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

Chapter 316 Aren't we a courier station? How did we become a mobile phone store? Short video overseas expansion!

The day after returning to the virtual city, which happened to be a Saturday, the science park was deserted, with less than a third of the employees working overtime.

Chen Yansen parked his car, took the elevator to the top floor, and then opened the office door.

A money tree sits on the table, facing the sun and lush with greenery.

Turn on your computer and log in to the data backend.

Chen Yansen first checked Pinbei's core data. With the primary traffic entrances of QQ and WeChat, plus the traffic from Orange App Store, Lingxi Browser and Toutiao, daily active users and daily sales output were steadily increasing. Last week, the average daily transaction volume reached 9 million yuan.

That's almost double that of Dongguan!

Food, home furnishings, women's clothing, and beauty products are the top tier of categories, while digital home appliances, outdoor sports, maternity and baby products, and underwear are the second tier. Men's clothing, footwear, entertainment and automotive products, and bags account for the smallest share of sales.

It's easy to see from the product category structure that Pinbei's user profile is predominantly female.

In the domestic market, Orange Phone's shipments have surpassed those of Sanxing. According to Analysys data, if Sanxing fails to improve its sales speed in Q4, it will inevitably lose its top spot in smartphone sales.

The Orange F1, priced at $99, and the Orange F3, priced at $399, are extremely popular in Nigeria and Abyssinia. The former serves the low-end market, while the latter serves the high-end market, specifically targeting customers of the Galaxy series, Apple 4S, and Apple 5.

Adding the data from the Orange F2 and Lemon D1, weekly sales can reach 15 to 16 units.

Therefore, Cao Dahua had to expand the training scale of after-sales service personnel, not only to send them to the East African market, but also to prepare for the Eastern European market and the domestic offline self-operated stores.

Sales of Alexa smart speakers in the European and American markets have gradually stabilized, hovering around 20,000 units per day, which doesn't seem like much. However, in the domestic market, Moss smart speakers can only sell 6000 units per day across the entire network.

The marketing department's full-year sales forecast is: 800 million Alexa units and 240 million MOS units, totaling just over 1000 million units.

Chen Yansen knew that the market capacity ceiling for smart speakers would continue to rise in the next few years, until it reached a peak of 200 million units per year, after which it would decline.

However, given the limitations of the network, economy, application ecosystem, and sales channels, selling 1000 million units in 2012 was already an extremely remarkable achievement.

Ten minutes later, Chen Yansen closed the data backend and opened his email.

The first email was an industry research report from Forrest Research, which detailed the data traffic pricing of major carriers in the US and the development of the short video sector.

Chen Yansen glanced at it and was slightly surprised. The telecommunications operators in the United States were no less ruthless than China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom in setting mobile network pricing standards.

At the same time, two charging methods are implemented: tiered pricing and unlimited packages. The pricing differences between operators are also very obvious depending on the network coverage.

The price per 1GB of data ranges from $7.5 to $20. The higher the price, the faster the network, and vice versa.

Therefore, most mobile phone users in the United States choose unlimited data plans. Although the price is high, they don't have to worry about paying huge bills after exceeding the data limit.

For example, T-Mobile's Unlimited 4G plan starts at $70 per month and includes unlimited voice, text, and data services.

The advantage is that it's cheap, but the disadvantages are that the internet speed is a bit slow and the coverage is narrow.

Sprint's Everything Data plan, priced at $109.9 per month, also includes unlimited voice, text, and data services, but it secretly throttles the speed for some heavy mobile data users.

MetroPCS' 4G LTE for All plan includes unlimited voice, text and 4G data for just $55 a month, but it currently only covers 14 cities.

Overall, mobile internet speeds in the United States are in a transitional period from 3G to 4G LTE. 4G networks are still in their infancy, while 3G networks still account for more than 70% of the market share, with average download speeds ranging from 5 to 20 MB per second.

"At least short video apps have gained some room to survive."

Chen Yansen silently commented.

In fact, his judgment was correct. The penetration rate of smartphones in the United States is about 50%, and 4G networks are rapidly becoming widespread, providing the hardware conditions for the creation and dissemination of short videos.

Vine, the pioneer of short videos, was launched as early as January.

Although Instagram has not yet built a video sharing function into its product, according to an analysis by Forrest Research, based on available information, Instagram has definitely started developing a short video feature.

This shows that internet professionals in the US have already set their sights on the short video market, but they haven't yet figured out the recommendation algorithm and profit model.

Chen Yansen leaned back, pondering his plan to conquer the North American market.

Unfortunately, if we want to develop a short video app in China, we'll have to wait at least two more years. It's better to develop in overseas markets first, leverage user data from Europe and America, optimize recommendation engine technology in advance, and accumulate user resources.

