Reborn in 08, a heretical cultivator starting a business

Chapter 209 Vipshop Achieves Godhood, Major Brands Line Up to Give Away Money! (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

"During the Spring Festival, other online platforms almost shut down, and offline stores had already stocked up on goods."

"These trucks are coming and going so frequently; they can only be restocking for Vipshop!"

"It seems Hisense TVs are selling very well during Vipshop's Home Appliance Carnival!"

"That's right, if TCL doesn't follow suit, it will be completely crushed by Hisense."

"Okay, contact Vipshop immediately. We also need the first row of advertising space. If the first row isn't available, then the second row will do. Money is not an issue; we can't afford to lose face."

"We will also contribute 1000 TCL TVs to participate in Vipshop's Home Appliance Carnival."

Fotile headquarters.

Old Dong slammed his fist on the table in anger: "The boss is already advertising on Vipshop, what are these idiots in the marketing department doing?"

"We at Fotile can't beat the boss? That's fucking shameful."

"Contact Vipshop as soon as possible. Fotile will also contribute 1000 range hoods and stoves, invest 800 million yuan, and provide a share of the incremental revenue to advertise on Vipshop!"

Similar scenes were simultaneously unfolding at the headquarters of brands such as Skyworth and Changhong.

Everyone is very optimistic about Vipshop's electronics shopping festival.

Especially when you see top brands and competitors participating while you're left out, how can that be acceptable?
I immediately contacted Vipshop to follow up.

Tang Zhi was in high spirits after reading his subordinate's report, and immediately dialed Wang Junshan's number:
"Boss, you're incredibly insightful."

"The brands we carefully selected have all had very good results."

"In addition, with the huge success of Vipshop's home appliance carnival, brands such as Rongsheng, AUX, TCL, Skyworth, Changhong, Fotile, and Little Bear have contacted us to do promotions, buy advertising space, and launch various products to participate in our Vipshop home appliance carnival."

"That's the rhythm we're aiming for," Wang Junshan said with a smile.

Initially, he only selected one brand in each field, which made other competitors uneasy and they would quickly follow suit.

For example, Hisense was chosen in the TV industry, and sure enough, TCL, Skyworth, and Changhong did not want to fall behind, so they all followed suit.

After choosing Robam for kitchen appliances, Fotile couldn't sit still any longer.

With Haier chosen for its refrigerators, Rongsheng couldn't sit still any longer.

We chose Gree for our air conditioners, and Aux also wants to participate.

Should we pick it up?

"Take it all. There's no need to refuse money they're giving us."

Wang Junshan laughed and said, "Moreover, these brands also provide 1000-2000 free home appliances, which can make the carnival more valuable and extend its duration."

"We should also receive an increased share of the profits; we can definitely earn more."

"There are still too few people buying home appliances online. Our carnival can only attract more users to choose online shopping and Vipshop to buy home appliances by continuously increasing its value, discounts, and duration."

"Once people develop the habit of online shopping, things will be much easier. Vipshop's market for large home appliances will then be fully opened up."

Just like JD.com in its previous life, it didn't sell many large home appliances at the beginning.

Everyone is spending money offline.

However, with JD.com's continuous development, its efforts in logistics, quality, and service have led to more and more users preferring to buy home appliances from JD.com.

The simplest way is to buy home appliances from JD.com's self-operated stores and flagship stores. The authenticity is guaranteed, and the prices are much lower than offline. If there are any problems, you can return or exchange them within seven days without giving a reason.

But what about offline?
Forget about the seven-day no-reason return policy, not even one day is allowed!

Once sold, returns and exchanges are not accepted unless there is a quality issue.

Unless you pay more!

For example, if you return a refrigerator that costs 2,000 yuan and exchange it for one that costs 3000 yuan, that's negotiable.

If you want to return an item and get an exchange at the original price, that's difficult.

JD.com offers lower prices, better service, and even extended warranties!
This has led to more and more people buying home appliances online.

For example, in his previous life, Wang Junshan had also tried out a smart home appliance from a new brand, but he was worried that the brand lacked the foundation and technological accumulation in home appliances and was just an OEM manufacturer, which might have design flaws, poor quality control, and breakage after the warranty expired.

Products costing thousands or tens of thousands of yuan break down after two years of use, and when repairs are done, they say the motherboard is faulty. They say the cost is too high and it's better to buy a new one. That's really disgusting.

