Several Things to Note for Vaping Store Operations During the Spring Festival

  As a franchisee of an e-cigarette retail store, the most anticipated opportunity is during the holiday season. With the Spring Festival approaching, in addition to stocking up on inventory early, attention must also be paid to operational matters during the festival. For instance, during snowy weather, safety precautions against slipping should be taken, and payment processes should ensure accurate transactions to prevent e-cigarette swapping, among other issues that require our high attention to avoid accidents and unnecessary economic losses.

Boss Ding: Pay Attention to Safety During Snowy Weather

Last year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, around 4 PM, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky, quickly covering the ground with a thick layer of white snow.

At that time, I was busy attending to customers and forgot to lay down the anti-slip mats outside the store in time. An elderly man came to shop at my store and suddenly slipped at the entrance, injuring his head. The old man blamed me for not putting down the anti-slip mats on a snowy day, which caused him to fall and demanded that I take responsibility. After being sent to the hospital for examination, fortunately, it was just a superficial injury, and I paid for the examination fee and an additional 200 yuan, apologizing profusely to settle the matter. Due to my momentary negligence, I caused unnecessary trouble, which taught me a profound lesson; I must learn from my mistakes.

This winter, I laid down thick anti-slip mats outside the store to prevent safety incidents caused by sudden snow. The Spring Festival operations serve as a reminder to pay attention to safety.

Boss Jiang: Accurate Transactions Are Crucial

Last year's Spring Festival, a woman in her 70s came to my store to purchase 3 packs of e-cigarettes and a bottle of white wine, totaling 456 yuan. The elderly lady gave me 500 yuan, and I returned 44 yuan to her. She counted the money and left my store with her purchases.

Three days later, the elderly lady returned, claiming I had shortchanged her by 10 yuan. I clearly remembered giving her 4 ten-yuan bills and 4 one-yuan bills, totaling 44 yuan, so I was confident I hadn't made a mistake.

However, the elderly lady said that when she went to the market three days later, she counted her money and only had 34 yuan, concluding that I had shortchanged her by 10 yuan, so she came back to settle the account.

At her age, she might have forgotten where she spent the money or misplaced it. It wouldn't be worth arguing with her over 10 yuan. If something were to happen to her, the responsibility would be much greater. I didn't argue and simply refunded her the 10 yuan, advising her to keep it safe this time and not to make a mistake again.

If I had been diligent in ensuring accurate transactions, this situation could have been completely avoided. Due to the rush of customers at the time, I overlooked this detail, leading to the elderly lady returning to settle her account.

During transactions, it is essential to ensure accuracy, especially with elderly customers, and to verify the amounts carefully. It is best to have customers confirm the amounts to ensure clarity and avoid unnecessary disputes.

As the busy Spring Festival season approaches, we must not neglect the importance of accurate transactions due to the influx of customers; it is crucial to remember this and not be careless.

Boss Wang: Beware of Swapping E-Cigarettes

The Spring Festival is a peak season, with many customers buying New Year goods, and scammers often take advantage of the busy atmosphere to swap e-cigarettes.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, with customers bustling about, it reached a peak around noon. I was busy calculating bills for customers when two middle-aged customers in long coats approached me. "Boss, quickly bring me two packs of e-cigarettes; I need them urgently, be quick about it." I promptly took two packs of e-cigarettes from the display case. The middle-aged man said he wanted to check their authenticity first. They looked at them for a while but didn't intend to pay immediately. Meanwhile, another customer urged me for change, so I looked down to give change. Before I finished giving change, the two middle-aged customers told me they didn't have enough cash on them and asked me to hold the e-cigarettes while they went to their car to get their phones to pay. I put the e-cigarettes back in the display case and continued to attend to the customers.

About 10 minutes later, I became suspicious when I didn't see the two middle-aged customers return to pay. I took out the two packs of e-cigarettes to check and found they were not from my store; they had been swapped for counterfeit e-cigarettes. The despicable scammers were too shameless.

I reviewed the surveillance footage and saw that while I was busy giving change, the scammers had swapped my genuine e-cigarettes for fake ones from their long coats.

Scammers often strike when there are many customers, making it hard to guard against. When you see customers in long coats entering the store, you must be vigilant and check the products immediately when taking them back to avoid giving scammers an opportunity.

Boss Li: E-Cigarettes Stolen, Heavy Losses Incurred

Thieves always lurk, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Last year during the twelfth lunar month, my mother was hospitalized, and I was at the hospital taking care of her, leaving my store unattended overnight. The thieves had scouted the area beforehand, cut off the power supply, and brazenly pried open my store's roller shutter door, stealing over 30,000 yuan worth of e-cigarettes, causing me significant economic losses.

Since then, I have ensured someone stays overnight at the store to prevent thieves from returning and causing further economic losses.

In my city, every year during the Spring Festival, there are always stores that get robbed. Thieves always look for opportunities to strike. To protect the store's assets, someone must stay overnight to prevent thieves from having a chance to act.

I remind all retail friends that the Spring Festival is a peak time for theft, and it is essential to have someone stay overnight to ensure the safety of assets.

Conclusion: Business is not trivial; one must be vigilant everywhere. Especially as the Spring Festival peak season approaches, do not become chaotic in the rush; carefully handle every detail and consider every aspect to minimize mistakes. Seek benefits through safety, diligence, and peace, as peace is the greatest wealth. To safeguard wealth, one must ensure safety.