Chapter 268: Finally, a Fish Bit the Hook on Its Own! The Lower-Tier Market, First Steps

The next morning, Jingdong, Pinbei, and Taobao released their 618 battle reports, followed closely by Suning, Gome, and Yixun. com; their dazzling scorecards made online shopping a popular trend in 2012.

The explosive growth of smartphones, electronic payments, and the express delivery industry provided rich nourishment for the development and expansion of the e-commerce market.

Although 618 was not Taobao's core promotional node, Ma Liyun still invested massive marketing funds and traffic resources to counterbalance Jingdong, resulting in a GMV figure of 6.73 billion yuan that far outpaced the rest.

Pinbei ranked second, with publicly announced data of 3.04 billion yuan.

Jingdong had actually fallen to third place in the industry; its sales figure of 2.07 billion yuan looked glamorous, yet it lagged behind Pinbei by nearly a billion.

One was a B2C e-commerce veteran established for thirteen years, while the other was a social e-commerce newcomer established for only one year.

Once the news broke, it left many e-commerce practitioners stunned.

They knew Pinbei's development speed was rapid, but they never expected that Pinbei had surpassed Jingdong by a wide margin in just one year.

"Can't beat Pinbei? Liu Qiangdong lost because he ran his own logistics; Jingdong is carrying the heavy burden of eighty thousand couriers!"

"Jingdong is really no longer number two!"

"The strongest young entrepreneur of the post-90s generation: Chen Yansen defeated Jingdong with just three moves!"

Liu Qiangdong stared at the news headlines on the screen, growing angrier by the moment, then summoned his assistant Zhang Pang, ordering her to notify the legal department to send a lawyer's letter to this unscrupulous media outlet.

Damn it, only your number two is gone!

"Yes, boss." Seeing the boss's furious expression, Zhang Pang immediately responded.

"Can Pinbei really have 3 billion yuan in daily sales? They probably included the performance from June 17th and added a bit of water."

Liu Qiangdong guessed accurately, cursing Chen Yansen as a slippery fellow.

After some thought, he quickly made up his mind: for the Double Eleven big promotion, he must advance the sales start time by two days, and at that time, use the cumulative sales over three days as the battle report result.

This wasn't entirely about playing tricks; he had discovered that for a major promotion, planning and preparation alone took a month, and a single day of sales time was clearly insufficient to fully release consumers' purchasing demand.

Thinking of this, Liu Qiangdong clicked on Pinbei's PC link, intending to study the competitor's product scheme.

"618 Limited-Time Return! We're serious about low prices!"

After seeing Pinbei's promotional copy, Liu Qiangdong couldn't help but freeze for a moment; what is this thing?

Didn't 618 already end?

Liu Qiangdong let out a helpless smile, deeply admiring Chen Yansen's methods in his heart; even a single major promotion timing node could be played out in different ways by the other party.

Early purchase for the big promotion, the main stage of the e-commerce festival, and the 618 return; this rhythm linked one ring to another, hard-controlling buyers for three days straight.

Good things must be learned!

Liu Qiangdong casually copied the link and threw it into the group chat of the group's senior executives, adding a note: "Jingdong's Double Eleven big promotion rhythm can no longer follow last year's plan by copying the gourd; it must have novelty and creativity, focusing on conversion and retaining users."

Meanwhile.

At Mama Ali's headquarters in Hangcheng, in the Peach Blossom Island office.

Ma Liyun gently pushed an industry report issued by a third-party data survey agency in front of Zhang Yong and said calmly, "It seems Pinbei is a significant hidden threat to Mama Ali; Chen Yansen is far more difficult to deal with than Liu Qiangdong."

"3 billion? No water added?" Zhang Yong's gaze swept over the document, and he asked with a furrowed brow.

"Regardless of whether there is water or not, Pinbei's actual sales level for 618 will most likely not be lower than 2.5 billion." Ma Liyun's lips drooped, his brow furrowed slightly; Pinbei's big promotion battle report had greatly heightened his vigilance.

Although Mama Ali had participated in investment projects for Kuaide Taxi and Kuai Pao, making them partners with Senlian Capital, Pinbei was also a competitor to Taobao.

His view of Chen Yansen was quite complex; he considered the other party a young man with outstanding ability and astonishing business talent, but unfortunately, he had failed to bring him under his wing at the beginning of his startup.

"From the perspective of brands and products, the overlap rate between Taobao and Pinbei is only 13%; additionally, Taobao's average order value is far greater than Pinbei's, so Taobao's main competitor is still Jingdong."

"I suggest strengthening management of top-tier KA brands, offering store annual fee rebates and commission discount policies, restricting Pinbei's merchant resources to below grade B, and widening the gap with Pinbei in brand tone and price segments."

Zhang Yong pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke.

