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

Chapter 642 A target of 400 billion a day? There are no secrets in this world.

The following day, the day before the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival.

The sun in Luzhou grew increasingly scorching, hanging high in the sky and radiating blinding light, making the air unbearably hot and dry.

The plane trees lining the street, whose leaves were originally lush and green, are now drooping and listless from the sun.

Before we knew it, it was noon. Suddenly, large patches of dark clouds drifted in from the horizon, piling up heavily, and the sky darkened instantly.

Before many people could even open their umbrellas, large raindrops began to fall with the strong wind, and in an instant, the rain poured down, turning the entire city upside down.

Senlian Science and Technology Park, Office Building No. 2.

"Manager, our stock will be out of lock-up period at the end of the month. Are you planning to sell it? I've found a garden villa in Shushan District that I like. It has a very high greening rate and complete surrounding facilities. The down payment is 34 yuan, and I'm still short 33 yuan."

Zhang Yi, the receptionist, leaned forward and asked Xu Xingxing next to her.

"So you don't have a single penny in savings? What about your salary? Are you living paycheck to paycheck?"

Xu Xingxing was drinking water when she heard this and almost choked. She looked up and gave her a disgruntled look.

Pinbei went public at the end of last year, and by the end of June this year, it had completed its 180-day lock-up period.

There are quite a few employees like Zhang Yi in the company who hope to sell some of their stock and cash out to improve their lives.

After all, if you don't have fun when you're young, you won't have the energy to do it when you're old.

“Of course I have one! I still have 10,000 yuan in savings!” Zhang Yi retorted with a grin.

“I’m not in a hurry. With the company’s growth rate, its market value may reach 3000 billion US dollars by the end of the year. If I sell now, I will definitely lose money.”

Xu Xingxing gently shook her head, her tone resolute.

Although she holds the fewest Pinduoduo shares compared to Song Yuncheng, Zhang Wenbo, and Xiang Pengfei, the total value is still 600 million US dollars, making her a well-off young woman.

"Manager, but housing prices in Luzhou are rising rapidly too."

Zhang Yi pouted and frowned, looking annoyed.

Since Senlian Capital moved to Luzhou, housing prices and rents in Baohe District have skyrocketed.

Although most employees live in company-rented residential areas and don't have to worry about rent, companies in Pinbei's supply chain are all moving closer to Luzhou.

In addition, the clustering of service industries such as restaurants, KTVs, and hotels in the surrounding area has attracted more and more people to work and live here, naturally causing housing prices to rise steadily.

Putting aside other things, there are countless MCN agencies and e-commerce companies that focus on live streaming and selling goods.

"Well, that makes sense."

Xu Xingxing frowned slightly, then nodded, agreeing with Zhang Yi's statement.

In recent years, housing prices in China have soared.

Most recent college graduates earn only around 4,000 yuan a month as their starting salary. Faced with the skyrocketing housing market, some grit their teeth and scrape together the money to buy a house, while others simply give up the idea of ​​buying a home.

However, Xu Xingxing had already bought a three-bedroom apartment in the government district two and a half years ago.

When Chen Yansen sold FoxTao to Ali, he bought back all the unfrozen shares of everyone, and she received several hundred thousand yuan in cash as a result.

"Manager, I heard the company is going to implement a 'four days on, three days off' work schedule. Is it true or not?"

Seeing that no one was around, Zhang Yi lowered her voice and asked.

She knew very well that although Xu Xingxing was just a small supervisor in the administration department, she had strong connections. She was a classmate of the big boss and could talk to the directors and general managers of various departments. She was very well-informed.

"When has the boss ever joked? Haven't you noticed that there have been a lot of new employees joining the company lately?"

Xu Xingxing smiled and asked in return.

"Huh? Really? Doesn't Pinduoduo bring in dozens of new employees every day?"

Zhang Yi was slightly taken aback, her mind still reeling, and she didn't understand the deeper meaning behind Xu Xingxing's words.

"You should spend less time shopping and watching TV shows after get off work, and more time attending company book clubs and training courses."

Xu Xingxing said helplessly.

the other side.

In the merchant operations department's office area, Yuan Weigang had just finished his work and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

With the mid-year sales season approaching, he is under considerable pressure.

After Zhang Yifeng was promoted, Chen Yansen promoted him to the position of department director with an annual salary of over two million yuan, which would have been considered a high-income group even among major internet companies in 2014.

Yuan Wei knew perfectly well that the position of director was essentially a test given to him by the boss.

If he can achieve results in this position, his position might be able to rise one step further, like Zhang Yifeng's, and be promoted to the general manager level.

"Mr. Yuan, a few of us are going out for dinner, would you like to join us?"

