Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

Chapter 94 Surrounding the Cities from the Countryside (Please Subscribe!)

"Buzz buzz buzz".

The machines hummed in the workshop, and the conveyor belts fed apples into the sorting machines.

The fruit sorting machine sorts the fruit into different grades according to the size of the fruit diameter. Workers stand on one side of the production line and stack the sorted apples into cardboard boxes.

That's all.

Wang Haiyang pointed to several baskets of apples labeled "second-rate" in the corner.

"Don't be fooled by its appearance; it tastes almost the same."

"I'll try it."

Qin Feng bent down, picked one, took a bite, and found it wasn't as sour as he had expected.

Compared to large-diameter apples, the taste is not bad, it just lacks a little sweetness.

"I'll give it a try too."

Wu Mei also picked one up: "Emm, apart from being small and ugly, the taste is actually not bad."

Qin Feng wiped his mouth. "What's the price of this level three small fruit?"

Wang Haiyang replied, "From 1 yuan to 1.2 yuan."

"

Wu Mei estimated the costs of logistics and packaging, and said in a low voice, "Using apples of this size as a lead-in product, we can barely make a little profit."

Qin Feng tasted the industrial fruit again, his brows furrowing deeply. "President Wang, are you really not considering joining Pinduoduo?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Qin, I'm not considering it at the moment."

Wang Haiyang waved his hand: "As for procurement, if you need a large quantity, the price can be discussed further."

"Mr. Wang, are you worried that the apples listed on Pinduoduo won't sell?"

Qin Feng said earnestly, "Don't worry about that. With our YiTao G0 traffic, do you believe that Pinduoduo can sell out all the apples from these surrounding orchards very quickly?"

"Mr. Qin, my orchard isn't a huge amount, but it's not small either; it's at least 1 tons."

Wang Haiyang smiled and said, "If we calculate based on 3 jin per order, we'd need to sell at least 666 million orders. Can Pinduoduo handle that?"

"1 tons is definitely too much to handle in a short time, but 1000 tons might actually be achievable."

"Don't even mention 1000 tons, if you can sell 100 tons on Pinduoduo, I'll cooperate with you!"

"Mr. Wang, this is what you said."

Qin Feng, without changing his expression, said, "100 tons, 6.7 orders. If they're all sold out, would you be willing to join Pinduoduo?"

"Of course, who would be foolish enough to turn down money?"

Wang Haiyang was taken aback by those words. "But let me make this clear from the start: if there's no profit, I won't do it."

Qin Feng said confidently, "Then let's wait and see."

1

As dusk falls in Hangzhou, the sky is shrouded in the glow of the setting sun.

The results of Pinduoduo's first pre-sale have been fully compiled, and all staff members have begun to process the orders intensively.

Print shipping labels, sort and pack packages, contact courier for pickup —

Trucks from several express delivery companies, including STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express, were lined up in a row in front of the transit warehouse.

The deliveryman was increasingly surprised as he loaded the packaged rice, flour, cooking oil, ginger, and garlic into the truck.

"Now you can buy ginger and garlic online too?"

"Of course! Didn't you see what the internet says? This is one of Pinduoduo's flagship products."

-

"Seriously? How many kilograms of ginger and garlic would I have to sell to cover the shipping cost of just one order?!"

"Shh, don't just spout nonsense, let's get down to business."

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, wondering if Pinduoduo had gone mad or simply had too much money to spend.

Shen Mo stood at the window upstairs, glanced at the loading situation downstairs, and remained silent.

Just then, his cell phone rang in his pocket. He glanced at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Mineko, how's the situation?"

"Brother Mo, the negotiations are almost complete, now we're just waiting for you to finalize the decision."

Qin Feng told the whole story in detail.

Shen Mo then asked, "What's the lowest price per pound for the lower-grade fruit over there?"

Qin Feng replied, "It's four cents a pound, but that's industrial fruit. It's all used for canning, juicing, or feeding pigs."

"Industrial-processed fruit is definitely not acceptable. When these apples are delivered to your door, the customer can tell the quality as soon as they open the box."

Shen Mo said, "By then, the rate of order cancellations, complaints, and negative reviews will probably be faster than the rate of orders."

"That's what I think too."

