I can become stronger by paying salaries. I have one billion employees!

Chapter 236 Only the ruthless win in the end! Ele.me comes to an end!
In March, the city of Xu was engulfed in a fierce storm, turning the world into a dark, inky expanse.

The rapeseed plants on both sides of the road grew vigorously upwards with the help of the rain, creating a lush and verdant scene when viewed from afar.

Chen Yansen leaned against the car window, recalling Xu Zhenhui's words: "President Chen, I don't care about other cities, but for Xucheng, as long as you ask, the authorization documents from Kuaidi Dache can be delivered to your desk on the same day."

I'm really afraid that Orange Technology and Pinbei Mall will run away!
In fact, Chen Yansen has no immediate plans to move the company out, but he can start making preparations in advance.

The supporting facilities in the virtual city are ultimately lacking.

If he weren't still studying at the virtual college, he probably would have moved away long ago.

Despite not knowing all his teachers after two years, Chen Yansen still became a top student, an outstanding student, an excellent alumnus, the president of the Anhui Provincial College Student Entrepreneurship Alliance, and a recipient of the National Scholarship.

These random titles were all forced upon him by Tang Qingshan.

No, that won't do!

"Boss, when will Kuaipao's Series B financing start? Ali, Tencent, DST, and Jinsha Venture Capital all have strong interest in investing."

Sitting to the side, Gao Weilin asked softly.

"Let's talk about it after Pei Yi takes over the food delivery market in Shanghai," Chen Yansen said calmly, coming back to his senses.

At this time, Kuai Pao had not even fully digested Shanghai, let alone Luzhou.

He knew very well that in a provincial capital city with a permanent population of seven or eight million, the number of food delivery orders per day was at least 80.

Although Kuai Pao's product range is not yet complete, lacking supermarkets, fruits and vegetables, and medicines, its daily order volume in Luzhou is only 17, which is clearly not yet at its limit.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in Shanghai, a torrential downpour was also in full swing.

In such severe weather, the number of food delivery orders surged, but this greatly slowed down the delivery speed.

The road was covered in water, and there was a risk of the electric scooter slipping if it accelerated even slightly.

On the streets and alleys, delivery riders wearing orange uniforms kept passing by, and everyone unconsciously slowed down.

To ensure timely delivery and rider safety, Pei Yi immediately instructed the technology department to reduce the number of orders pending in the backend.

The riders' hourly wage dropped by 30%, but with the addition of various subsidies, the delivery price per unit was much higher than usual.

Firstly, KuaiPao offers subsidies for severe weather; secondly, Chen Yansen specifically instructed that in high temperatures, cold weather, strong winds, and heavy rain, the delivery fee for each order should be paid in full to the delivery driver.

As a result, the number of riders online at Ele.me has decreased sharply, while Kuaipao has not been affected at all, and the delivery time can still be controlled within 29 minutes.

Users who ordered food through the Ele.me platform were in a bad situation. The estimated arrival time was delayed again and again. Some people waited for more than two hours and couldn't help but call the merchant to find out that there was no rider to accept the order.

The merchants are also helpless!

After requesting a refund, these users went to Kuaipao to place a new order, and the food was delivered in less than 20 minutes after the restaurant prepared it.

In bad weather, forcing riders to come out and take orders with high prices may seem unethical, but from a business perspective, it is the wisest approach.

Generally speaking, users' tolerance for delivery delays on a food delivery platform is at most two or three times. When they find that Ele.me's delivery time is far inferior to Kuaipao's, they will immediately switch to other ordering tools.

If similar situations occur a few more times, even the most loyal customers will not hesitate to uninstall the Ele.me app.

Nobody wants to eat cold food!
In the unpredictable weather of March, no one wants to drink a cold cup of milk tea!

Lane 200, Longcao Road, Kuaipao Headquarters.

"Mr. Pei, as of 16 PM, a total of 7 riders have been injured in the accident, but fortunately, they all suffered only minor injuries," the delivery manager reported to Pei Yi as he approached him.

"I understand. Tell the guys in the delivery department that the company will cover the medical expenses and lost wages."

Pei Yi took a deep breath and replied calmly.

Kang Guodong, who was far away in Luzhou, suggested to him after learning about today's weather conditions: force riders to go offline, or suspend service in some areas with inconvenient transportation and heavy rain.

Pei Yi resolutely refused, scoffing at the idea!
He was not cold-blooded or ruthless, but rather had a deep understanding of human nature.

If things proceed as Kang Guodong suggested, those Kuaipao riders who were taken offline might register for Ele.me rider accounts and start taking orders and making money.

This kind of behavior of handing over the market to the opponent is simply stupid!

"Yes, Mr. Pei." The head of the delivery department sighed and turned back to relay the instructions.

If Chen Yansen were present, he would also support Pei Yi's decision.

He chose Pei Yi over Kang Guodong not only because their abilities and directions were different, but also because Pei Yi was rational and calm enough and valued interests more.