In fact, this was a strategic consensus he and Ma Liyun had reached long ago: using 80% of small and medium sellers to support 20% of large sellers, thereby completing Taobao's smooth transformation.

"You are right; Liu Qiangdong, this 'North Jiangsu Tiger,' keeps shouting about surpassing Taobao in three years. Once he gets going, the threat to Mama Ali will be even greater."

Ma Liyun smiled faintly and said softly.

Little did he know, barking dogs don't bite, and biting dogs don't bark.

But for the time being, he did not want to turn over a new leaf with Chen Yansen; Cainiao Network needed the support of Yunsu Express to move forward.

After all, Yunsu, which had successively swallowed Yunda and Zhongtong Express, already accounted for half of the market share in the private express delivery industry in terms of daily business volume; without Yunsu, Cainiao would only become a product for self-amusement.

At this moment, his view on express logistics had long since changed.

Ma Liyun was more strategic than Liu Qiangdong; in the early layout phase, he did not intend to adopt a heavy-asset warehouse model, but wanted to use the business resources of Taobao and Tmall Shangcheng to "borrow chickens to lay eggs" with logistics enterprises like Yunsu, SF Express, Shentong, and Yuantong.

Once Mama Ali listed in the future and assets were abundant, he would further strengthen control over the express delivery industry.

It looked fine, but how could Chen Yansen possibly let him have his way?

On the other side.

Chenshen, Bagongshan Township.

In the peach orchards stretching over the hills, branches were laden with plump, juicy honey peaches; amidst the green trees, over a hundred fruit farmers were bent over picking peaches.

Although it was the midsummer of June, everyone wore smiles on their faces and worked with extra vigor.

These 4,000 mu of peach forests nearby used to sell for only 5,000 yuan per mu in previous years, but this year was completely different.

Under Tang Lixin's organization, the fruit farmers of Bagongshan Township sold nectarines and yellow apricots on Pinbei Shangcheng in May, and honey peaches in June.

Next, in July they would sell yellow peaches and grapes, and in the golden autumn of October, there would be crisp pears and crunchy dates.

The work hadn't increased, but the income had multiplied several times over.

Take honey peaches as an example: previously, the yield was 3,000 jin per mu; selling to fruit peddlers at 1.5 to 1.8 yuan per jin, after deducting costs for tools, fertilizer, and pesticides, each mu could only earn 3,000 yuan.

Since the fruit association of Bagongshan opened an online store on Pinbei, a 6-piece pack of honey peaches could sell for 39.9 yuan, and a 12-piece pack could sell for 69.9 yuan.

Although packing and sealing boxes were required, adding costs for corrugated boxes, anti-collision foam, netting, foam boxes, dry ice bags, and Yunsu cold chain logistics, the net profit per jin was as high as 6 to 8 yuan, allowing each mu to earn over 20,000 yuan.

Two Yunsu couriers stood by the roadside; with the assistance of several fruit farmers, they loaded boxes of fresh honey peaches into the truck cabin and stacked them neatly.

"Sister Juan, your ten-plus mu of peach orchard will probably earn several hundred thousand." One Yunsu courier waved his hand, signaling to take a short break.

In this hot summer, after working for just one hour, their work clothes were already soaked with sweat.

"Heh, not that much, at most a few tens of thousands of yuan." Fruit farmer Zhou Lijuan grinned and instinctively fibbed.

Back in her hometown, relatives and friends who looked down on the poor and feared the rich were a dime a dozen; Zhou Lijuan was terrified that the news of her making two or three hundred thousand yuan would get out—what if people came to borrow money? Lend or not lend?

The courier smiled. He knew perfectly well what price this batch of peaches sold for on Pinbi; deduct cold-chain transport costs, packing, and labor, and earning five yuan per jin was like child's play.

Still, if she didn't want to say, there was no need for him to expose it.

He took the mineral water Zhou Lijuan handed him, gave one bottle to his colleague, then tilted his head back and drank in big gulps.

The fruit farmers of Bagong Mountain earned more, and the two of them earned even more in commission.

Just then, someone not far off shouted: "Mr. Tang is here!"

Zhou Lijuan and the others hurried to the road junction and craned their necks to look.

They saw a middle-aged man, his beard and hair half-gray, step out of a black Audi—forty-something, close to fifty in appearance—accompanied by a young man in his early thirties whose bearing and manner suggested a secretary.

It was none other than Tang Lixin and his secretary Zhao Siyuan.

Behind the two of them, more than a dozen staff members from Bagong Mountain Township accompanied them.

"Mr. Tang, this side is Bagong Mountain's peach planting base. Annual output is 12 million jin, and the farm's output value is around 18 million." A bespectacled man in a short-sleeved shirt introduced, wiping sweat as he spoke.

"18 million? I reckon it should be 100 million!"

