Chapter 197: Chapter 180: Dragging Penguin into the Water

Wang Zihao then briefly covered their recent promotional plans, scale, and output. After the Nela Xin strategy was on track, Chen Yansen had reduced spending on external traffic acquisition, instead investing in the more effective zero-yuan bargain feature.

"Alright, let’s stop here for now."

After hearing him out, Chen Yansen abruptly stood up, signaling an end to the meeting.

Back in his office, Chen Yansen had just sat down when he received a call from Liu Zhiping.

"Congratulations to Pinbei for breaking into the top three e-commerce platforms," Liu Zhiping said with a smile.

"Brother Martin, what’s top three? Only being number one will feel like a real achievement."

Chen Yansen replied with a laugh.

In 2011, the Ah Li companies’ total annual sales reached a staggering 600 billion, while Jingdong’s was just over 100 billion. The sales of Amazon, Yihaodian, Dangdang Network, Vancl, and Yixun all combined didn’t even amount to a fraction of Ah Li’s.

To put it bluntly, Ah Li completely dominated the e-commerce sector at the time.

"Being number one is easier said than done," Liu Zhiping chuckled wryly.

Paipai Network, in which he and Ma Wenteng had placed such high hopes, couldn’t even crack the top ten e-commerce platforms anymore. Forget challenging Ah Li; even Red Child, a company looking to be acquired, had sales figures that far surpassed Paipai Network’s.

Chen Yansen just smiled and said nothing. ’He’d said it long ago. That failure Zheng Chunbin would only make Paipai Network’s market share smaller and smaller.’

"Gaopeng Network is preparing to shut down," Liu Zhiping said, bringing up a new topic when Chen Yansen didn’t respond.

’Backed by two giants—Groupon, the original group-buying site, and Penguin—they still managed to run the project into the ground in less than a year. It just went to show that Gaopeng’s upper and middle management were a bunch of good-for-nothings.’

"Don’t tell me you want me to take it over, Brother Martin?" Chen Yansen asked with a smile, having read between the lines.

"Pony did have that in mind, but he was worried you’d be too busy. So he asked me to see if you have any interest in the O2O industry. Penguin can provide the money and resources to establish a new company on Gaopeng’s foundation."

Liu Zhiping asked tentatively.

The successive failures of Paipai Network, Gaopeng Network, and QQ Group Buy had made him and Ma Wenteng realize one thing: the deciding factor for a project’s success was the person steering the ship.

Chen Yansen, with his string of victories, was undoubtedly the best candidate for the job.

"But I’m more optimistic about the food delivery sector," Chen Yansen replied.

’He had no interest in wading into those muddy waters before a clear winner emerged from the group-buying wars. It was a waste of time, energy, and money, and on top of that, their business models weren’t even on the right track.’

’As he saw it, the group-buying sites of the time weren’t creating any real value. Besides expanding a merchant’s operating area and customer base, they actually compressed the profit margins of the restaurant industry.’

’It was hardly what you’d call a good business!’

’But food delivery was different. If he introduced the forward warehouse model and combined it with the right food delivery strategies, he could completely disrupt the current e-commerce landscape.’

"Food delivery?" Liu Zhiping was taken aback. He had heard that Chen Yansen had invested in a food delivery website called Kuai Pao, but he’d lost interest after learning about its model.

"Food delivery and group buying are fundamentally the same type of product, but the food delivery business model is far superior. Take a Haidilao hot pot meal set, for instance. On a group-buying site, the customer still has to go to a physical store to redeem it, whereas food delivery brings it right to their door."

Chen Yansen deliberately oversimplified, using the highest-volume dining category as his example. He stated plainly that features like group-buying vouchers and meal sets could all be implemented within a food delivery platform’s ecosystem.

’If no one pointed out these seemingly simple strategies, it would be another five or six years before anyone else thought of them.’