At this moment, Li Hui, Chen Xu, Hu Li, and Meng Xibo walked over and waved to Yuan Wei.

The so-called "eating out" actually means not going to the company cafeteria, but going to the nearby Wanda Mall.

Although the company cafeteria changes its menu frequently and the food is not bad, people always need to change their tastes.

Yuan Wei rubbed his throbbing temples, staring at the dense array of merchant data on the computer screen. When he heard Li Hui's voice, he turned around and saw Li Hui and several others standing not far away, each clutching a mobile phone and their employee badges.

“Okay.” Yuan Wei pressed the standby button and followed Li Hui and the others out of the science park.

Summer weather can change in an instant. Just a few minutes ago, it was pouring rain, but now the sun is shining brightly and the sky is clear.

As soon as I stepped out the door, a wave of heat mixed with the dampness of the rain hit me.

The puddles on the ground were steaming in the sunlight, reflecting off the glass curtain wall of the office building.

None of them drove; they just chatted and walked slowly toward the mall.

Because the total distance is less than 500 meters!
"Yesterday's single-day transaction volume was 57 billion, and tomorrow's sales target is 400 billion, which is almost double that of last year. I don't know if we can achieve it."

Chen Xu, with a Huangshan cigarette dangling from his lips, casually remarked.

"Brother Xu, smoke less! Your memory is failing you. Last year on June 618th, the total sales were only 121.7 billion."

Li Hui chuckled.

"Oh dear, I got it mixed up! The sales volume for Singles' Day was a little over 20 billion."

Chen Xu rolled his eyes at Li Hui, a hint of embarrassment on his face, and forced a smile.

"I don't think there's any problem. We sold over 14 billion yuan during the March 8th promotion. You know, our marketing expenses and traffic investment during the 618 promotion this time are several times that of the March 8th promotion."

In addition, Douyin and Kuaishou can also contribute more than 10 billion yuan in transaction volume.

Hu Li, who was walking on the innermost side, thought for a moment and said.

"By the way, the lock-up period is almost over, are you selling any shares?" Meng Xibo suddenly asked.

"Do not sell!"

Hu Li answered immediately. As one of the first employees of Pinbei, she has received numerous bonuses over the past three years, earning at least 20 months' salary each year, so she is not short of money at all.

Moreover, she had witnessed Chen Yansen's rise to prominence firsthand, and she believed in the boss's strength and the company's potential, thinking that the stock price might break through $200 per share in the future.

“I have about 3 shares that have been unfrozen. If I sell them, I can get 260 million US dollars. I will sell 5000 shares first to buy my parents a bigger house and a car.”

Li Hui slowly explained his plans.

These words struck a chord with Yuan Wei, who shared similar thoughts.

In his opinion, the housing prices in Luzhou are much cheaper than in Shanghai, and it would be best to buy a large apartment so that the whole family can live together.

Chen Xu and Meng Xibo also bought houses a long time ago, and more than one.

As for cars, the company has already provided each of them with a luxury car, with a price between 50 and 200 million yuan. As long as they don't leave the company, they can keep driving and using them.

Just as they were discussing Pinduoduo's stock and the 618 shopping festival, far away in Dougezhuang, Beijing, a bald, middle-aged man in a striped shirt held a mobile phone and remotely set up defenses, intending to encircle and annihilate Liu Qiangdong.

The reason is simple: JD.com climbed up the value chain by stepping on Gome, and took away most of the digital home appliance business.

At 3 p.m., Gome announced that it would invest another 1 billion yuan to implement a "lowest price across the board" mechanism!
If consumers find that the actual transaction price of large home appliances sold by Gome is higher than that on JD.com, they can receive a 100 yuan cash coupon with no minimum purchase requirement; if they find that the price is higher than on JD.com after purchasing, they will receive double the price difference and an additional 300 yuan cash coupon as compensation.

Upon learning this, Liu Qiangdong frowned slightly.

He was very familiar with this move!

Two years ago, during a major home appliance sales event, he used similar tactics to deal with Suning and Gome.

He just didn't expect that Gome would now turn around and imitate him, engaging in such vicious competition.

"Interesting! Mr. Huang, it's a pity your era has passed."

Liu Qiangdong snorted coldly, not taking Huang Guangyu seriously at all.

The Yangtze River's back waves push the front waves forward; as a newcomer, would he be afraid of the old ones?

Half an hour later, JD.com's official Weibo account posted a "call to arms," ​​inviting partners across the country to join the 618 shopping festival, claiming that everyone should lower prices and promote sales for the benefit of users and strive for consumer benefits.

The implication is that the 618 shopping festival is JD.com's anniversary, and Liu Qiangdong is the host.

This move easily leaves users with the impression that it is thanks to JD.com that various platforms offer discounted products.

