America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 469 Shopping Card

For Selena Carson, the CFO of Flash Sale, every night lately has become a difficult battle against anxiety.

As the core person in charge of the company's financial system, she knows better than anyone how severe the financial crisis Flashbuy is currently facing.

Whenever the night is quiet and Selena closes her eyes, the terrifying scene of the Flashbuy funding chain breaking uncontrollably appears in her mind. These images are so real that they often wake her up from her sleep.

To her surprise, Ernst found a solution just two days after she told him about the financial situation.

It's not about raising funds, but about launching a shopping card specifically for flash sales.

Ernst's image was clearly displayed on the projection screen at the front of the conference room. However, due to the limited network signal, the image clarity was slightly insufficient, and there were occasional brief stutters. But this did not affect everyone's discussion of the meeting content.

After reviewing the documents in front of her, Selena looked up at the screen. "So you plan to have users deposit money into our flash sale in advance, using these shopping cards to help us recoup our funds sooner?"

Ernst smiled upon hearing this, waved his hand, and slowly said, "Why not?"

"Once, when I was helping my mother, Siweini, choose a birthday present, I remembered that she always reminded me that she had everything she needed and that I shouldn't buy anything to take back home."

"But it was her birthday that day, and she would inevitably feel disappointed if she came empty-handed."

"If we had a shopping card that we could use freely, we could solve this gift-giving dilemma."

This reminded Selena of her cousin who lives in Germany. Last year, when Selena celebrated her birthday, she could only send her birthday wishes by phone due to logistical limitations.

If there had been a flash sale card back then, wouldn't that have solved this problem perfectly?

If she had had this item back then, she would have bought one without hesitation and given it to her cousin, letting her choose the gift she wanted.

With that in mind, Selena reopened the documents on the table. In addition to the specific plan for the flash sale card, there was also a simple user market survey.

Although the survey data was very limited, only covering the Los Angeles area, and due to time constraints, the data model only included a little over 1700 people, the high level of acceptance was undeniable.

Data shows that among the 18-35 age group, the acceptance rate of e-commerce shopping cards is as high as 93%, and the demand for gifting during holidays is almost unaffected by economic cycles.

Regardless of the economic situation, people always have the need to express their feelings and give gifts during holidays, and gift cards provide them with a flexible and practical option.

Another statistic concerns gift-giving dilemmas, showing that 72% of people have experienced the frustration of wanting to give a gift but not knowing the recipient's preferences.

"But who will bear the management costs of the fund pool? These prepayments are not the company's own funds; they are essentially funds temporarily held by users, who may redeem them for goods at any time. In the process of managing the fund pool, we need to invest manpower and resources in account management, fund supervision, and other tasks, all of which will incur corresponding costs."

Selena's question resonated with the other executives, who all nodded in agreement.

In business operations, having money is not necessarily a good thing; having too much money also incurs management costs.

After all, this money isn't being given to you for investment; the clients are just keeping it with you for now.

From a legal standpoint in the United States, this money cannot be used arbitrarily in a flash sale, but nobody cares about the law.

Despite the doubts of the crowd, Ernst appeared confident.

He smiled and explained, "There's no need to worry about the management costs of the fund pool at all, because in essence, this shopping card model is equivalent to us obtaining an interest-free loan from users. In some cases, we can even make a profit through it, so there are no so-called high management costs."

Ernst's words left the executives in the conference room looking puzzled, waiting for his further explanation.

Ernst continued, "Think about it carefully: after users buy shopping cards, the price of the goods they actually buy is often difficult to match the face value of the shopping card, and there will always be a certain amount of unredeemed balance."

"These balances may be just a few cents or a few dollars, but no matter the amount, they will eventually translate into our company's net profit. From this perspective, it's a sure-fire way to make money."

Everyone's eyes lit up; no one had expected this.

Yes, nowadays, goods are not sold in whole or fractional amounts, but shopping cards are sold in whole numbers.

Most products on the market are priced in non-integer forms such as $9.99 or $19.99, while gift cards can be set in integer denominations such as $50 or $100.

In this way, when users use shopping cards for purchases, an unredeemed balance will inevitably be generated.

For example, if a consumer buys five items priced at $19.99 each with a $100 gift card, the total cost would be $99.95, leaving a balance of $0.05 on the gift card.

Although this amount may seem insignificant, if the sales volume of shopping cards is large enough, the total accumulated balance will be quite considerable.

Moreover, most users tend not to care about these small balances of a few cents or dollars, which will eventually settle in the company's account and become net profit.

Everyone realized that this plan could not only quickly recover some funds for the company and alleviate the current financial crisis, but also open up a new profit growth point for the company.