Liu Zhiping smiled. He understood that food delivery and group buying did have similarities, but for things like hospitality, travel, entertainment, and other services that required an in-person experience, food delivery could never replace group buying.

"So, President Chen is suggesting that Penguin should give up on local lifestyle services and invest in Kuai Pao instead?"

Liu Zhiping asked with a smile.

"That will depend on what Mr. Ma and President Liu think. All I can say is that I’ll be pouring more of my own energy and capital into the food delivery industry," Chen Yansen said noncommittally.

’If Kuai Pao had access to Penguin’s traffic resources, it would get off to a much faster start.’

’And if Ma Wenteng wasn’t interested, Chen Yansen didn’t particularly care.’

"I’ll speak with Pony first and let you know what he says. On another note, Chen Jiahai from Quanfeng Express wants to meet with you to talk about United Yun Su and taking on the Three Passes and One Reach."

Liu Zhiping said after a moment of thought.

’Chen Jiahai?’

’Isn’t he part of the Three Passes and One Reach group?’

’Chen Yansen recalled that Liu Zhiping had mediated a dispute with them before. The other party had wanted Clound Speed to raise its base delivery fee back to the original price. It seemed the rumors that Penguin had invested in Quanfeng Express were almost certainly true.’

"Have him get in touch with Liao Wei. I’ll give Liao Wei a heads-up." Chen Yansen was willing to defer to Liu Zhiping on this matter.

Having received his answer, Liu Zhiping hung up.

Chen Yansen put down his phone and called Wang Teng, telling him to arrange a new product launch event as soon as possible, aiming to release the Orange C2 and Orange D1 to the market before the Spring Festival.

"Okay, Brother Sen. I already sent out invitations to the suppliers and President Zhou from Digital Sky Technology last week. The date is set for January 6th, and the venue is the same as before: the top-floor banquet hall at the Sky Garden," Wang Teng replied immediately.

"You’re hosting this time," Chen Yansen instructed.

"Me?" Wang Teng was stunned.

"Don’t forget, you’re also drawing the salary of the Marketing Department Director," Chen Yansen teased.

"Alright, no problem!" Wang Teng gritted his teeth and agreed.

’Orange Technology had already established a firm foothold in the industry, so there was no need for him to continue serving as its public face. Tying the product’s marketing to the boss’s personality was a double-edged sword: succeed, and you become a Rebus; fail, and you become a Dong Mingzhu.’

’If your public persona collapses, the product is done for!’

’Stepping back now and delegating the work to Wang Teng would lighten his own load considerably. After all, it wasn’t as if he was indispensable for the new product launch.’

「At the same time.」

After a month of aggressive hiring and expansion, Kuai Pao finally moved beyond Jade Lake University City and into the white-collar market, putting it on the same starting line as Eleme.

At the intersections of Huaihe Road Pedestrian Street, the University City, Sangxiaokou, and Yuan Yi Times Square, many part-time university students stood in the cold wind, handing out flyers to passersby.

"Kuai Pao Treats You to a Free Meal!"

The ad copy was incredibly appealing: new users got an instant 12-yuan discount on their first order with free delivery. This meant you could get Luzhou’s hottest items, like Fangyan Roasted Pig’s Trotter and Kawangka Milk Tea, for free.

"Hey, man! What’s this Kuai Pao? Can you really get free food?"

A young man who had taken a flyer asked curiously.

"Ever heard of Orange Mobile Phone or Pinbei Mall? Kuai Pao has the same boss. The company’s rock-solid; this is definitely not a scam."

Seeing the interest, the student handing out flyers quickly gave his assurance.

"Free Kawangka? For real?"

Seeing this, other passersby couldn’t help but gather around. They asked for flyers and immediately scanned the QR code to download the app.

「Meanwhile.」

In Luzhou’s business district, an area dense with office buildings, many street-level promoters were also at work. They stood at the entrances to office parks, holding flyers and pitching Kuai Pao’s new customer promotion to the office workers coming and going.