Chapter 336: Cheng Wei: No Deposit? Only Profit! Orange Pad 1 Orange Magicbo

"What did you say? ofo bikes don't require a deposit?"

At the Digital Valley Software Park in Yanjing, inside the Didi Bike headquarters, Cheng Wei frowned and asked the head of the marketing department to confirm once more.

"Yes, President Cheng," Song Tianlu nodded and replied.

He paused, then added: "ofo bike users only need to deposit 199 yuan into Yu'e Bao and bind their Orange Pay account in their personal information to ride without a deposit."

"Chen Yansen is truly a formidable opponent!"

Cheng Wei gritted his teeth, the pen in his hand creaking under his grip.

He had faced Chen Yansen 'head-on' in the ride-hailing sector; no one understood Chen Yansen's terrifying, fierce tactics better than him.

There was no indecision of a businessman in him, only the full-force strike of a lion grappling a rabbit.

As soon as ofo bikes launched, they dumped 3,000 shared bikes in Hangcheng in one go; combined with the no-deposit campaign, Didi Bike was instantly thrown on the defensive.

The only thing worth celebrating was that ofo bikes didn't choose Yanjing as their first stop.

But based on his understanding of Chen Yansen, Yanjing was absolutely on the list of cities for ofo bikes' next expansion.

"President Cheng, should we adjust our deposit policy?" Song Tianlu asked directly.

"Not for now, but we must be prepared. Wait, I'll call Haibo and Old Hu over."

After pondering for a while, Cheng Wei had a preliminary solution in mind, so he picked up the landline on the desk and dialed immediately: "Haibo, get Old Hu; you two come over together."

"Okay, Boss," Zhang Haibo replied.

Although Song Tianlu was curious, he didn't ask much; after all, once Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo arrived, the Boss would naturally explain.

Before long, Hu Weijian from R&D and Zhang Haibo from Product pushed the door open and walked in together.

"Old Hu, Haibo, I want to implement two new features. First, refund the deposit immediately after the ride ends to eliminate users' concerns about capital being tied up; second, a prepaid balance offset function for the deposit—if a user's account balance is not lower than 199 yuan, no deposit is required."

Cheng Wei explained with clear logic.

In fact, in 2012, when regulatory mechanisms were imperfect, collecting ride deposits from users offered many benefits.

First, it reduced operational risks; deposits could constrain user behavior, reducing cases of private occupation, damage, and theft of vehicles.

Second, it covered operational costs; user deposits could alleviate financial pressure for vehicle deployment, maintenance, and dispatch to a certain extent.

Third, the capital pool formed by deposits was also a source of funds for project expansion.

As for whether funds were misappropriated or not, the users wouldn't know!

Cheng Wei didn't think there was anything wrong with using deposits to pay suppliers, cover operational costs, and cover labor costs.

Therefore, the two proposals he put forward were somewhat cumbersome in operation, with the goal still being to get users to pay deposits and expand Didi Bike's capital pool.

Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo looked at each other; they didn't yet know about the ofo bike launch, so they wore expressions of confusion.

"Senlian Capital established a shared bike company named Xingchi in October; this morning, they deployed 3,000 bikes in Hangcheng and adopted a no-deposit operational model."

Song Tianlu briefly introduced the background.

"Boss, I understand. I'll sync with Old Hu later; there's no technical difficulty," Zhang Haibo replied.

"We can launch in twenty days," Hu Weijian assured him.

"No need to be too fast. If ofo bikes want to validate their business model, they'll need at least two or three months. It's best to strive for perfection and ensure no system bugs upon launch."

Cheng Wei waved his hand, giving cautious instructions.

He had been psychologically scarred by wool-gatherers and gray-market studios, fearing that Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo might accidentally cause huge losses to the project again.

This time, he sought stability, not speed!

Moreover, before ofo bikes entered the North China market, even if these two features were developed, he wouldn't launch them immediately.

Collect the deposits first!

"Okay, Boss," Hu Weijian replied hurriedly.

After Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo left, Cheng Wei asked again: "The second-generation Didi bikes are about to hit the market. You and the operations department must coordinate well, putting user riding experience first."

"Okay, President Cheng," Song Tianlu answered.

The second-generation Didi bikes and the first generation were two extremes; not only did they use all-aluminum frames, but they were also equipped with magnesium-aluminum alloy wheels, solid explosion-proof tires, and smart locks, balancing the advantages of durability, safety, and easy location.

But the problem was that the combination of solid explosion-proof tires and magnesium-aluminum alloy wheels did effectively reduce puncture and blowout risks, yet the riding experience was hard to describe; flat roads were tolerable, but going uphill was almost life-draining.

He knew clearly in his heart, and he knew Cheng Wei knew clearly too, but there was no way; to extend the service life of Didi bikes, they had to sacrifice some user experience.

Meanwhile.

Hangcheng, Wulin Square subway station.

Hu Weiyi, Wang Zihao, and a group of mid-to-high-level executives from Xingchi Technology each rode an ofo bike, cycling west along Huancheng North Road.

This was Chen Yansen's requirement for subsidiary management personnel: they must fully experience the entire process of their own products.

Just like with KuaiPao Delivery, no matter if you are a supervisor, director, or general manager of any department, you must log into the KuaiPao Rider app for at least 8 hours a year.

Otherwise, policies formulated by the business and R&D departments are prone to going astray and losing their human touch.

"This bike has good quality, fast speed, stable handlebars, and doesn't require much effort going uphill."

Wang Zihao had been riding bicycles since junior high and was extremely skilled; after riding three or four kilometers, he stopped the bike and said to Hu Weiyi.

The remaining dozen or so executives, with cold sweat beading on their foreheads, parked their bikes at the entrance of Wanxiang Park, then plopped down on the ground to massage their thighs and calves.

"We revised the design drafts several times before the Boss approved them. Under the premise of ensuring supply costs, the performance of ofo bikes has reached the optimal level. Opening a flagship store on Pibuy, I believe sales results won't be poor."

Hu Weiyi glanced at the group of executives resting by the roadside and silently shook her head.

"That's a good idea; perhaps it could even become a profit growth point for our project."

Wang Zihao thought for a moment and replied seriously.

"I was just joking," Hu Weiyi said, slightly startled. "That shows President Hu indeed has business talent," Wang Zihao laughed heartily.

Hu Weiyi smiled and didn't take it to heart, treating it as a joke.

But Wang Zihao thought there was great potential in it!

However, what is most important for Xingchi Technology right now is to first validate and thoroughly understand the business and business model, expand deployment scale and service scope step by step, and then leverage scale advantages to renegotiate with suppliers a second time, aiming to secure lower supply prices.

Chen Yansen said that if all else failed, they should buy a bicycle factory, which would both save costs and provide more jobs.

Just as they were experiencing ofo bikes, the locals of Hangcheng, following the free ride-hailing campaign, welcomed another wave of free riding activities.

On the day new users registered, they would be gifted seven one-yuan coupons, with one becoming effective each day, allowing free rides within thirty minutes.

Wang Zihao, leveraging Cheng Weixing's network of connections, easily got ofo bikes into the campuses of Jiang University, Jiang University of Technology, Jiang Institute of Technology, and Jiangsu Normal University.

After all, Cheng Weixing had been operating in Hangcheng for over a decade; while the title of Executive Director of the Hangcheng University Student Entrepreneurship Alliance might not work elsewhere, it was absolutely effective regarding school resources.

For university students, spending just one yuan to ride from the teaching building to the dormitory or cafeteria was not something difficult to accept.

The popularity of ofo bikes on campus was very fast!

After university students used up their daily riding coupons, they usually did not wait until the next day but chose to pay to continue using them.

One coupon per day, first cultivating users and the market, then planning for profit.

On the first day of launch, 3,000 ofo shared bicycles earned a total of 7,400 yuan; after deducting depreciation, maintenance, operations, and labor costs, the gross margin was less than 10%.