Therefore, Wang Junshan decisively purchased a five-year extended warranty and a six-year extended warranty.

Believe it or not, several products have already started using it.

The most serious issue was with a 4K laser TV, which I bought in 2018 for 14999 yuan. Shortly after the warranty expired, it started exhibiting occasional display abnormalities. Even after returning it to Wang Junshan for extended warranty repair, they couldn't find the problem.

After using it for a while, the display became seriously malfunctioning, so it was sent back for repair a second time. The faulty display chip was confirmed, and a new chip was installed.

After it was repaired, I thought everything was fine, but it broke down again after about a year!

It was sent back for repair again, but the chip still showed a fault!
Wang Junshan didn't know whether it was a product problem or a defective display chip!
In less than five years, it went through three major upheavals.

Luckily, it comes with a five-year extended warranty; otherwise, a single repair would cost over a thousand dollars, and we wouldn't even know how long it would last!

But if we don't repair it, it's a waste that a 15,000 yuan appliance will break down after only two or three years.

Similar problems will be very common in the home appliance industry ten years from now.

As for the reason, some brands have the strength to last for ten years without breaking down, but in order to force users to replace appliances frequently, they adopt a planned scrapping strategy, making home appliances scrapped after four or five years!
This strategy is rare now, but it will be very common in ten years.

This is why consumers clearly feel that home appliances ten years later are of significantly lower quality than those today.

For example, TVs made before 2020, no matter how cheap, can probably last seven or eight years without any problems. At most, the configuration might be low and they might lag.

However, televisions manufactured after 2020, no matter how expensive, are very likely to break down one or two years after the warranty expires.

It's planned scrapping!
Of course, there are also some new brands that are not planned to be scrapped, but are simply due to poor technology and quality control, and break down before the warranty expires.

Even before the warranty expires, the failure rate is already very high.

Regardless of the type, purchasing a five-year extended warranty is a good option.

And this is Vipshop's big weapon that will be launched soon – extended warranty service!
Offline stores offer one-year or two-year warranties, while Vipshop offers extended warranties for an extra tens or hundreds of yuan, making it easy to purchase a five-year extended warranty.

With no worries for the next five or six years, users will naturally support Vipshop more and choose to shop on Vipshop!
This will be a major strategic move by Vipshop to compete with offline retailers for market share in the future.

The most important thing right now is not how much money Vipshop makes from large appliances, but to get consumers to accept online shopping and develop the habit of online shopping.

By acquiring more users and market share, Vipshop can naturally generate a continuous stream of profits.

Therefore, Vipshop's Home Appliance Carnival must be expanded and sustained!

Tang Zhi understood Wang Junshan's meaning:
"Boss, I'll agree to all of them. But there's one more company, Midea, that wants to participate too."

"Midea is willing to pay 30 million yuan in advertising fees, 5% of the incremental revenue share, and 1000 Midea air conditioners and 1000 Midea refrigerators, just to get a first-row advertising spot."

"First-row advertising space? He's dreaming!"

Wang Junshan laughed and said, "Don't even mention 30 million, 50 million won't do."

"This matter with Midea is not so easy to resolve."

"If we let this slide too easily, then other brands will take Vipshop for granted again!"

"Follow Alibaba again and take down Vipshop!"

“Yes, that’s what I think too,” Tang Zhi said with a smile.

If you're going to establish authority, then establish it to the very end.

We must not give up halfway for the sake of 30 million.

Subsequently, Tang Zhi quickly responded to the cooperation applications from several other brands and agreed to them all.

Unfortunately, there were no seats available in the first and second rows.

There are three brands in the first row and four in the second row. There won't be any more, and it won't change this year.

Only the third and fourth rows of advertising space are available...

However, it still costs eight million in advertising fees plus a 2% share of the incremental revenue, as well as sponsorship activities.

The location will be determined based on the signing date.

Whoever signs the contract and makes the payment first will be scheduled first.

As you can imagine, the major brands were shocked and quickly arranged for their finance departments to make direct payments to secure the slots!
The price is the same for all rows. Those who pay first can get a third row, while those who pay later can only get a fourth row.

That evening, Vipshop received a total of 6400 million yuan in advertising fees from eight brands: Rongsheng, AUX, TCL, Skyworth, Changhong, Fotile, Galanz, and Little Bear.