While Ernst was having a video conference with Flashbuy executives to discuss shopping cards.

Craig met with Green at an upscale club in Los Angeles.

At first, Green thought the other party had suffered heavy losses in Utah and had even been taken to the police station to settle scores with him.

Although this matter had nothing to do with him, it was he who persuaded the other party to go to places like Utah to expand the market.

But when they met, they were surprised to find that Craig's face showed no sign of frustration or anger. Instead, it was beaming with an undisguised smile, as if he had made a fortune and was here to express his gratitude, rather than having suffered a loss in Utah.

The two sat down in the reserved private room. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Craig cut to the chase and asked Green, "You guys must be pretty short on cash right now, right?"

Green's brows furrowed involuntarily, but there was nothing to hide; it was evident from his recent behavior.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Green didn't answer Craig's question directly, but instead asked in return.

Craig picked up his wine glass, took a small sip of red wine, and put the glass down with a meaningful smile on his face. He said to Green, "I've found you a safe, high-volume, and extremely low-cost way to wash rice."

Craig's sudden act of kindness made Green feel somewhat awkward, but a safe, high-volume, and low-fee money laundering channel was undoubtedly extremely attractive to him.

So Green suppressed his unease and pressed Craig for details, asking, "What approach? How exactly does it work?"

Faced with Green's urgent questioning, Craig did not give an answer immediately. Instead, he smiled mysteriously, then held up one hand and gestured with three fingers, saying, "I need thirty million dollars as compensation for the losses I suffered in Utah."

"Are you dreaming?" Upon hearing this request, Green could hardly believe his ears, and his voice instantly rose several decibels.

"This is completely against the rules! The goods have already been delivered to you. Whatever happens afterward has nothing to do with us, and we have no reason to compensate you for your losses."

Craig's smile remained. "That's right. According to the rules, you have no obligation to compensate me."

"Let me put it another way: this 30 million US dollars is the consulting fee you paid for purchasing this money laundering channel."

Seeing that Green was staring at him without saying anything, Craig spoke again, "I can assure you that this money laundering channel has lower fees than any channel you have ever used before, and it can handle at least several billion dollars a year, which can fully meet your needs."

Craig's words undoubtedly presented a great temptation for Green.

If this channel is truly as the other party claims, then even paying a channel fee of 30 million US dollars would be very worthwhile in the long run.

After all, for money laundering businesses, security and efficiency are often more important than transaction fees, and a reliable channel can avoid countless potential risks and troubles.

However, it was clear that he didn't want to pay the thirty million. "Craig, we're all smart people, so let's not beat around the bush. We all know your actual losses in Utah; it's impossible for them to reach thirty million dollars."

"I can give you ten million US dollars as compensation for your principal loss. As for the profits you made in the early stages of this trip to Utah, I don't care how much they are; consider them your reward."

"Thirty million dollars." Craig showed no sign of backing down. He insisted on his demands, saying in an unquestionable tone, "All I know is that I lost up to thirty million dollars in potential profits because of this in Utah, so you have to compensate me that much."

"You're absolutely unreasonable!" Green was completely enraged by Craig's stubbornness. He slammed his hand on the table, braced his arms on the surface, leaned forward slightly, glared at Craig, and shouted.

Despite Green's anger, Craig remained unusually calm, not even lifting an eyelid, as if he had Green completely under his thumb.

Seeing Craig's attitude, Green's anger intensified. He gritted his teeth and said to Craig, "Aren't you afraid that your greed will lead you to make money but not have the life to spend it?"

Craig looked at Green, slowly shook his finger, and said with a hint of warning and confidence, "No. You should know very well that thirty million dollars is just a drop in the ocean for you. And you also know who's backing me. You won't lose your temper over such a small amount of money and cause big trouble."

"If you don't even have this much vision and magnanimity, then I really have to wonder if your uncle made you his liaison in America because he was confused and lost his mind."

Green sat down, but still glared at the other man.

As Craig said, it's not worth offending Ernst for such a small amount of money.

Moreover, even without Ernst, spending 30 million to buy such a channel would be entirely worthwhile, provided that the channel is truly as the other party claims.

What upset him was that this matter was linked to the Utah incident, making him feel as if he was being forced to pay the price for Craig's mistake, and that once this got out, he would lose face in the industry.

"I hope what you're saying is true, and that this money laundering channel is as safe, high-volume, and low-cost as you've promised."

"I guarantee it," Craig said with a satisfied smile as he saw Green finally relent, patting his chest. "If this channel doesn't meet the standards I've set, I guarantee I'll refund the full thirty million dollars to you."