Kang Guodong's idea wasn't wrong, but he shouldn't have chosen to do it at the most competitive time in the market.

Once Kuaipao establishes a monopoly in the food delivery industry and has abundant delivery resources, Kang Guodong's strategy will be more advantageous than Pei Yi's.

But right now, Kang Guodong's plan is no different from courting death!

The person with the same thought process as him was the CEO of Qiandu Takeaway four years later, who announced on the eve of the Spring Festival that all riders would be given a holiday and that they would be given a ticket subsidy.

As a result, after the Spring Festival, not only did all the delivery riders go to Meituan and Ele.me, but even one-fifth of the users were lost.

During the Spring Festival, if you want to order takeout, you can only go to Meituan or Eleme.

However, the CEO of Qiandu Takeaway's real thought is that the population mobility in first- and second-tier cities is high, and the order volume during the Spring Festival will drop to the lowest point of the year, resulting in a significant reduction in riders' income. To retain riders, it would be possible to offer three or four times the overtime pay.

After weighing the pros and cons, a seemingly reasonable but extremely foolish decision was made.

Intending to cut labor costs, the company not only lost market share but also plunged Qiandu Waimai into a long-term predicament of insufficient delivery capacity.

the other side.

Zhang Xuhao stood in his office at No. 335 Guoding Road, looking out at the heavy rain. He couldn't see the road conditions ten meters away at all.

He looked at Kang Jia and asked, "What is the current order delay rate?"

“31%,” Kang Jia said with difficulty.

There's no way around it; there are too few online riders, and orders are piling up, so we simply can't deliver them all.

"I don't know."

Zhang Xuhao muttered to himself.

In order to compete with Kuaipao, he paid social security and purchased accident insurance for Ele.me riders, and they also received a base salary of 1600 yuan per month. However, when the platform was facing its most difficult time, one-third of these riders went offline.

This resulted in a tenfold increase in complaints from users and merchants!
"Some riders feel that Ele.me does not offer quarterly bonuses or subsidies for severe weather such as high temperatures or low temperatures."

Kang Jia said with a self-deprecating laugh.

Before Kuaipao entered Shanghai, these riders didn't even have social insurance and housing fund benefits or a basic salary, but they still worked hard.

But after making a comparison, the Ele.me riders' thoughts changed.

“Some? I’d say the majority.” Zhang Xuhao sneered. He admitted that he had underestimated the nature of humanity.

Kang Jia remained silent.

He knew, and Zhang Xuhao also knew, that Ele.me lagged far behind Kuai Pao in terms of delivery route planning and order scheduling.

Within the same timeframe, Kuaipao riders can complete more and better order deliveries, while Ele.me riders cannot. "Let's issue an announcement: riders who log in today will receive a 100 yuan bonus for completing 6 hours of service and a 200 yuan bonus for completing 10 hours of service."

Zhang Xuhao thought for a moment and then gave instructions to Kang Jia.

The underlying logic of successful business cannot be influenced by emotions; monetary incentives are the most practical approach.

Kang Jia hummed in agreement and went out to do his work.

As Kuai Pao's operations expanded to cover the entire Hong Kong area, the office atmosphere at Ele.me became increasingly dull.

Kang Jia sometimes even sees Kuai Pao delivery riders near the company.

This indicates that Kuaipao already has a station in the YP area.

When the ground sales BD team occasionally encountered Kuaipao's business development team offline, they would just glare at each other and everyone kept their distance.

After all, no one dares to take the inspection station's meeting lightly!

At 9:30 p.m., the heavy rain in Shanghai gradually subsided, leaving puddles of varying depths in the alleyways.

After working for more than ten hours straight, the number of orders gradually decreased, and the Kuaipao delivery riders finally had time to rest.

They gathered in twos and threes on an open space in the commercial district, eating dinner while loudly discussing their earnings for the day.

"Dragon Scale Horse! I'm exhausted today! The company is a real piece of work. It was raining so hard this afternoon that I could barely open my eyes, and they still wouldn't let us log off!"

"Brother Zhou, stop yelling! When you were looking at the estimated income just now, your mouth was practically stretched to your ears. How much is it anyway that made you so happy?"

"Go away! Stop asking questions." Li Zhou unscrewed a bottle of iced tea and took a big gulp.

"I estimate it's 1500! I only have 70 orders, but with the subsidies, it's almost 1000. Brother Zhou definitely has more than me. It's tiring, but the money is really easy to earn!" A chubby guy with a buzz cut and a round face said happily.

"What business is it of yours how much I risk my life? I'm risking my life for this!"

Li Zhou rolled his eyes and cursed irritably.

Many riders fell silent after hearing this.

Yes, it was a terrifying day!
I earned the equivalent of four or five days' worth of money in one day, but my hands and feet were shaking.

"Brother Zhou, I heard the company is planning to put some kind of food delivery lockers in the Sun Moon Light Center. Does that mean we won't have to climb stairs anymore?"

