Chapter 270: Ma Liyun: I Want to Borrow a Chicken to Lay an Egg! Chen Yansen: I

"You want to expand Kuaipao's business boundaries?"

After hearing Pei Yi's explanation, Chen Yansen frowned slightly; he hadn't expected the other party to propose such an idea.

Generally speaking, entering a brand-new track requires considering industry risk and the stability of the profit model.

Meituan, Dianping, and Lashou have already achieved certain results in the group-buying field, proving the feasibility and market potential of the group-buying business.

Entering the market at this time not only lets us skip the market cultivation stage, but also lets us shift from passive to active, dragging Meituan and Dianping into the competitive quagmire of the group-buying market, thereby buying more development time for the takeout track.

The best defense is offense!

Kuaipao is not short on manpower, material resources, or financial resources, and the execution of its business ground-pushing team can be called a leader within the industry.

"Boss, actually I've long had a similar idea. I was busy competing with Ele. me before and couldn't spare much energy. The more I think about it now, the more feasible it seems."

Pei Yi answered with a smile.

Next, he laid out his conception with clear logic.

First, takeout is a high-frequency consumption scenario. Users open the Kuaipao PC website or app two to three times a day, far exceeding the low-frequency nature of group buying. By linking them, high-frequency takeout traffic can be channeled into the group-buying business.

Use high frequency to drive low frequency!

For example, push 'Nearby Restaurant Group-Buying Vouchers' on the order completion page, using the post-meal decision-making scenario to boost the conversion rate of the group-buying business.

Second, based on the user data accumulated from the takeout business (consumption frequency, preferred categories, and other information), we can precisely recommend corresponding group-buying products to users.

Finally, offline merchant resources can be reused, and the per-person efficiency of the ground-pushing team can also be improved.

In this way, we can complete a coordinated layout of takeout and group-buying businesses, building a double moat of 'at-home' and 'in-store.'

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, gave it no further thought, and directly agreed to Pei Yi's plan.

If Kuaipao goes on in the takeout market without encountering any opponents for too long, the ground-pushing and operations staff below will inevitably become arrogant and slack.

Going head-on against Meituan, Dianping, and Lashou might even expose the gaps in Kuaipao's organizational structure and operational management.

Without a business war, where would an iron army come from?

Apart from the fight with Ele. me, Kuaipao's journey so far has truly been too smooth.

Chen Yansen also wanted to use this opportunity to temper Kuaipao's employees.

Lest two or three years from now, a few competitors suddenly pop up and catch Kuaipao completely off guard.

After hanging up the phone, Pei Yi immediately synced the news with Kang Guodong at the Luzhou headquarters.

The implication was that both the PC and mobile ends of Kuaipao needed to be redesigned.

"Enter the group-buying market? Did the big boss agree?" Kang Guodong asked.

"I discussed it with the boss. President Chen told us to go all out," Pei Yi said with a smile.

Go all out?

Go all out against whom?

Naturally against competing sites like Meituan, Lashou, Dianping, and Nuomi!

"Alright, got it. I'll send you the product proposal and redesign plan as soon as possible," Kang Guodong agreed with a nod, without asking further.

Perhaps he wasn't an outstanding manager, but in rider route optimization and intelligent order dispatching, he possessed extremely high talent.

To put it bluntly, Kang Guodong's technical skills were beyond doubt; you could tell just from how he had defeated Zhang Xuhao's Jiaotong University technical team.

"Brother Dong, thanks," Pei Yi said softly before hanging up.

"Dragon Scale Ma, don't try that stuff on me. You're more suited to be Kuaipao's CEO. President Chen's decision is the right one."

Kang Guodong laughed and cursed, seeming to have untied the knot in his heart.

"Little brat, call me President Pei when we're working!" Pei Yi joked.

"Get lost! Bixia Gate, no respect for seniority. I've got more shares than you, got it?" Kang Guodong shot back.

The two traded barbs for a few lines, then exchanged knowing smiles, burst into hearty laughter, and went back to their own busy work.

Pei Yi coordinated with Cheng Weixing while conquering territory in Hui'an Province.

Kang Guodong, meanwhile, pulled together key personnel from the product and technical departments to reorganize Kuaipao's page planning and draft a development schedule, aiming to launch Kuaipao's group-buying business channel in late July.

