33: Chapter 33 Store Launch

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Store Goes Online

Shopee's onboarding review was faster than expected. Seven days after submitting the application, Chairman Wang Shunyi was flipping through last month's sales reports in his office when a new email suddenly popped up in his inbox. He clicked it open; the subject line read "Your Shopee store has been approved." He stared at those words for two seconds before calling Zhang Junhao and Park Min-ji over.

"It passed." He turned the computer screen around.

Zhang Junhao leaned in to take a look and slapped the desk. "Good, we've finally made a start."

Park Min-ji didn't say anything, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward. She pulled out her phone and began scrolling through her notes. "Have you guys decided on a store name? We need to finalize one of the options we discussed earlier."

Chairman Wang Shunyi thought for a moment and said, "Let's go with 'Sooni Food Korea.' It's the English for Sunyi, plus Korea—people will know exactly where it's from at a glance."

"Concise and easy to remember." Park Min-ji nodded and made a note on her phone. "I've basically finished the store's decoration. The main colors are red and white to match the product packaging. The homepage will feature product categories, promotional info, and the brand introduction. See if there's anything you want to change."

She projected the design draft onto the wall. The page wasn't flashy, but it was clean and professional. A red banner displayed the store name, followed by photos of several products, and further down was a brand introduction. Chairman Wang Shunyi stared at that introduction for a few seconds.

"The brand introduction needs to emphasize 'Original Import from Korea,' 'Food Safety Certification,' and 'Premium Ingredients.' Overseas consumers aren't familiar with our brand yet, so we have to make them trust us first."

"Got it, I'll change it." Park Min-ji made a mark on her phone.

Li Dongxu walked in from outside, holding a cup of coffee. Seeing the three of them gathered around the computer, he leaned in and asked, "Did the review pass?"

"It passed," Chairman Wang Shunyi said. "Dongxu, how's your research on the promotion tools going?"

"Keyword ads, coupons, flash sales—I've looked at them all." Li Dongxu placed his coffee on the desk and pulled up a chair to sit down. "My suggestion is to start with keyword ads. Don't set the budget too high, maybe ten dollars or so a day, and run it for a week to see the data."

"Then let's do that."

Preparation for the store launch took another two days. Park Min-ji retook the product photos; this time they weren't just simple white-background shots. Instead, the river snail rice noodles were served in a bowl with kimchi, green peppers, and an egg on the side, looking like a proper meal. Li Dongxu gathered screenshots of positive reviews from domestic Korean e-commerce platforms, translated them into English, and placed them under the product details page. Chairman Wang Shunyi looked it over and thought it was decent; while not exactly exquisite, it at least didn't look rushed.

The day they clicked the "Launch Store" button was a Thursday afternoon. Chairman Wang Shunyi originally wanted to pick an auspicious time, but then he figured there wasn't much to choose from, so he just went with 3:00 PM—neither too early nor too late, just for the sake of a smooth start. The page refreshed, and the store status changed from "Preparing" to "Open for Business." The four of them stood around the computer staring at the screen, silent for two or three seconds.

"It's done," Chairman Wang Shunyi said.

"It's done," Park Min-ji repeated.

Then, no one moved. Li Dongxu was the first to react, smiling. "Boss, shouldn't we celebrate?"

"We'll talk after we get the first order." Chairman Wang Shunyi closed the page and took a sip of his now stone-cold coffee.

The first day, there were no orders.

The second day, still none.

On the morning of the third day, Chairman Wang Shunyi was at the factory inspecting the production line when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and saw it was the notification sound from the Shopee seller backend—'You have a new order.' He stood by the machines, still holding a pack of fire chicken noodles that had just come off the line, staring at the screen for several seconds.

Malaysia, Penang. Two packs of river snail rice noodles, total price eleven dollars.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket and continued inspecting the line, but the smile never left his face. Nearby, Park Jung-hoon asked him what was wrong. He said it was nothing and asked, "Jung-hoon, is the machine calibration finished on your end?"

Back at the office, he shared the news with everyone. Park Min-ji was discussing next week's marketing activities with Choi Min-ju; when she heard, she looked up, her eyes bright. "Malaysia?"

"Yes, Penang," Chairman Wang Shunyi said, handing her the phone to see. "Two packs of river snail rice noodles."

"The very first one is an overseas order," Li Dongxu said with a smile. "That's a good omen."

Chairman Wang Shunyi didn't respond directly, turning instead to Li Dongxu. "Dongxu, oversee the shipping of this order personally. Pack it carefully, use a layer of bubble wrap on the outside, and put a thank-you card inside. Write it in English—'Thank you for your order. Enjoy the taste of Korea.' Keep it simple."

"Alright, Boss."