"Dream on! The food delivery lockers are still a long way off! But the guys near the Sun Moon Light Center are in luck. Their area is a pilot zone, so they can just stuff their food into the lockers and be done with it!"

Li Zhou said with a smile, a hint of envy in his eyes.

Of course, the strong demand for food delivery lockers is limited to commercial office building areas. Due to the large number of companies and the complexity of personnel, access control is often set up, and food delivery can only be delivered to the first floor.

For users, the emergence of food delivery lockers has eliminated the risk of lost or misplaced meals and has also increased the flexibility of meal pickup time.

However, for residential areas, food delivery lockers are a false need, which is why Pei Yi only promotes them in commercial areas.

a.

Kuaipao set up 17 stations in the YP area. Kou Zhen led the ground promotion business team, sweeping down street by street, and moved the merchants of Ele.me platform to Kuaipao.

The ratio of orders between the two parties quickly changed from 1:9 to 8:2.

At this point, Kuaipao and Ele.me's service areas highly overlap, and they are fiercely competing every day in the four major districts of Xuhui, Hongkou, Yangpu and Jing'an.

Ele.me even increased the subsidy for new customers to a discount of 20 yuan at one point, and offered discount coupons of 5-12 yuan to existing customers every day.

At this point, all marketing strategies become ineffective; it all comes down to who can offer the lowest price and who can deliver the fastest.

However, as Kuaipao deployed more and more delivery lockers in areas such as Sun Moon Light, Zhongyin, and Taifu Plaza, Ele.me faced increasing pressure.

With his funds running out, Zhang Xuhao had to face reality: after three years in the food delivery business, he had lost to a latecomer who had come from behind and imitated him.

After reaching an agreement with Wang Yuan, Kang Jia, Deng Ye, and others, he dialed Gao Weilin's number.

"You want to sell the company to Kuaipao?" Gao Weilin was surprised after understanding the other party's intentions.

"Mr. Zhang, I heard that Ali is planning to fully acquire Ele.me?" Gao Weilin asked with a smile after realizing what was going on.

The implication is that you should go find Ahri.

Ele.me doesn't have much remaining value anymore; spending money to buy it now would be a complete waste of money.

After being rejected, Zhang Xuhao hung up the phone dejectedly and then went to find Ji Gang, who was in charge of Ah Li.

Before he could even speak, Ji Gang bluntly said, "President Zhang, you've missed the best opportunity, do you understand?"

Zhang Xuhao opened his mouth, let out a long sigh, and finally said a dry "thank you" before putting down his phone.

"Deng Ye, how much money is left in the account?" Zhang Xuhao locked himself in his office and calmed down for most of the day before walking over to Deng Ye's workstation to ask.

“A little over 200 million.” Deng Ye bit her lip, seeing through Zhang Xuhao’s thoughts.

"Please apologize to everyone for me and distribute this money." Zhang Xuhao gave a bitter smile. He had originally wanted to give the current employees N plus one in compensation to preserve their last bit of dignity, but reality slapped him in the face.

On March 16, Ele.me announced the suspension of its services.

Many Ele.me delivery riders have resigned and joined Kuaipao's delivery team.

Kuaipao's HR was so arrogant that they set up a temporary interview room in front of the gate of No. 335 Guoding Road, accepting all kinds of software engineers, database administrators, operations and ground sales business personnel from Ele.me, and even customer service personnel.

In Pei Yi's own words: Many of these people are graduate students from Jiaotong University and Tongji University. They just didn't choose the right company, which doesn't mean they lack ability.

The first major food delivery war of 2012 lasted less than two months before Ele.me was forced to withdraw from the market.

The food delivery market in Shanghai fully embraced Kuaipao. Without the constraints of competitors, Kuaipao began to expand rapidly, preparing to quickly extend its business to the entire Shanghai area.

The next day, Wang Yuan, Kang Jia, and Deng Ye, who were still finishing up their work, received calls one after another from Kuaipao's HR, leaving the three of them completely bewildered.

Upon learning this, Zhang Xuhao was so angry that he cursed loudly: "You little bastard, you've been eating and carrying me around!"
What upset him the most was that his three brothers received calls, but none of them called him.

Isn't this looking down on people?

"Mr. Zhang, I'm sorry, you should understand how difficult it is to switch industries." Kang Jia, who was in charge of Ele.me's ground promotion and delivery team, said to Zhang Xuhao with an apologetic expression after some thought.

"It's alright, I wish you a bright future and boundless success."

Zhang Xuhao forced a smile and patted Kang Jia on the shoulder.

He ruined the project, and to be honest, he had no face to influence other people's decisions, even if they went to Kuaipao.

Wang Yuan and Deng Ye exchanged glances, a hint of interest flashing in their eyes.

……

……

On March 18th, I took a Didi taxi into Nanjing!

(End of this chapter)