and even relatives are becoming more and more estranged." While telling his story, Niiguang also let Yuanyuan know an unfamiliar industry and understand the different appearance of life.

Yuanyuan has also tried to organize activities with other brands to get a group of people to sit together and tell stories, but the results are not good. "maybe it's because of strangers, because of formality, time constraints, and so on, many people's sharing is just a brief talk about recent troubles." Therefore, Yuanyuan still asks customers to tell stories in the former way. Although the theme of the story is not limited, in order to ensure the quality of the story, "make an appointment in advance, on an one-to-one basis, and the storytelling time is usually 2-3 hours." Introverted guests who are shy and willing to talk should also be guided, but Yuanyuan generally does not give life advice to personal stories for fear of misleading each other.

There are even more storytellers in 1200bookshop, such as sofa guests and volunteers, and the shopkeeper has opened up special "late-night stories". Since the beginning of 2015, more than 1000 people have come to the bookstore to "tell stories". These stories have also been shared to the official account and Douban station of the bookstore by video and text. The story operates in the form of "one person, one thing". It is understood that they randomly chat with customers in the store every day, and then extract a paragraph or a short story from it. "I find it very attractive to get in touch with people from all walks of life and at all levels." Liu Erying shared.

In addition, they will put on "late Night Story" in the bookstore at 24:00 every Saturday night, where a guest will share his story, usually ending at 2 am. These guests come from different fields, such as Super Girl Champion, documentary director, independent musician, workplace talent, hearing impaired person. This part of the guests are invited from the bookstore, which will bring more inspiration. These two forms of "storytelling" have also attracted a large audience and brought a lot of popularity to the bookstore. At the same time, it also makes the bookstore have its own recognition and become a space with stories.