After that first order, the store began to see some activity. One order on the fourth day, two on the fifth, three on the sixth. The orders weren't many, but they were increasing every day. By the end of the first week, the backend showed a total of fifteen orders with sales just over eighty dollars.

Chairman Wang Shunyi pulled up the data and looked it over several times.

Looking at the country distribution, Malaysia had the most, accounting for nearly half, followed by Singapore and Thailand. Product-wise, twelve packs of river snail rice noodles were sold, while only five packs of fire chicken noodles were sold. Chinese consumers in Southeast Asia indeed had a higher acceptance of river snail rice noodles than expected.

"Dongxu, you were right. The river snail rice noodles are the main force." Chairman Wang Shunyi pushed the data sheet in front of Li Dongxu.

Li Dongxu took a look and said, "There are many ethnic Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore, and they already eat rice noodle-based foods. The sour and spicy flavor profile of river snail rice noodles also fits their dietary habits. Next, we can focus our promotions on these two countries."

"One more thing." Chairman Wang Shunyi pointed at the order details. "Most orders are small ones for one or two packs. If we can get them to buy more at once, the logistics costs can be spread thinner."

"Set up a 'spend and save' discount," Li Dongxu said. "For example, two dollars off for orders over twenty dollars. Twenty dollars is roughly the price of four packs of river snail rice noodles; consumers will feel it's a better deal to buy a few more."

"Go set it up."

In the second week, the discount went live. Order volume began to climb, with five orders coming in on Tuesday alone. Over the weekend, Chairman Wang Shunyi pulled the data again—thirty-two orders, sales of one hundred and eighty dollars. Although it wasn't even a fraction of their domestic sales, the growth rate was accelerating.

Consumer reviews also started appearing.

The first positive review came from Singapore: "The taste is authentic! Very spicy and delicious. Will order again." Park Min-ji took a screenshot of this review and posted it in the company group chat. Choi Min-ju replied with a row of clapping emojis.

The second one was from Malaysia: "Fast delivery, good packaging. The noodles are great." Kim Tae-min replied below it, "This customer has good taste."

But there were also negative reviews. One Thai buyer wrote: "Shipping took longer than expected." Li Dongxu checked the logistics records; it had taken eleven days from Korea to Thailand, nearly double the promised five to seven business days. Chairman Wang Shunyi told him to contact the logistics company to investigate. They said it was a customs clearance delay and suggested switching to a different route next time.

Another Indonesian buyer wrote: "The price is a bit high compared to local brands." Park Min-ji looked at this and thought for a moment, saying, "The price is indeed higher than local brands, but our quality is different. We need to educate the consumers gradually."

Chairman Wang Shunyi didn't say anything, but he noted these two negative reviews in his notebook.

That evening, he and Park Min-ji had dinner at a restaurant near the company. When the army stew was served, she ladled a bowl of soup for him first.

"The overseas market is going more smoothly than I thought." Chairman Wang Shunyi took a sip of the soup and hissed from the heat.

"It's only been two weeks, it's still early." Park Min-ji picked up a piece of rice cake but didn't rush to eat it, letting it cool on her plate. "But the direction is right."

"Next, I want to run things steadily on Shopee for two or three months to smooth out the logistics and customer service processes. Then we'll open on Lazada, and after that, look toward China."

"The overseas version of Taobao?"

"Yeah. But the threshold for the Chinese market is high; we'll need to find import agents and handle registrations. It's not something that can be settled in a month or two."

She ate the rice cake, chewing slowly without speaking.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking that you're really bold." She put down her chopsticks and looked at him. "Last year you were still running a night market stall, and this year you're shipping products overseas. If it were me, I might not have dared to even think about it."

"It's not about daring to think; it's about being pushed to that point." He lowered his head to drink his soup. "If I don't do it, Park Chan-hyeok will sooner or later. Instead of waiting for him to make the first move, it's better to start running myself."

She nodded and didn't say anything else.

When they came out after eating, the night wind in Seoul was still a bit chilly, but it no longer had that bone-piercing bite of winter. The cherry blossom trees along the street hadn't bloomed yet, but small buds were swelling on the branches. The two of them walked side by side on the sidewalk, their shadows stretched long by the streetlights, overlapping.

"Minji."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"There you go again." She smiled and tucked her hands into her coat pockets. "You've said it several times today."

"It's not just a polite 'thank you'." He stopped and turned to look at her. "I mean it seriously."

The light from the streetlamp fell on her face, her eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes. She looked at him without speaking, and only after a few seconds did she give a gentle nod.

"Let's go, I'll walk you back."

"I'll walk you."

"You've had the soup, I'll walk you."

...Alright."

The two of them continued walking, neither speaking again. In the distance, a subway train rumbled past, the sound muffled like summer thunder rolling in from far away. He glanced down at his phone; the Shopee backend popped up another new order notification—still Malaysia, still river snail rice noodles.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket and quickened his pace.