Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

Early morning, third floor of the startup park.

"Brother Mo, within 18 hours of the group-buying event going live, more than 46000 new customers have registered through the event link."

Xu Kun, his face flushed with excitement, said, "Moreover, as the number of participants increases, the rate of expansion accelerates."

"At this rate, our total user base will surpass 30 today!"

Zhong Xue's tone also carried a hint of excitement.

"Avoid arrogance and impatience, and stabilize traffic."

Shen Mo smiled. For him, success was expected, while failure was the unexpected!

Opening the data backend and looking closely, although there were nearly 5 new users, the first-order conversion rate was only 14.2%.

Moreover, most people probably wouldn't place an order at all unless they were there for group buying or 1-yuan flash sales.

As for the weekly retention rate, although it increased by 2.3%, it still failed to break through the 15% mark.

New customers come in like a tide, but they also leave quickly – this is the fatal flaw of affiliate marketing e-commerce.

It neither generates traffic nor produces goods; it's just a typical e-commerce copycat. Once the campaign stops, it can only sit and wait to die.

But Shen Mo didn't care about any of that. In 2008, customer acquisition costs were low, and his unscrupulous marketing methods were enough to make him a fortune before the e-commerce model declined.

Moreover, while the subprime crisis was the worst time for most companies, it was the best time for e-commerce and sales associates.

Thinking of this, he looked at Lu Wenbin and said, "Tomorrow, you drive a car and come with me to Hangzhou East Railway Station to pick someone up."

"Brother Mo, you're using your private car for business purposes."

Lu Wenbin grinned. "So, who are you picking up?"

Shen Mo said calmly, "Manqing's father."

"what!"

Lu Wenbin exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Mo, you're so unconventional! Didn't you say you wouldn't even date a dog? And now you're asking me to meet your parents?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is one of our major clients on YiTaoGO."

Shen Mo glared at her and said righteously, "Her factory has tens of thousands of suits and skirts piling up. If we can take this order, the group-buying activity will definitely reach a new level and attract more second- and third-tier brands to cooperate."

"Okay, if you don't mind me being a third wheel, I'll be your free driver."

Lu Wenbin patted his chest and said, "I'll bring out my dad's Mercedes, it'll definitely give you a real status boost, how about that, pretty generous, right?"

………………

The next day, Hangzhou East Railway Station.

Du Zhou and his secretary, Xiao Li, squeezed out of the crowd, carrying their suitcases.

"Here! Here!"

Du Manqing waved as she spoke in Wenzhou dialect.

Du Zhou smiled and walked over, his gaze passing over his daughter and landing on the composed young man beside him.

Shen Mo extended his right hand and said, "Hello Uncle Du, I am Shen Mo, the person in charge of YiTao GO. Please take care of me in the future."

Du Zhou said, "I dare not presume to offer guidance. Manqing praised you to the skies on the phone, and now that we've met, you truly are a young talent."

"Dad, we're still at the station, let's get on the train quickly."

Du Manqing blushed slightly and stepped forward to tug at Du Zhou's sleeve.

"Haha, okay, okay, I won't say anymore."

Du Zhou and the others put their luggage in the trunk and then climbed into the back seat.

The car slowly pulled out of the station and merged into the morning rush hour traffic in Hangzhou.

"Shen Mo, I heard from Man Qing that your YiTao GO event was a great success, with sales reaching over 30 yuan. Congratulations!"

Du Zhou couldn't help but sigh, "When I was your age, I didn't even know what a computer was."

Shen Mo said, "Uncle Du, you flatter me. It's a blessing for us young people to have a chat with you, since you run a business and focus on real industries."

"Haha, let's learn from each other."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Du Zhou winked at Xiao Li, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

Xiao Li understood immediately and said, "President Shen, you said you could help our factory clear its inventory, but how exactly would you do that?"

Shen Mo smiled and said, "Uncle Du, you must be familiar with YiTao GO's group-buying program, right?"

"This is truly an amazing idea."

Du Zhou exclaimed in genuine admiration, "Could it be that the collaboration you're talking about is related to group buying?"

"That's right. Clothing is a visual product; only with sufficient exposure can we increase order volume."

Shen Mo spoke fluently: "You guys can set up a Taobao store like Manqing's, and then we can do a joint special sales event. I'll directly bring you millions of visitors..."

Looking in the rearview mirror, Lu Wenbin suppressed a laugh. Millions of views? Our YiTao GO user base probably doesn't even have a million yet!

Millions of views?

Special group-buying event?