At this time, Meituan's Wang Xin, Dianping's Zhang Tao, and Lashou's Shan Jiawei had not anticipated that before they even entered the takeout industry, Kuaipao had already launched an assault on the group-buying track.

After finishing his work, Chen Yansen leaned back in his boss's chair and leisurely flipped through his copy of *Microelectronic Circuits*. With the help of examples and exercises, he quickly mastered the basic principles and design methods of microelectronic circuits.

Regarding knowledge in the chip field, Chen Yansen believed one didn't have to do it, but couldn't afford not to understand it.

He had worked as an employee, had been someone's subordinate, and knew full well that employees all had the bad habit of fooling their boss.

Of course, bosses also had the nasty habit of drawing pies for their employees.

The entire morning passed in a flash.

Chen Yansen raised his hand to glance at his wristwatch, then put down the book, took out his phone, and scrolled through the news.

'Mama Ali delists from Hong Kong stocks, ending a 5-year listing journey, paving the way for an overall group listing.'

'June group-buying transaction volume down 23% month-on-month, only 2.08 billion yuan nationwide, industry enters a winter period.'

'Apple drops Google Maps in iOS 6.0, launches self-developed 3D map service; Google stock price drops in response.'

'Super Boy Su Xing beats up teammate backstage at awards ceremony, gets frozen out by company, career hits rock bottom…'

Chen Yansen scanned through; there was no news worth noting.

At this moment, a 'knock knock knock' came from outside the door.

"Boss, the cafeteria made stir-fried bean cakes and stir-fried yellow beef today. I specially got you an extra portion," the front-desk Miss explained with a smile, carrying a takeout box.

"Mm, just leave it here," Chen Yansen responded.

With the increase in Sister Chengzi Technology and Pinxi employees, although the number of serving windows had doubled, one still had to queue for twenty minutes.

Chen Yansen felt it was too much of a waste of time, so he couldn't be bothered to go to the cafeteria anymore and simply handed the meal-picking task to the administrative department.

Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, Ma Liyun's call came in.

"President Ma, what is it?" Chen Yansen asked, playing dumb.

"Shunfeng's Wang Wei, Shentong's Chen Dejun, and Yuantong's Yu Weijiao have all agreed to Cainiao Logistics' formation plan. President Chen, what do you say?"

Ma Liyun said slowly.

"I have no objections, but who will be Cainiao Logistics' CEO? Who will hold the majority stake?" Chen Yansen asked in return.

Ma Liyun's expression stiffened for a moment, thinking: I'm the one who proposed the plan, and you ask who's going to be CEO?

But he still didn't dare say it, afraid of offending Chen Yansen—after all, Yun Su Express's business volume accounted for half of the private express delivery industry—so he asked with a face full of smiles: "President Chen, do you have any ideas?"

"Cainiao's solution for last-mile delivery has problems. For township markets, especially rural markets, setting up Cainiao outlets is an effective approach. But for county seats, third- and fourth-tier cities, and first- and second-tier cities, setting up Cainiao service stations near residential compounds is completely anti-human."

Chen Yansen didn't answer directly, but instead steered the topic to Cainiao Logistics' shortcomings.

Just like office workers in Luzhou, Jin Ling, Shanghai, and other places, who, after work, have to deliberately detour several hundred meters to a service station just for one package—where's the convenience of online shopping reflected then?

It's the same logic as setting up food delivery lockers in residential compounds—purely an exercise in taking off your pants to fart.

But Cainiao isn't entirely without merits!

At least when it comes to last-mile delivery in rural markets, it has some value.

Due to challenges like vast areas with sparse populations, scattered express packages, and high delivery costs, almost all courier companies, including Yun Su, can only deliver to the county and town level. For more granular villages and communities, no one but China Post can shoulder the prohibitive costs.

Take Shanjue Town under Chunshen for example—it has 12 administrative villages and 2 sub-districts, with only a little over a hundred packages a day. Calculated at a delivery fee of 0.6 to 1.5 yuan per package, the total revenue for delivering everything is only 60 to 90 yuan.

And these hundred-plus packages are scattered across the town's 166 square kilometers. Even if you paid couriers 10 yuan per package, no one would be willing to deliver them.