"Ghostwriting! This stuff is practically free!"

Suning's Zhang Jindong was so angry that he cursed and immediately ordered the marketing department to issue a statement criticizing Liu Qiangdong, roughly saying: If you're so capable, give users cash or coupons instead of these empty tricks.

Then, Liu Qiangdong personally responded, announcing that he would distribute 10 billion yuan in shopping coupons on Douyin, Kuaishou, Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and Xiaohongshu.

No barriers to entry!
Starting from 0 yuan!
Simple and rude!
"Mr. Zhang, I suggest that Suning also issue 10 billion yuan, so that we can work together to promote the prosperity of the e-commerce industry! Of course, remember to ship the 10-yuan refrigerators first."

Liu Qiangdong called out from afar.

A 10-yuan refrigerator?
Handsome Dong immediately awakened many netizens' long-forgotten memories.

After a user purchased a product at a bugged price, Suning broke its promise and directly canceled the order in the backend.

"So Suning users are just going to be ripped off? If they buy something at a higher price, fine, but if they get something cheaper, they can just cancel the order?"

"For digital home appliances, JD.com is still the most reliable!"

"Pinbei is also good. It just launched a 30-day price guarantee for all categories, and the price guarantee period for large appliances and large furniture can even reach 365 days!"

"365 days? Holy crap, that's outrageous!"

On the eve of the 618 shopping festival, Huang Zheng quietly launched a price protection service for his products.

Take Orange phones as an example. The entire line is covered by a 30-day no-reason price guarantee. If the actual transaction price is 999 yuan, the price will drop to 989 yuan after 29 days.

Users can apply with a single click in the backend and receive the 10 yuan price difference immediately.

JD.com also has similar functions, but it has fewer product categories and a more complicated application process that requires communication with customer service, which increases the user's time cost.

Pinbei has integrated the "one-click price protection" function into the user's personal center, making it very easy to use.

For users, this can greatly reduce their concerns about placing an order.

Buy anytime, as there's a price guarantee for up to 365 days, spanning three major promotional events: 618, Double Eleven, and Double Twelve.

The topic of "Pinbei 365-day price guarantee" has been trending at a visible speed, breaking into the top ten trending searches in less than half an hour, with comments section full of netizens' amazement.

"Pinbei's move is too ruthless!"

"I bought a refrigerator from Tmall Mall a few days ago, and the price dropped. I spent ages trying to get a refund for the price difference from customer service, but they only offered to compensate me 10 yuan, even though the price difference was clearly 300 yuan!"

"Why go to Yaomao? Last time I bought a box of plums, they were all soft and not sweet at all. I contacted the seller, but they wouldn't even listen to me."

"I'm planning to renovate, looks like I'll have to order from a group-buying site! Even if the price drops later, I can still get the difference back, so it's a sure thing!"

Jinling, Suning headquarters.

Zhang Jindong's face looked very grim.

Originally, Liu Qiangdong and Gome were fighting, and he was thinking of reaping the benefits. However, Pinduoduo suddenly emerged and stole a lot of attention with its price protection policy. Meanwhile, Liu Qiangdong brought up old issues again and was criticized by netizens and became a trending topic.

Everyone's on the trending topics, but while some are cursing, others are calling Chen Yansen "Dad."

"Where's the marketing department? What's your response plan?"

Zhang Jindong called the head of the marketing department into his office and loudly questioned him.

At the same time, Ma Liyun was also holding a meeting with Zhang Yong to discuss the feasibility of implementing a price protection strategy on Yaomao Mall.

“Mr. Ma, it’s difficult to implement unless it’s a proprietary trading unit.”

Zhang Yong said with a frown.

In essence, both Pinduoduo and Yaomao are platform-based B2C business models, but they have different styles.

For the same product, Yaomao's regular price is more than 30% higher than Pinbei's. Then, by using coupons, the price is reduced to a level that is almost the same as Pinbei's.

This creates the illusion for users that it's a "big brand at a great price"!

Pinduoduo has always adopted a bottom-price strategy, usually offering no coupons. Occasionally, there might be instant discounts with red envelopes, but those are platform subsidies.

Therefore, the pricing system is relatively stable, with few significant price fluctuations, which is the main reason why Pinbei can launch "one-click price protection".

"If Pinbei can do it, then Ali can do it too."

Ma Liyun, too lazy to listen to Zhang Yong's explanation, gave the order in a firm tone.

Zhang Yong opened his mouth, but finally nodded in agreement.

He knows the saying "where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure," and merchants will likely keep creating new listings to deal with the platform's price protection feature.

Simply changing the product link will allow you to escape the price protection coverage.

There's no such thing as a secret that stays hidden forever.

(End of this chapter)