Once the time is right, we will enter the domestic short video market.

Who will be in charge of overseas markets?
Liang Bo?

Is he okay?
Chen Yansen muttered under his breath.

Liang Bo's technical skills are good, but in terms of business development, he can only be described as average. He has never made any major mistakes, but he also doesn't have any innovative operational plans.

As for Zhou Shouzhi, he also needs to help him expand into the smartphone market in Europe and America.

For a moment, Chen Yansen hesitated, wondering whether to let Zhou Shouzhi take over the responsibility or to find a new candidate.

Given his style of doing things, it would be better to hire another person.

Thinking of this, Chen Yansen picked up the phone and dialed Liang Bo's mobile number: "Come to my office."

“Yes, boss,” Liang Bo replied.

A short while later, Liang Bo arrived. As soon as he sat down, Chen Yansen said casually, "I sent you an industry report. We'll talk after you've read it."

After saying that, Chen Yansen got up to get tea leaves and slowly brewed a pot of tea.

Looking down from the window, the park's open-air parking spaces are filled with luxury cars, mainly Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, but also Porsche, Maserati, and Ferrari. These are mostly the vehicles of executives, directors, and general managers of Pinbei and Orange Technology.

After an unknown amount of time, Liang Bo finally spoke, "Boss, I've finished reading."

This research report, excluding images, contains over 20,000 words of text, all in English.

Liang Bo was afraid of misunderstanding, so he looked at it very carefully.

"How about combining recommendation engine algorithms with short videos to create a standalone product?"

Chen Yansen, holding his teacup, asked casually.

"Focusing on the European and American markets?" Liang Bo asked tentatively.

He didn't even consider the domestic market, since the domestic hardware and network conditions were not up to par, and making short videos would only lead to failure.

For example, Toutiao does have a video module, but less than 1% of users load videos using mobile data; the rest use Wi-Fi.

The core reason is: mobile data charges are too high!
"I'm assigning the R&D work to you. I'll prepare a product development document for you." Chen Yansen didn't give a direct answer, but instead assigned the work to Liang Bo directly.

Without hesitation, Liang Bo readily agreed.

After receiving the new task, Liang Bo couldn't help but ask a few more questions. Only after understanding Chen Yansen's product requirements did he get up and leave.

After a moment's thought, Chen Yansen created a new file on his computer, listing out the skill requirements for the person in charge of short videos, and then sent it to the human resources department.

It would be best to find a satisfactory candidate, but if not, let Zhou Shouzhi fill in for now.

The morning passed quickly. Chen Yansen had lunch at the cafeteria and then drove towards the Virtual Academy. Meanwhile...

After integrating the resources of Shentong and Yuantong Express, Yunsu Express began to open a large number of Yunsu service stations in rural towns and township centers in East China.

Its main business consists of only two items: parcel pickup and express delivery collection.

Due to the high delivery costs in rural markets, when buyers purchased goods on Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo in the past, the packages were delivered to the county or city level express delivery points at most. To pick up a package, they had to travel tens or even hundreds of kilometers away.

After the emergence of Yunsu Service Station, it included online shopping users at the township, town, and village levels in its business scope.

To ensure profitability, Liao Wei requires each Cloud Speed ​​service station to undergo rigorous market research before its establishment, comprehensively assessing the local population, transportation, and market potential, and only those that meet minimum revenue expectations will be allowed to set up a station.

Although the conditions were stringent, the rural market was too large. The first batch of selected townships numbered over 600, and 200 were ultimately chosen as pilot areas.

……

……

Chun Shen, Shaobei Town.

A new Yunsu Express service station has opened opposite Shaobei Middle School, to the left of the Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Bank.

Perhaps in a decade or two, there will be at least a dozen similar express delivery stations in towns of similar size.

However, in 2012, Yunsu was the first express delivery company to extend its business to the rural market.

E-commerce parcels from two nearby communities and twelve administrative villages all end up at the Yunsu Express service station after being delivered to Shaobei Town.

In other words, the parcel delivery business for more than 60,000 people in Shaobei is also within the business scope of Yunsu Express Service Station.

Wu Lei is the station manager and a local resident. In addition to him, there is one other staff member, which is the standard staffing configuration for a service station.

“Brother Lei, the company has probably miscalculated by opening stations in rural towns. I just squatted at the entrance and watched for a while. Out of ten passersby, only one was using a smartphone.” Another employee named Hu Peng pulled up a chair and couldn’t help but sigh.

"What are you afraid of! We have a base salary." Wu Lei pulled out a stack of posters from the warehouse and said to Hu Peng, "Give me a hand and put all of these up."