What's more, if the delivery fee were raised to 10 yuan per package, merchants' shipping costs would multiply several times over.

Over time, users in these areas would be automatically abandoned by merchants.

Cainiao's solution is to set up two or three pickup points in Shanjue Town, letting recipients come pick up their packages themselves.

It looks like a rip-off, but it does genuinely solve the last-mile delivery problem for rural express packages.

This is also why Chen Yansen is willing to join the Cainiao network—because this move benefits Given Pinbei and Yun Su equally.

"Does President Chen have a better solution?" Ma Liyun shrugged, saying dismissively.

His original intention in setting up Cainiao wasn't to improve user experience, but to leverage the logistics networks of companies like Yun Su, Shunfeng, Shentong, and Yuantong to sell goods to more users.

At the same time, use Cainiao Logistics to earn advertising, data, and technical service fees.

Additionally, companies like Yun Su, Shunfeng, Shentong, and Yuantong that place packages at Cainiao service points would let him pocket another spread.

Later, he could package it up and rake in another fortune by taking it public.

Borrowing someone else's pot to cook his own rice—he played this hand with great finesse.

"Zoned operations: in areas with high population mobility, concentrated single-time pickup demand, and high requirements for immediacy and convenience, use express lockers to solve the last-100-meter delivery timeliness problem;

in areas with stable residential populations, diversified logistics needs, scattered express packages, and high delivery difficulty, set up Cainiao service points to provide deep last-mile service."

Chen Yansen said unhurriedly.

In short, prioritize deploying express lockers in office buildings and apartments in urban core areas to meet immediate needs; in large factories, industrial parks, townships, and rural areas, focus on Cainiao service points supplemented by express lockers.

After hearing this, Ma Liyun's eyes lit up, and he immediately felt that Chen Yansen's idea was smarter, more flexible, and more efficient than a simple one-size-fits-all model.

But he knew that Yun Su already had rich experience in the design and use of express lockers.

He wanted to borrow a chicken to lay an egg, but Chen Yansen was even more ruthless—editing and revising the Cainiao Logistics project plan and still trying to seize the initiative.

Isn't this a cuckoo taking over a magpie's nest!

For a moment, Ma Liyun's face showed difficulty, not knowing how to respond to Chen Yansen.

First, he didn't want to fall out with Chen Yansen;

second, he didn't want to hand over the fruits of Cainiao Logistics to someone else.

But he also knew clearly in his heart that Cainiao Logistics couldn't be done at all without Yun Su Express.

"President Chen's plan is excellent." Ma Liyun said with a bitter expression, dryly.

"I think so too. As for the specific cooperation model, data sharing, and shareholding ratio, does President Ma have any thoughts?"

Chen Yansen asked with a light smile.

He knew Ma Liyun's little schemes, and the other party also understood his own calculations; the two probed back and forth.

"How about we meet and talk in person?" Ma Liyun suggested.

In a short while, the two would find it hard to reach an agreement.

He wanted to obtain sufficient benefits from the Cainiao Logistics project, while Chen Yansen had his eye on the employment positions Cainiao Logistics could provide.

"No problem." Chen Yansen agreed readily.

If they could work it out, they'd talk; if not, he'd go solo!

When the time came, he'd just use the Cainiao Logistics plan Ma Liyun provided!

After ending the conversation, Chen Yansen continued eating lunch.

Ma Liyun, meanwhile, with a sullen face, pulled Lu Zhaoxi and Zhang Yong into a meeting to discuss how to convince Chen Yansen to join while ensuring controlling stake.

At the same time, across the Pacific, offline retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Target had added a new product next to the display shelves for home electronics.

Alexasmartspeaker (Alexa smart speaker)?

Luo De stared at the product label, his face full of confusion. Speakers he knew, but what the hell was a smart speaker?

Priced at $199, this was not cheap.

The product's outer packaging had a QR code, with usage instructions marked beside it: this was a speaker product with a built-in Alexa intelligent voice assistant, allowing users to converse and interact with the speaker through wake words.

Luo De's eyes immediately lit up. In his view, this was an artificial intelligence product where science fiction movies had come to life.

He immediately grabbed an Alexa smart speaker and rushed to the checkout counter.

(End of chapter)