Thus, Vipshop's Home Appliance Carnival has already received 1.26 million yuan in advertising fees at the very beginning!
With the added revenue sharing to come, the future looks incredibly bright!
There's no way around it; these days, big brands all have marketing budgets.

If this budget were allocated to other platforms or offline channels, the money might be spent, but the incremental growth might not be significant.

But it's a different story when it comes to the collaboration between Vipshop and WeChat Farm.

Not only did brand awareness increase significantly, but sales and profits also surged.

It will be even more effective in seizing the online market and gaining a competitive advantage!
Major brands clearly see and understand that the online market has enormous potential and low costs.

It's difficult to increase market share offline; it requires huge investments and constant store openings.

Alternatively, one could establish connections by paying an entry fee and accepting a 20%-30% commission from offline retailers such as Gome and Suning.

These are all bottomless pits.

But it's not that complicated online.

Vipshop's self-operated group purchasing always involves large-scale purchases, leading to a surge in sales for brands.

Vipshop's brand direct-operated stores are operated by the brands themselves, with Vipshop only taking a 5% commission and keeping the rest of the profits.

Even if you participate in the home appliance shopping festival, and Vipshop takes a 2%-3% cut of the increased sales, it's only 7%-8%!

Compared to the 20%-30% commission charged by offline domestic channels like Suning, this is incredibly fair.

More importantly, offline settlements often take 90 days, or even half a year.

For Vipshop's self-operated stores, KA (Key Account) customers settle accounts on T+15 days, while other brands only need to settle accounts on T+30 days.

That's incredibly generous.

As for Vipshop's brand-owned stores, WeChat Pay immediately settles the payment to the brand's own account after the consumer confirms receipt, which is more ethical.

Is it about extracting 20%-30% commission, with T+90 or T+180 days, and investing in a bottomless pit of offline profits?

Or are they still focusing on a 5% commission, with T+15 days or T+30 days, and investing very little in online services?
All the major brands are well aware of this.

This is why major brands are giving their full support to Vipshop's Home Appliance Carnival and are scrambling to secure spots.

A fair pricing system, a perfect matrix of hundreds of millions of monthly active users, social features, games, e-commerce, and payment—that's the guarantee!

It's fair to say that all major brands are eager for Vipshop to become a leading online home appliance retailer, so that consumers will buy their appliances online!
This way, brands can reduce the pressure from offline channels and thus earn more money!
Vipshop became a legend because of this, and major brands lined up to offer money and seek cooperation!

However, Vipshop did not respond to Midea's request.

An adult's refusal is the best form of rejection.

This could be considered a final act of dignity. Mei felt deeply melancholy about it, yet there was nothing she could do.

Even with a high enough price offered, Wang Junshan remained unmoved.

This kept Fang Bo awake all night.

Can't sleep, can't sleep at all.

The situation developed in a way that completely exceeded his expectations.

It was out of control from the very beginning!

Fang Bo even felt that he had misjudged Vipshop's development and the potential of the online market!
They thought that Midea was invincible because of its strong offline market and channels.

But that's not how it is at all!
But unfortunately, it was all too late!
The next day, Lunar New Year's Eve, Vipshop's home appliance carnival became even more lively, with transaction volume surging.

Holidays and festivals are peak seasons for replacing home appliances.

After a year of hard work, when we're usually frugal, we have to make some money for the New Year.

We need to buy things we don't have at home.

Outdated items at home need to be replaced with new, better ones.

Some people not only have to change, but they also have to show it off.

They flaunt their purchases, posting on social media to show off their new LCD TVs and air conditioners, mentioning discounts of 30% or 20%, how much money they saved, and how great they are.

Those who prefer a low-key approach wait for relatives and friends to visit their homes for the New Year, subtly showcasing their wealth.

In 2009, few people bought houses or cars; replacing high-end large appliances was considered a significant event.

Of course, ten years later, this will be insignificant.

But in 2009, it was still quite influential.

Seeing friends on WeChat Moments buying such good brand TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners at prices several hundred or even thousands lower than offline prices, other friends were also very interested and came to ask how to do it and how to get the coupons!

As a result, I also started playing "WeChat Farm", checking in for prizes, getting a new year membership, and shopping on Vipshop!

This Vipshop Home Appliance Carnival not only brought a carnival of home appliances and Vipshop itself, but also a carnival of annual members of "WeChat Farm"!
In the past, the membership rate of "WeChat Farm" was only 6%.