"The base salary is only 3000 yuan. I won't starve, but I won't be full either. Sigh, what can I do? I used to work for Yuantong Express."

Hu Peng complained as he worked.

The implication is that there's no future in working at a courier service station, and the long-time employees of Yunsu Express are unwilling to continue, which is why they sent someone like him, who was just recruited, to do it.

"Xiao Hu, listen to my advice, work hard for the company, you can't go wrong! This project was planned by the big boss, do you think it can lose money?" Wu Lei stopped what he was doing and advised him seriously.

"President Chen Yansen?" Hu Peng hurriedly asked, then shook his head in disbelief: "How could you possibly know?"

"Damn! Who do you think you are? I've been working at Yunsu for two and a half years, a real veteran. Last year I even had dinner with the big boss at a five-star hotel in Shanghai."

Wu Lei scolded with a stern face.

"I thought you were one of the unlucky guys from Shentong Express," Hu Peng chuckled, teasing him nonchalantly.

In his opinion, Wu Lei was probably just bragging. Why would he abandon his express delivery business in Shanghai and go back to his hometown? Isn't that stupid?

Seeing that he didn't believe him, Wu Lei stopped explaining and busied himself with his work.

Hu Peng is a talkative man, but he is quick to get things done. The two of them quickly put up the promotional posters on the glass at the entrance.

"The Orange D1 mobile phone with 512MB of RAM and 1GB of storage is priced at 799 yuan!"

"Qingcheng D1S mobile phone with 1GB RAM + 8GB storage, priced at 999 yuan!"

"Yunsu Express parcel delivery, starting from just 6 yuan!"

"Shopping is no problem! Just fill in the Yunsu Express service station as your delivery address, and they'll collect your package for free!"

"Pinbei Mall: New users can get 6 eggs for free!"

In Liao Wei's vision, Yunsu Express service stations can both collect packages and earn a "delivery fee" from express companies such as Best Express, SF Express, Tiantian Express, and Guotong Express, and improve the station's profitability by using the package collection business.

They also sell Orange Technology's smartphones and promote Pinduoduo Mall.

At this moment, an elderly man who was going to the market stopped immediately after seeing the poster for free eggs and asked Wu Lei, "Young man, where can I get the eggs?"

"Grandpa, do you have a smartphone? Download the Pinbei app first. New users can get eggs, tissues, apples, and oranges for free." Wu Lei grinned and greeted the customer warmly as business came to him.

"A smartphone? Can I have this?" the old man said, pulling out his Nokia C102.

"That won't do," Wu Lei said, waving his hand.

"Do you have a smartphone? Could you download one for me?" the old man asked, taking the initiative.

Hu Peng, standing behind him, couldn't help but laugh out loud, and explained, "Grandpa, you need to buy a smartphone for 799 yuan first."

"Pshaw! They were just two swindlers." Upon hearing this, the old man frowned and walked away with a disgruntled expression.

"Hahaha..." Hu Peng burst into laughter after the old man left.

Wu Lei sighed, his face dark.

"Qingcheng D1S phone? Is this genuine?"

A short while later, another customer walked in; he was only in his early twenties.

Wu Lei smiled inwardly and stepped forward again to greet them, saying, "Yunsu Express and Orange Technology are owned by the same person. We are just a distributor. The products are of course genuine and come with official after-sales service. You can check them online."

"No need! Just give me one." The young man said suddenly after a dozen seconds of silence.

Actually, he had wanted to buy a Qingcheng D1S phone for a long time, but the courier could only deliver to Chunshen, and he had to take a bus for more than an hour to the county, so it was delayed.

As for the issue of genuine versus counterfeit goods, he's not afraid.

If the other party dares to sell counterfeit goods, he can easily call a few relatives and beat Wu Lei and Hu Peng until they kneel down and beg for mercy.

Hu Peng was slightly taken aback, but then he realized what was happening and ran behind the counter to get the customer a brand new Qingcheng D1S mobile phone.

"Want to download Pinduoduo? You can even get free eggs!" Wu Lei suggested, taking the opportunity to promote the app.

"My phone plan only gives me 100MB of data per month, and I've used it all up this month," the young man said, refusing.

"You don't know how to connect to our store's Wi-Fi? I'll teach you." Wu Lei naturally and enthusiastically offered an 8 yuan reward for each new Pinduoduo user he referred.

Ten minutes later, Wu Lei helped the young man complete his first online shopping experience. Before leaving, he reminded him, "If you encounter any problems you don't understand, feel free to come to me anytime."

On the first day of business, not a single package was picked up, but 13 Orange D1 phones and 11 Green Orange D1S phones were sold.

"Brother Lei, aren't we a courier station? How did we turn into a mobile phone store?" Hu Peng asked, puzzled.

(End of this chapter)