Chapter 48: Sales Exceed 500,000 (Please Follow)

The next day at 6 p.m., the voting campaign ended.

A total of 137,000 users participated; the prize pool was continuously increased to 460,000 yuan, and the product name with the most votes was “FoxTao,” receiving 85,000 votes.

In other words, the final 460,000 yuan prize was split among 85,000 winners, with individual prizes ranging from 2.8 yuan to 888 yuan.

Although 99% of users won only 2.8 yuan, the remaining 1% still amounted to several hundred people, many of whom received 88 yuan prizes, and some even won the 888-yuan cash grand prize.

Within just three hours, “FoxTao Voting Results Announced” climbed to the hot search list; in the comment section, numerous lucky winners posted screenshots of their 888-yuan withdrawals, while screenshots of 88-yuan wins were too numerous to count.

FoxTao became widely known among university students.

Combined with Chen Yansen’s status as a freshman, the two factors made him and FoxTao the focus of media attention; for a time, Chen Yansen and FoxTao rose to prominence as exemplary models of student entrepreneurship.

Yet at this moment, in Startup Park 206, everyone’s mood was somewhat downcast.

After the voting ended, although FoxTao made it onto one hot search, it failed to convert many new users; the real-time growth rate of registered users had dropped from a peak of 2,500 per hour to just 50 per hour.

Chen Yansen glanced at the data and paid it no mind.

He knew clearly that FoxTao was essentially a traffic brokerage platform and could not generate substantial organic traffic on its own.

Successfully acquiring its first batch of seed users at extremely low cost and achieving a flawless cold start had already far exceeded his expectations.

To increase the first-purchase conversion rate among winning users, Chen Yansen personally teamed up with Zhuang Rui and Song Yuncheng to design a new user activity zone on the website’s secondary page, selecting mainly fast-moving consumer goods under 20 yuan and maintaining cashback amounts above 2.2 yuan.

This way, users who won 2.8 yuan only needed to place one more order to complete their first withdrawal while also experiencing FoxTao’s core workflow.

“Zhuang Rui, have you finished writing the product requirement document for ‘Cut the Price’? Send it to me as soon as possible.”

Chen Yansen sat at his desk selecting products for a while, grew tired, slowly stood up, stretched, and asked Zhuang Rui.

“Boss Chen, I’ll give it to you before quitting time—I still need to polish the details,” Zhuang Rui replied, looking up.

“Alright, wait until Wenbo and Pengfei come back, then we’ll sync up and aim for a launch in October.”

Chen Yansen nodded, then added.

Although the “Cut the Price” model annoyed users, it was an absolute powerhouse for user acquisition; with limited funds, even though customer acquisition costs in 2010 were low, he couldn’t afford to burn cash unless he secured angel investment.

But FoxTao currently had fewer than 140,000 registered users and less than 10,000 daily active users, with a profit model identical to competitors—hardly attracting investor attention.

Only by ranking among the top three in the industry would capital come knocking on its own.

Meanwhile.

In a third-year male dorm room at Lucheng College, Gao Wei was browsing FoxTao’s promotional page.

“These denim shorts are 39.9 yuan, and I get another 4 yuan cashback—so I’m paying only 35.9 yuan?”

Gao Wei muttered, carefully checked the product details and reviews, found no issues, and paid using his U-key.

Other products on the page also intrigued him: a 9.9-yuan T-shirt returned 1 yuan, a 299-yuan MP4 returned 30 yuan, a 399-yuan sports shoe returned 40 yuan—this novel online shopping discount model felt like opening a whole new world to him.

At the time, many online shoppers relied on directly haggling with shop owners for discounts.

That method was time-consuming and exhausting, unsuitable for introverts; most people simply accepted the listed prices.

FoxTao’s arrival strongly challenged their old assumptions.

Watching the backend order volume climb steadily, Chen Yansen skipped rest and, using pre-developed campaign templates, added eight thematic activity pages to the homepage at once, categorized by product type: Snack Fun Shop, Beauty Welfare Club, Sports New Trend, and so on.

He selected products priced close to the average order value and focused exclusively on high-commission premium items, greatly boosting returning users’ willingness to place orders.

By day’s end, the conversion rate for a single activity page reached over 30%.

That meant, out of every ten users who clicked into an activity page, three placed orders—an astonishing conversion rate.

On October 2, FoxTao recorded 2,745 orders that day, total sales of 89,212.5 yuan, and a profit of 13,292.6 yuan;

On October 3, FoxTao recorded 6,123 orders that day, total sales of 194,099.1 yuan, and a profit of 28,144.3 yuan;

On October 4, FoxTao recorded 4,169 orders that day, total sales of 151,706.3 yuan, and a profit of 23,673.2 yuan.

In just three days, FoxTao’s total sales across the platform surpassed the 500,000-yuan mark!

“Boss Chen, the data’s in—12,471 orders came from users who won 2.8 yuan; gross margin is 1.3%, so we still made 5,300 yuan,” Hu Yun chuckled, reporting to Chen Yansen.