Annual members account for approximately 3% of the total, contributing over 3 million RMB in annual membership revenue.

However, once the home appliance carnival was launched, many players began their annual subscription journey.

In just one day, the membership rate of "WeChat Farm" reached 6.6%, and the annual membership rate even reached 3.5%!

Although it only increased by 0.5%, it resulted in 50 new annual fee members and a total annual fee revenue of 4800 million.

Including revenue from non-annual members, the total exceeds 6000 million.

In just one day, membership fees increased by 6000 million!
This money-making ability is terrifyingly powerful.

There's no way around it; during the carnival, annual members are guaranteed at least three chances to win prizes every day, and the benefits are just too numerous and tempting.

Forget about 50% off coupons or 70% off coupons, even a simple 80% off coupon for large appliances or 85% off coupons for new products can save you hundreds of yuan, which will break even and make you quite a profit.

Therefore, no one cares about the annual fee of 96 yuan for WeChat Farm!
Everyone wants more chances to win prizes and get more good stuff.

Especially when I see my friends and family winning 15% off coupons for new products, buying large appliances and saving hundreds of dollars, I'm truly envious.

In addition, with the large number of 20% and 15% off coupons offered during this home appliance shopping festival, the sales rate was very high.

This actually further fueled everyone's enthusiasm for consumption!
Wang Junshan calculated it clearly.

Currently, the vast majority of people buy large appliances offline because they feel that online shopping is unreliable and troublesome, and they can't change their mindset.

To this end, Wang Junshan directly launched the Vipshop Home Appliance Carnival, which not only gave away tens of thousands of home appliances for free, but also offered a large number of 50% and 70% off coupons.

There are also an incredible number of 20% off coupons and 15% off coupons for new products!

The goal is to stimulate mass consumption and attract consumers to buy home appliances online!

With discounts of 20% and 50%, prices are 15% to 20% cheaper than offline prices, making it hard for consumers not to be tempted!

A Haier refrigerator that costs 3000 yuan offline can be purchased for only 2400 yuan with an 80% discount coupon on Vipshop, a full 600 yuan cheaper!

With such a large price difference, you could buy a twin-tub washing machine!
Users who originally didn't want to buy large appliances online couldn't resist placing orders on Vipshop.

There's no way around it, Vipshop is just too cheap!
In 2009, a price difference of 600 yuan was almost half a month's salary for many people, so it was impossible for them not to care.

In addition, Vipshop offers brand-specific stores, after-sales service, and installation, which gives consumers peace of mind.

After some inquiries, it was discovered that many users who had never considered buying large appliances online have started purchasing them from Vipshop.

Whether in the city or in the town, once someone places an order, the news spreads quickly to everyone in the surrounding area.

Others, seeing that it was indeed cheap and guaranteed authentic, would also place an order.

This is definitely a case of user growth through viral marketing.

This is Wang Junshan's original intention in launching Vipshop's Home Appliance Carnival: to make everyone trust Vipshop and experience Vipshop shopping!

To ensure consumers can buy at affordable prices and use with peace of mind.

Consumers loved the 15% discount on new products and the 20% discount on older products, leading to a surge in sales.

Brands also make a profit; by selling small amounts of goods at high volume, they can earn a lot.

Similarly, Vipshop can earn more commission, gain more users, and achieve higher daily active users, transaction volume, and profits.

This can be described as a win-win situation for all three parties.

As a result, during the entire Spring Festival, netizens had an extra activity besides celebrating the New Year: planting vegetables and winning prizes in the WeChat Farm game, with the chance to buy home appliances.

Seeing the ever-increasing transaction volumes of Vipshop and YouTuan.com, Future Technology was in high spirits.

Even Wang Junshan happily watched the Spring Festival Gala with his parents.

The Spring Festival Gala these days is still watchable.

However, things are looking bleak for Taobao Mall.

Wang Junshan's series of questionable moves led to a surge in users and a rapid increase in daily active users for Vipshop and YouTuan.com.

In just the last two days, WeChat Farm, which originally had only 6000 million daily active users, has surged to 9000 million daily active users.

Vipshop originally had 6000 million monthly active users, but only 800 million daily active users.

That's right, just that little.

Even Taobao, which previously only had 2000 million daily active users.