Du Zhou frowned, thinking about how his daughter's online store had nearly 10,000 monthly sales thanks to YiTao GO, and he couldn't help but feel tempted.

But he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch, and Shen Mo must have imposed harsh conditions.

"What are your requirements for this collaboration?"

"Uncle Du, let me show you the supporting resources for this special event."

Shen Mo took out his laptop, opened it, and began to explain everything in detail using the PowerPoint presentation.

The website pop-up appears once a day, with an average daily page view (PV) of 30 and an average daily click of 9. The list price is 8 yuan.

The website features a dynamic floating window that is displayed all day long, with an average daily page view of 20 and an average daily click of 6. The list price is 5 yuan.

A professional brand event page, displayed all day, with an average daily page view of 20 and an average daily click of 6, with a list price of 6 yuan.

In addition, there are resource slots for search pages, personal centers, and secondary pages. All these miscellaneous costs add up to a total of 20 for GG.

Du Manqing was speechless. She looked at Du Zhou and saw him gasp, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

The garment factory has stockpiled tens of thousands of suits, skirts, shirts, and other garments, with a total cost exceeding several million.

Du Zhou pondered for a moment, then stroked his chin. "Shen Mo, I can afford this money, but you have to convince me that this 20 can generate more than 100 million in sales."

"How about this, for Manqing's sake, I can waive the 20."

Shen Mo's words startled Lu Wenbin. "Brother Mo, you're really going all out to pick up girls, you're even willing to give up money?"

Du Manqing and Du Zhou were also stunned for a moment. Shen Mo's generosity was completely unexpected.

"After all, you are YiTaoGO's first partner in this regard."

Shen Mo chuckled, "However, I hope to see your sincerity in terms of the scale of the event."

Du Zhou pressed further, "What kind of sincerity are you looking for?"

Shen Mo explained that the so-called special sale event was, in essence, just dumping traffic onto the event page.

The special page is divided into best-selling products and regular products. Best-selling products are responsible for attracting traffic, while regular products rely on the long tail effect to help brands make profits.

"Since you're so generous, as your uncle, I can't let you down!"

Du Zhou slapped his thigh and said, "How about this, I can offer 90% commission for limited-edition items, and I'll make up the remaining 10% through payment. For regular items, I'm willing to offer 30% commission."

"For regular products, I want a 70% commission."

Shen Mo shook his head, clearly not satisfied with Du Zhou's answer.

He personally negotiated the terms and even waived the 200,000 GG fee, only asking for 30%. What can that be used for?

Wouldn't that make us begging on our knees?

If sales are poor, it will be a loss of face for YiTaoGO, and how will it find second- or third-tier brands to cooperate with in the future?

"Isn't 70% a bit too high?"

Du Zhou shook his head, but didn't completely rule out the possibility, saying, "I can only offer a maximum of 40%."

"Uncle Shen, I'm here to help you!"

"This money isn't for YiTaoGO; it's your money I'm going to use to do your thing and clear out all this inventory for you."

Shen Mo's tone was both sincere and serious.

The subprime mortgage crisis hampered the export of domestic garments, and almost all garment factories were forced to sell off their stock at 3%, 2%, or even 1% of the original price to recoup their funds.

After all, as long as it can be converted into cash, even selling at a loss is better than letting it rot in the warehouse.

He's got that figured out!

Through this collaboration, Shenmo aims to make group buying, and even brand group buying in the future, a resounding success.

I can't give you an answer right away; I need some time to consider it.

Du Zhou weighed the pros and cons in his mind, his face showing a hint of caution.

"Of course, that's no problem."

Shen Mo put his laptop away. "Uncle Du, is it convenient for us to take the clothing samples back with us?"

Du Zhou readily agreed and gave Xiao Li a wink.

Xiao Li immediately took the clothes out of his bag and handed them over.

Du Zhou said, "These are the suits and skirts that our garment factory manufactures. Take a look."

"Uncle Du, could you remove the brand logo from this suit?"

Shen Mo had asked Lin Qingyan beforehand that the inventory contained the client's registered trademarks, and that unauthorized sales might infringe on trademark rights.

"Yes, I prepared an escape route from the beginning."

Du Zhou nodded and said, "We have signed an inventory disposal agreement with the brand, which allows us to remove the labels from unsold items and dispose of them ourselves."

"That's good."

Shen Mo carefully examined the fabric and workmanship. "Uncle Du, with such high-level OEM manufacturing, haven't you ever considered transitioning from OEM to a more specialized business?"

"Transformation!?"

This question struck a chord with Du Zhou, making his head buzz.