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Chapter 479 The Online Store Launches

June 8, 1998.

As the morning light of Philadelphia just began to spill over the skyscrapers in front of City Hall, the GG light boxes in the subway tunnels lit up with a unique glow.

Unlike the elaborate posters of perfumes and cars of the past, the GG pictures hanging on the subway platform today are all bright yellow, with the words "Flash Sale - Launching Today!" written in bold black font in the center.

There are different types of posters; some mainly promote clothing and shoes, some mainly promote home goods, and others promote pet supplies, but they all highlight two main points.

Flash sale.

Cheap.

At the very bottom of the poster, there is a small line of blue text: Log in and start your new shopping experience.

Because the colors are so vibrant, and the entire subway station is so uniform in its design, it's hard to ignore, and many people have stopped to take a look.

Some people were bored while waiting for the subway and walked around, wanting to see what products this flash sale website sold, as it seemed to have every category.

The subway train roared past, and when curious passengers entered the subway, they discovered that the portable TVs in the carriages were not playing the same old talk shows, but instead showing videos similar to those on the platform.

The camera first focuses on a golden retriever dozing on the carpet, then a Bichon Frise wearing a red bow tie comes bounding over, carrying a rubber bone that makes a bell sound in its mouth.

The scene shifts to shelves filled with all sorts of pet supplies, including dog kennels with cartoon designs, educational toys that automatically feed pets, and pet combs with massage functions, which the audience thoroughly enjoyed.

The mobile TVs on the subway have always been a topic of great interest to Philadelphians.

Even New York City doesn't have this feature, allowing passengers to watch television while on the go.

But after installation, the topic shifted from pride to complaints.

The same clips are played over and over again every day. Many passengers say they can recite the lines from the TV show by heart. This is a pure waste of taxpayers' money.

The sudden change of content today has its own eye-catching effect, and even though many people found it to be GG, they still found it quite interesting.

Because it's more like a short film, and many of the things in it are unfamiliar, it's hard to believe it was only because of the large text that popped up on the screen at the end.

"You've never seen these before! These are incredibly cheap today! Flash sales are your new shopping option!"

Without the word "GG," who would guess that this is a guy?

The passengers in the carriage all looked up, some rubbing their eyes, thinking they were seeing things.

"Is this a website that specializes in selling pet supplies?" a man asked with some doubt.

"No, it seems like it sells everything. I saw posters for all sorts of products at the subway station." A girl next to me pointed to the gay porn still playing on the screen. "Didn't you see the gay words at the end? It said they had all kinds of products."

The other person frowned, puzzled. "But why is it mainly advertising pet supplies? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

This was the result of discussions between Ernst, the marketing department, and the GG department. In the United States in 1998, although the Internet had begun to enter homes, most people only used it to send emails and browse news. Some people would buy things online, but it was almost unheard of to buy pet supplies.

Let alone websites that specialize in buying pet supplies, even Walmart and Amazon do not list pet supplies as a key category.

Walmart's online store only offers a limited selection of pet food, mostly its own brands; Amazon, on the other hand, has no pet supplies category at all.

Against this market backdrop, a shopping platform focusing on pet supplies can naturally capture the audience's attention immediately.

Because the types of products it showcases are things that the general public has never encountered before, this novelty is precisely the key to attracting users to explore.

The core value of Google lies in being seen. No matter how high the quality of the promotional content is, if it cannot attract the attention of the target audience, it cannot achieve commercial conversion.

Therefore, Flash Sale chose pet supplies as GG's entry point because it recognized their scarcity and emotional connection.

Scarcity ensures the uniqueness of GG content, allowing it to stand out among many regular GG content, while emotional connection leverages the special affection Western society has for pets.

According to data from flash sales, approximately 72% of American households own at least one pet, and most households consider their pets as family members. This emotional bond makes pet-related content more likely to resonate with viewers.

When viewers repeatedly see advertisements for pet supplies on subway cameras and mobile TVs, they will subconsciously form the initial understanding that flash sales can be used to purchase pet supplies.

When they see their pets at home, this awareness will be reactivated, which will then generate the desire to explore the website.

Once users log in to the flash sale website, they are greeted with a whole new shopping experience, and it's impossible for them not to be curious and browse around.

This strategy of first attracting traffic with a single product category and then converting it through multiple product categories not only solves the problem of initial user acquisition but also lays the foundation for subsequent user retention and repeat purchases.

Another point is that Ernst selected two top-selling items for the flash sale, one of which was pet supplies.

If video products and books represent high-profit commodities, then pet supplies are a prime example of exorbitant profits.

However, unlike books and video products, which are consumed in large quantities almost every year and have the characteristics of high-frequency consumption, it is not.

Most pet supplies, such as dog beds, toys, and combs, are low-frequency consumer goods. Once a user makes a purchase, they may not repurchase them for months or even years.

Pet food, the only high-frequency consumer product among pet supplies, has long been monopolized by international giants such as Procter & Gamble and Nestlé, resulting in fierce market competition and severely compressed profit margins.

This is also why Walmart and Amazon don't prioritize pet supplies; low-frequency consumer goods can't generate stable sales, while high-frequency consumer goods are unprofitable.

But Ernst knew just how much potential the pet market had, and he also knew that it was easier to make money in this market than in women.

The key is to have new products that can stimulate pet owners' desire to buy, turning low-frequency consumption into proactive consumption.

Are those automatic feeding puzzle toys difficult to make? Aren't they just lever mechanisms? Design a drive component and control the feeding outlet by adjusting the amplitude of the moving block, right?

Those pet water bottles, to put it bluntly, are just human water bottles with the opening adjusted to a more comfortable angle for pets to lick. At most, they might add a leak-proof sealing ring.

And those automatic water and food feeders, aren't they just a broken bucket with a bowl at the bottom? When there's less food in the bowl, the food in the bucket will naturally fall out due to the reduced resistance.

The principle of gravity is something we learned in middle school.

As for the more advanced ones, which can be timed, they involve multiple switches, multiple controllers, and multiple batteries.

If I just explain the principle, these things can be mass-produced in any factory in China, and they're very cheap.

These items exude a sense of luxury, making them acceptable even with high prices. Then, through promotional methods like super low discounts, consumers feel like they're getting a great deal.

This pricing strategy of low cost + high price + large discount not only satisfies users' pursuit of cost-effectiveness, but also creates a brand image of high-end products and low-price experience.

"Hey, Joel. Did you see that guy? It's having a flash sale, they've got tons of pet supplies for sale, things I've never seen before."

On the subway, a man sitting near the door nudged his colleague next to him, holding a newspaper he had just bought. The newspaper's "GG" column also featured flash sale promotions.

"I heard it on the radio while I was having breakfast this morning, and on my way to work, I felt like I was surrounded by flash sale information," Joel replied.

The colleague put down his coffee cup, a hint of curiosity in his eyes, because he hadn't really noticed it today; this was the first time he'd seen it.

"Don't you have a Labrador? Want to go up and take a look? They say it's at least 30% off."

Upon hearing this, Joel's eyes showed hesitation.

He does have a three-year-old Labrador named Bailey at home, and he usually buys Bailey's supplies from the pet store near his home.

The store was small and had a limited selection of goods, including basic dog food, leashes, and rubber balls, and the prices weren't cheap.

He has also bought things on Amazon, but they were mostly books and audio-visual products.

Those things are all the same; they are standardized products with clear standards for quality and specifications, so it doesn't matter where you buy them.

Is it reliable to buy pet supplies online?

He wasn't sure, but he still silently noted down the website.