Qin Feng said, "If Pinduoduo has just launched, and they use these industrial fruits to pass off as high-quality ones, their reputation will be completely ruined if it gets exposed."

Shen Mo smacked his lips. In his previous life, most e-commerce fruits were actually these kinds of industrial fruits, sold as premium fruits.

The promotional image showed large, round, 80mm fruits, but what was shipped were small, ugly 60mm fruits.

Some are even more cunning, simply making them into fruit platters. Since they all taste pretty much the same, you can't tell the difference unless you look closely.

"Let's use the small, grade 3 fruits that are around 70mm in size. Although they are not as good in appearance, they can at least be sold as fresh fruit."

"Brother Mo, if we need a large quantity of the grade 3 small fruit, we can get it for as low as 80 cents per pound."

"8 cents per pound, so three pounds would cost 2.4 yuan."

Shen Mo carefully calculated the costs: "The express delivery agreement price is 2.7 yuan, the three-layer corrugated cardboard fruit box is 1.5 yuan, and with the labor cost for packing, it will cost seven or eight yuan in total."

"Brother Mo, that's true, but these are prices in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai area."

Qin Feng reminded him, "If we expand the scope of free shipping, the express delivery fee will rise to four or five yuan. Then, the 9.9 yuan free shipping package of grade 3 small fruits will definitely lose money, unless we mix industrial fruits into it."

"Fengzi, don't forget there are still losses."

Shen Mo stroked his chin. For fruits like apples, there is about 5% to 10% loss during transportation.

In other words, on average, one out of ten boxes is defective, which means a loss of one dollar in profit, not even counting returns.

"Yeah, Brother Mo, when you calculate it all, the profit margin for 9.9 yuan with free shipping is too thin. If you're not careful, you'll lose money."

Qin Feng suggested, "Mixing industrial-grade fruit is definitely not an option. How about we raise the price to 11.9 yuan with free shipping?"

"We don't need to change the price; we can expand our product range."

Shen Mo's mind raced. "Three catties of small fruit is still 9.9 yuan with free shipping. Fruit with a diameter of 7 to 7.5 centimeters is 15.9 yuan with free shipping for three catties. Fruit with a diameter of more than 7.5 centimeters is 19.9 yuan for three catties. If we want to sell, we'll sell grades one, two, and three together."

Qin Feng suddenly realized and said, "Brother Mo, you want to use small fruits to drive traffic, medium fruits to generate profits, and large fruits to build reputation?"

""

Shen Mo said, "Yes, and once we get the volume up and running, we can try to bypass the agency and connect directly with the cooperative."

"Brother Mo, the cooperative is still too small-scale right now—"

Qin Feng offered a reminder.

"I know what you're trying to say."

Shen Mo interrupted, "But as long as our order volume is large enough, we might be able to integrate these loose small cooperatives, help them upgrade their industries, and help them unify standards, packaging, and branding. This is much more reliable than the one-off deals of agencies."

Then, as if remembering something, she added, "And it's a wonderful thing that 'helps farmers,' don't you think?"

"That makes sense!"

Qin Feng pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "However, dealing with cooperatives is different from dealing with agencies. We need to gain the villagers' trust. Simply signing contracts and paying deposits isn't enough; we might need to send someone to stay in the area as a hostage."

"Perfect!"

Shen Mo agreed, "Have this hostage keep a close eye on things, control the quality, and prevent some villagers from cheating and passing off inferior goods as superior ones."

After ending the call, I opened my contacts, found Yuan Hua's number, and dialed it.

"Pinduoduo will soon be offering pre-orders for Apple products, and we need to coordinate with 'Everyday Farm' to ensure a smooth collaboration."

"Users can plant apple trees in the game, and after harvesting, they can exchange them for discount coupons for level 2 medium apples or level 1 large apples, ranging from one to three yuan."

"Okay, Brother Mo!"

Yuan Hua grinned and said, "If Pinduoduo can really make a profit, wow, the potential of this market is huge, and it's a blue ocean that neither Taobao nor Jingdong has ever touched."

"As the great man said, there is much to be done in the vast countryside."

Shen Mo gazed at the setting sun, a resolute glint in his eyes.

Isn't this a different kind of rural-to-urban strategy? Ali Baba, are you ready?

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