From this, it can be seen that, like the ride-hailing industry, the shared bicycle industry is one that relies on economies of scale to become profitable.

Spend money in the early stages, harvest in the later stages.

Of course, if one fails to become the ultimate winner of the industry, then the money invested beforehand is equivalent to being thrown into the water.

For instance, companies like Gao Peng Wang, Wo Wo Tuan, and 24 Quan that collapsed during the Thousand Group War; investment institutions threw in billions one after another, but in the end, not a single cent was recovered.

Xucheng, Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park, Building Nine.

Chen Yansen leaned back in his chair, reviewing the work email sent by Hu Weiyi; on the first day of the product's trial run, there was already 7,400 yuan in revenue.

In his view, it was a very good start.

Once the deployment scale is expanded to one million units, it can create an annual revenue of one billion; three million units would be three billion in revenue.

Additionally, when the time is ripe, ofo can also enter the shared electric vehicle sector and cooperate with Kuai Pao to operate electric battery swapping services.

In this way, the advantages of having many subsidiaries and diverse businesses can be highlighted; many resources can be shared, including maintenance, repair, and dispatch personnel.

"Knock, knock, knock—!"

At this moment, a knocking sound came from outside the door.

"Come in!"

Chen Yansen responded.

Zhou Shouzhi, holding two new products, pushed the door open and walked in.

"The engineering test units for Sister Chengzi Pad 1 and Sister Chengzi MagicBook? They look quite good; Lin Qingbai's design aesthetic has improved very quickly."

Chen Yansen put down the mouse and joked with a smile.

Previously, when Lin Qingbai was designing the Mo Si (Alexa) smart speaker, he had been tortured repeatedly by Chen Yansen and almost quit.

"If Mr. Lin heard this remark, he would probably be so excited he couldn't sleep all night," Zhou Shouzhi said with a faint smile, following Chen Yansen's lead and joking casually.

"What do you and Wang Teng think?" Chen Yansen leaned back, looking at Zhou Shouzhi and asking.

The new products of Sister Chengzi Technology are all in preparation; Sister Chengzi Pad 1 and Sister Chengzi MagicBook are two 'money-making' products. From hardware to software, there are almost no self-developed patents; it is all about taking what others have done.

Therefore, Chen Yansen did not plan to 'brag' about these two transitional products at next year's spring launch conference.

Because, to put it plainly, apart from cost-performance ratio, Sister Chengzi Pad 1 and Sister Chengzi MagicBook do not have many outstanding advantages.

They are merely to make up for the deficiencies in the product line, and can also be regarded as Sister Chengzi Technology's trial works.

"Wang Teng wants to hold a small launch conference in the form of an online live stream. If there is no pre-heating, no promotion, and we rely solely on online channels to sell hard, the reputation and sales of Sister Chengzi Pad 1 and Sister Chengzi MagicBook will be difficult to improve."

Zhou Shouzhi explained slowly.

"Fine, don't worry about resources. 'What's Worth Buying' and 'Jinri Toutiao' will first push content seeding, and next, Given Pinbei will drive traffic to the entire site for Sister Chengzi Pad 1 and Sister Chengzi MagicBook."

Chen Yansen arranged things calmly and unhurriedly.

Making money isn't shameful!

If the sales results meet expectations, the Aurora Future OS system will be equipped on the next generation of Sister Chengzi tablet computers and notebook computers.

"Okay, Boss," Zhou Shouzhi nodded slightly, then placed the engineering test units on Chen Yansen's desk, leaving them for the boss to try out.

The two chatted for over ten minutes, and finally set the product launch date for November 25.

On the other side.

After receiving an 800 million Hua Yuan investment from Qiandu Network, DiDi Dache quickly expanded its business scope to the Central China region.

Facing the subsidy provocation from Kuai De Dache, DiDi remained unmoved, focused solely on surviving.

However, due to the lack of subsidies for old customers, the development speed of DiDi Dache was extremely slow, and its threat level to Kuai De Dache was almost zero.

(End of this chapter)