However, thanks to Vipshop's logistics and home appliance shopping festival, Vipshop's daily active users on New Year's Eve have soared to 1300 million!
Taobao Mall's daily active users have been drastically reduced.

Previously, Taobao Mall had 120 million daily active users, but now it only has 40.

There's nothing we can do, the customers have all left!

Vipshop's next-day and two-day delivery services have severely impacted Taobao Mall's seven-day and ten-day delivery services, causing Taobao Mall's daily active users to plummet to 70.

Now that Vipshop's home appliance carnival has been launched, Taobao Mall's daily active users have plummeted to 40 again.

This infuriated Jack Ma.

I lost all interest in watching the Spring Festival Gala, and I couldn't even eat my New Year's Eve dinner.

Instead, he locked himself in his room, pacing anxiously back and forth, but there was nothing he could do.

I had planned to hold a video conference with other senior executives to discuss countermeasures.

Unexpectedly, the internet was so slow on New Year's Eve that I couldn't video chat at all.

In the end, Jack Ma had no choice but to give up on the video conference and continue pacing back and forth, sighing.

Jack Ma is destined to have a bad year.

A number of Alibaba executives are also having a hard time.

Even Alibaba employees, seeing their friends, relatives, and even family members stealing virtual vegetables to buy new memberships, drawing discount coupons, and buying home appliances on Vipshop, felt a sense of being surrounded by enemies and that Alibaba's future was bleak.

There's even a feeling that Taobao Mall is going to collapse!
The next-day delivery service offered by YouTuan.com's community group buying platform is a major blow to Taobao!
As a result, many employees have become even more determined to switch jobs to Vipshop, and those who acted quickly have already made internal referrals.

Midea's senior executives also had a difficult time this year.

Even on New Year's Eve, Midea's headquarters remained brightly lit.

All the senior executives gathered together, their brows furrowed in worry.

Fang Bo's expression was somewhat complicated: "Did you get the data? How effective was Vipshop's home appliance shopping festival this time?"

Vice President Cui Xing sighed: "We can't get the exact data, but we do have a lot of fairly accurate data."

"Based on our on-site presence at the factory and some unconventional tactics, we can preliminarily determine that Gree air conditioner sales on Vipshop have increased by at least 20% in the past two days!"

"Haier refrigerators are about the same, as are Suppor, Joyoung, and Robam, all of which have seen considerable growth."

"Wang Junshan's Vipshop Home Appliance Carnival is really impressive."

"Our Midea has been isolated, which is a huge loss!"

"Yes, let's cooperate as soon as possible, otherwise we will be completely surpassed by Gree and Haier."

Cui Xing sighed: "The issue now is not whether we want to cooperate or not, but that Vipshop won't cooperate with us!"

"what?"

The crowd's expressions changed several times: "We've already offered 30 million in advertising fees, a 5% share of the incremental revenue, 2000 air conditioners and refrigerators, and participated in promotions with Vipshop, and they still won't agree? They still won't let us go?"

"Damn it! Wang Junshan's behavior is just too arrogant."

“Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them. We’re willing to offer 30 million and a 5% share of the incremental revenue as compensation, but Wang Junshan is still not backing down? What does he mean? What does he want?”

"Wang Junshan's appetite is too big, isn't it? Does he really want a hundred million?"

"This is insane! It's absolutely insane!"

"Sigh! But to be fair, Wang Junshan has the right to be arrogant."

“We all thought that Vipshop’s home appliance carnival would not be successful, because large appliances are hard to sell online.”

"And the result? Now, truckloads of goods are being rapidly shipped out from Gree and Haier's factories and delivered to Vipshop's various warehouses."

"The inventory that was piling up during the economic crisis is almost cleared out."

"And then there's Xiaoya. The Jeju headquarters keeps adding production lines and won't stop production during the Lunar New Year. To further increase production capacity, they've also leased a workshop from Qilu Pharmaceutical for final assembly. Including their newly acquired Xinle Electric Appliances, they're working overtime to keep up with demand, and there's simply not enough to meet the demand."

"And what about us, the beautiful ones?"

"The factory closed for the holidays early, the inventory is not selling, and the production line has been shut down for a long time."

"The start date after the Lunar New Year has been delayed again and again. The excuse is to let the employees rest more."

"Actually, isn't it just that there's too much inventory and it can't be sold, so they have to postpone the start of production?"

(End of this chapter)