“About what Zhuang Rui predicted—the voting campaign cost less than 40,000 yuan total, yet delivered results equivalent to spending four million.”

Chen Yansen smiled, then instructed Zhuang Rui: “We’ve taken a solid first step; now focus on retention—increasing first-purchase rates and order frequency is your top priority going forward.”

“Got it, Boss Chen. I’ll think it through these few days and bring you a plan after the holiday.”

Zhuang Rui took a deep breath and replied seriously.

Chen Yansen grunted, then turned to look at Wang Zihao, still hunched over his work. He wanted to call him out to relax, but held back the words.

He walked out of the startup park alone and wandered aimlessly along Liu Xi.

The sky was dim, a golden glow slowly sinking below the horizon; a cool breeze rustled the willow branches.

After a month of nonstop work, even someone as energetic as him felt a faint weariness.

Ultimately, Chen Yansen still dared not fully entrust the project to these eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds.

His past experience warned him: in business and the workplace, the only person you can truly rely on is yourself.

Everyone else might stab you in the back at any moment, leaving you unaware of how you died.

Chen Yansen reached the riverbank, sat down without hesitation, and stared blankly at the water.

FoxTao was fundamentally a guide-based e-commerce platform; its future could only end in one of three ways: acquisition, IPO on the main board, or cashing in quickly during the e-commerce boom before gradually declining.

Chen Yansen had no intention of scaling FoxTao; he viewed it purely as a stepping stone—to accumulate industry connections and resources, then leverage capital and team to pursue a more promising path.

Chen Yansen never intended to grow Fox Tao into a large business; he saw it merely as a stepping stone—to first build connections and resources within the circle, then leverage capital and a team to forge a more promising path.

He hadn’t decided yet.

“Class monitor Chen, just sitting here daydreaming?”

While lost in thought, a playful, light voice came from behind him.

Chen Yansen turned his head and smiled—it was Xu Xingxing, whom he hadn’t seen in days.

She held half a dozen beers and a bag of snacks, wore a baseball cap, a white tank top exposing large patches of pale skin on her shoulders and neck, and green athletic shorts.

In the entire Xucheng College, her outfit was bold and trendy; most girls would barely dare to wander outside in pajamas.

“Didn’t go home?” Chen Yansen asked casually.

“Didn’t you stay either?” Xu Xingxing sat beside him and handed him a beer.

Xu Xingxing remembered Chen Yansen well; they’d sung “Bad Girl” together at a KTV before, and she’d assumed he’d add her QQ afterward and follow the usual male courtship script—invite her out to eat, shop, confess. But none of that happened.

He seemed to have forgotten her existence; if she hadn’t reached out, their interaction might have ended with that single KTV trip a month ago.

Later, she heard Chen Yansen was busy with entrepreneurship, that his project had caught the president’s attention and support, and received media coverage; compared to other guys, Chen Yansen seemed to exist on a completely different level.

While others stayed up late gaming, his startup already had hundreds of thousands of users.

Add his tall, handsome appearance, and many girls had crushes on him—but few dared to pursue him.

Most girls understood: a guy as good-looking and financially capable as Chen Yansen wouldn’t necessarily respond even if they confessed.

“Our dorm’s Party Secretary Su still has a crush on you—haven’t you got any thoughts?”

Xu Xingxing took a sip of beer and probed casually.

“I don’t like overly obedient girls—they’re too boring,” Chen Yansen replied, lightly clinking his bottle against hers with a smile.

“What about a bad girl like me?”

Xu Xingxing straightened her chest and asked boldly.

“Oh? How bad are you? How many boyfriends have you had?” Chen Yansen smirked.

“Do you want the exact number, or do you want to hear about my past?”

Xu Xingxing propped her chin on her hand, staring intently at Chen Yansen.

It was the same line he’d once used on her—and now she threw it right back at him.

“So, did you bring your ID this time?” Chen Yansen dodged the question, leaning closer.

“Why do you need an ID? To my dorm, of course—I’m the only one there. Dare you come?”

Xu Xingxing squinted, smiling sweetly at him.

Girls’ dorm?

He’d never unlocked this scenario before—and he felt a flicker of temptation.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated.

Chen Yansen pulled it out—it was Meng Jie’s text. She’d returned early to surprise him.

“Next time—I’ve got to pick up my girlfriend,” Chen Yansen stood up, preparing to leave.

“Next time—I need to pick up my girlfriend, she’s back.”

Go pick up his girlfriend now?

Xu Xingxing froze slightly, thinking: Chen Yansen, you’re so blatantly a jerk.

Guys, this week we’re pushing for three rounds of recommendations—rely on all of you~ Vote more, thank you~

Xu Xingxing paused slightly, thinking to herself: Chen Yansen, you’re truly transparently heartless.

Brothers, this week’s push for three rounds of recommendations depends entirely on you~ Vote more, thank you~



(End of Chapter)