远山见未来DISTANT HILLS
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DISTANT HILLS · RETAIL, TECHNOLOGY & INVESTING

Start with a store.
See how technology
changes business.

Bringing a background in commercial real estate
and store location to retail technology and AI research.

I write as Distant Hills. I study what makes a business work, how technology delivers value, and how far a model can travel.

Read an analysis ↗Explore the operating model →
OPERATIONS → BUSINESS LOGIC → INVESTMENT QUESTIONSDistant Hills
THE WAY I THINK

Understand the operation.
Then value the technology.

Each investigation returns to four questions: who pays, which economics improve, can it scale, and who captures value?

Methods & the Location Logic Migration Thesis →
  1. 01 / USE CASE

    Who has a problem, and why pay to solve it now?

  2. 02 / ECONOMICS

    Does it change revenue, cost, or asset productivity?

  3. 03 / REPLICATION

    Which conditions break between one store and a hundred?

  4. 04 / VALUE CAPTURE

    Who keeps the gains: customer, platform, or supplier?

THE RESEARCH SHELF

Four lenses. One operating perspective.

ESSAYS / FIELD NOTES / INVESTMENT MEMOS

01Instant retail

One store. Two catchments.

How do walk-in traffic and delivery orders change a store’s value? Follow order density, picking efficiency, and fulfillment cost.

Research focus · Essay forthcoming
02Hard discount

The operating choices behind low prices.

Look at assortment, purchasing scale, and inventory turns to test whether low prices are sustainable and scale creates an advantage.

Research focus · Essay forthcoming
03AI & robotics

What can the technology do—and who will pay?

Start with tasks, staffing, and maintenance to understand how technology fits into a working process and who keeps the economic value.

Read the robotics analysis ↗
04Expansion & adaptation

Transfer the experience. Rebuild the conditions.

Separate transferable capabilities from demand, channels, and organizational conditions that need local testing. Vietnam is one lens within this work.

Read the Vietnam location exercise ↗
A growing research archive. Two complete worked examples are available; further essays follow the research.Also read: the Vietnam location exercise ↗
THE STORE ECONOMICS LAB

When technology enters a store,
do the numbers work?

CONSTRUCTED SCENARIO · NOT MARKET DATA

Put store operations and automation in the same ledger. Adjust how much potential labor saving becomes an actual cost reduction.

01 / Set the assumptions

All amounts are in CNY. Every input is illustrative and editable.

Realization: the share of potential savings that actually reduces labor cash outflow. Hours saved do not necessarily mean fewer paid staff.

Equipment cost & operating assumptions

Fulfillment includes variable costs not already counted in payroll or rent. Potential labor savings cannot exceed current payroll.

02 / Read the economics

MONTHLY VIEW
Current store contribution¥4,600CNY / month
With automation¥6,600CNY / month
Monthly revenue
¥126,000
Realized labor savings
¥3,000
Additional running cost
¥1,000
Net monthly savings
¥2,000
Simple equipment payback

30months

Upfront cost¥60,000

At unchanged trading volume and sustained monthly savings, the upfront cost is recovered in about 30 months.

The calculation, and what it leaves out

Calculation

  1. Monthly revenue = orders per day × order value × trading days
  2. Current contribution = revenue × gross margin − rent − payroll − orders per day × trading days × fulfillment cost per order
  3. Net savings = potential labor savings × realization rate − additional running cost
  4. Contribution with automation = current contribution + net savings
  5. Simple payback = upfront cost ÷ monthly net savings; savings of zero or less cannot repay the investment

Scope & limits

“Contribution” is a simplified balance after the listed operating costs, not net profit. Tax, financing, head-office costs, depreciation, residual value and the time value of money are excluded. Adjust the merchandise margin if shrink needs to be reflected.

Automation is assumed to affect realized payroll savings and running costs only. Orders, basket, margin and fulfillment cost remain unchanged. Downtime, training, capacity limits and growth benefits are not modeled; payback does not establish equipment life or operational feasibility.

THE PERSON BEHIND THE RESEARCH

I write as Distant Hills.

I start with how a store works,
then ask what makes the business worth studying.

I’m a Chinese investment professional with a background in commercial real estate and store site selection. My work is moving from property toward PE/VC research in retail technology and AI. Demand, rent, labor productivity, and fulfillment are where I begin understanding a new business model.

At Distant Hills, I explore instant retail, hard discount, embodied AI, and cross-border expansion. I bring property and retail operating logic to technology investment questions that readers can examine and challenge.

Separate facts, assumptions, and judgmentState what would change a viewKeep a revision record
READ TO UNDERSTAND. GO DEEPER TO DECIDE.

Research for the next decision.

For retail operators, industry practitioners, and investment researchers. Public work explains the reasoning; planned paid research adds continued tracking and inspectable working notes.

01 / OPEN RESEARCH

Read first. Decide later.

Complete public essays, research methods, and the operating model. See whether this way of thinking helps your work.

Read the free sample →
02 / SIX-WEEK RESEARCH PILOT · PROPOSED

Follow one question closely.

¥199/ pilot (proposed)

Proposed first topic: how store automation converts into economic value.

  • 2 in-depth research memos
  • 2 updates on the variables that matter
  • 1 group discussion

Not open for enrollment or payment. Delivery details and dates will be confirmed before launch.

A subsequent reading membership is proposed at ¥68/month. Benefits and cadence will be defined after the pilot. No billing or auto-renewal is active.

DISTANT HILLS