Tang Lixin straightened his face and corrected him at once, yet the smile on his face was utterly undisguised.

Four months ago, he had shamelessly latched onto Chen Yansen's coattails.

Although Senlian Capital had not invested in building a factory locally in Chunshen to directly boost employment, the other party had given him an even greater opportunity.

Pinbi's farmer-assistance program had been going full throttle in Chunshen over the past three months.

Online agricultural shops with monthly sales exceeding a million yuan had emerged one after another—more than fifty of them.

The Shaobei Grain and Oil Processing Plant outside the city, relying on rice, rapeseed oil, and other products, had sold over 16 million yuan during the 618 shopping festival, leaping to become a star enterprise of Chunshen County.

In addition, there was a breeding farm in Sanjue Town that sold tens of thousands of ducks and geese online every day. Its own breeding speed couldn't keep up with sales, so it could only purchase from surrounding townships.

For a time, the chickens, ducks, and geese of Chunshen were in for a world of suffering—the moment they left the pen, the next second they were in the slaughterhouse, not enjoying a single second of adult happiness.

"Yes, yes, yes, it should be 100 million." The person in charge of Bagong Mountain Township replied with a smile.

Tang Lixin paced slowly, walking all the way up to Zhou Lijuan, and asked casually: "Is it hard selling things online?"

"Mr. Tang, the township organized online store training classes. Computers were too hard for me, but my husband picked it up fast—he was the first person in our township to open a store independently." Zhou Lijuan answered with a smile, a hint of one curling at the corner of her mouth.

Selling through the Fruit Association's channel meant paying a technical service fee per order, but opening her own store let her save that expense.

About thirty percent of Bagong Mountain's fruit farmers chose to open independent stores; seventy percent handed their goods over to the Fruit Association for unified operation.

Tang Lixin nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this.

Chunshen had over 5,000 fruit farmers. In the past, once the fruit hit the market, they usually sold it to wholesale fruit dealers or the county's small and medium-sized supermarkets—low prices, and naturally low margins.

Now, selling online to customers across the country, prices and profits had risen with the tide.

This single item alone had made all the fruit farmers of Bagong Mountain Township rich.

Tang Lixin had heard that vegetables from surrounding townships—cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, green beans, and the like—even sweet potatoes, corn, and other products—could each sell tens of thousands of orders a month on Pinbi.

In the past, one wouldn't have dared imagine it.

Recently, every time he went to the city for meetings, the county-level heads from neighboring areas all wanted to crowd in for a share of the pie, only to be firmly refused by Tang Lixin.

Hogging it all feels great for a moment; hogging it forever feels great forever.

Share with other counties and townships?

No way!

Tang Lixin kept Pinbi's farmer-assistance slots locked down tight, only willing to give them to local enterprises and farmers. If others wanted in, fine—just move the company to Chunshen.

As it turned out, two companies from Zhoulai—a tofu factory and a vermicelli factory—actually relocated to Chunshen and hired over a hundred local employees.

Without a word of hesitation, Tang Lixin honored his promise on the spot.

Regardless of how one put it, relying on the channel appeal of Pinbi Shangcheng, Chunshen had truly made "attracting investment" quite a lively affair.

But what he didn't know was that Zhoulai had long had its eyes on him. After figuring out Tang Lixin's trump cards, it immediately dispatched a team to Xucheng, intending to vie for Chen Yansen's traffic support.

……

……

Guobin Bookstore.

Chen Guobin was enjoying the air conditioning, holding a book on Ming history in his hands, reading it with great relish.

Opposite him sat a few old geese, two crates of yellow apricots, and two crates of peaches; tucked in the corner was a row of silver fish, mung bean vermicelli, stinky tofu, and other local specialties.

All these things had been sent by beneficiaries of the Chunshen farmer-assistance program.

At first Chen Guobin still politely declined, but later these people would just drop things and run—he couldn't catch them even if he tried.

Occasionally there were a few thick-skinned folks, clearly over fifty years old, yet in front of Chen Guobin they would brazenly call him "Uncle Chen" and "Brother Bin" one after another.

Sometimes Chen Guobin was truly helpless, but he also knew that, thanks to the farmer-assistance program, his own son was now these people's God of Wealth.

Even Tang Lixin and Zhao Siyuan would drop by from time to time.

"Huizhen, our son has grown up—not only accomplished, but he has a girlfriend too. If only you could have seen it with your own eyes."

Chen Guobin sighed, thinking silently to himself.

At this moment, 200 kilometers away, at Zhuxianzhuang Tech Park.

Chen Yansen had just finished his afternoon nap when the front desk called to say there were a few people downstairs claiming to be from the Zhoulai Central Office, asking if he wanted to see them.

'Finally a fish has taken the bait on its own!'

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and headed toward the elevator.

(End of this chapter)