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Chapter 491 I can draw this pie

The abnormal data from Wawa's stores was noticed not only by Flash Sale but also by Massim.

When his call reached Ernst, Ernst had just left the headquarters of Iatech and landed at the airport in Los Angeles.

After a day of discussion, a solution for the Blu-ray DVD player was finally finalized.

According to the technical department of AI Technology, if the core technical materials provided by Ernst are not problematic, then the technical difficulties faced by Blu-ray DVD players have been largely resolved.

The remaining technical obstacles, such as the precision optimization of optical components and the compatibility debugging of decoding chips, are all within the scope of the industry that can be quickly overcome through conventional R&D processes. There are no insurmountable technical barriers.

The initial estimate from the iTech team is that a commercially viable Blu-ray DVD player could be officially launched and enter the product testing and market warm-up phase in as little as two months.

"What exactly are you thinking?"

Upon hearing Massim's question, Ernst slowly adjusted his posture and looked out the car window at the gradually brightening Los Angeles nightscape.

As dusk settles over Los Angeles, the city's buildings are outlined in a staggered pattern against the night sky, and neon lights intertwine with the flow of traffic to create a bustling scene.

Ernst, however, wore a confident expression, as if he had everything under control: "To destroy them, you must make them go mad."

Massim on the other end of the phone tensed instantly. "You're planning to ruin Wawa?"

His voice was filled with shock, clearly not expecting Ernst to take such a radical approach.

Despite Massim's shock, Ernst remained relaxed and composed, saying, "The word 'ruin' is inappropriate. Those who make mistakes should be prepared to pay the price. What I've done is simply fulfilling the duties of a good American citizen: upholding market fairness and justice, and promoting the industry towards healthy and compliant development."

"Do you know how much of an impact this will have on WShop?" Massim's tone grew increasingly anxious. "What will the other franchisees think of me? If Wawa really falls into dire straits because of your actions, everyone will point the finger at me and think I'm the mastermind behind all this."

Ernst snorted coldly. Now he's worried about the consequences? Where was he before?

They shifted all the blame to the flash sale, only wanting to take advantage and not wanting to bear any responsibility.

Now that your own interests are at stake, you're starting to panic.

Isn't it a little too late?

"You were the one who asked me to handle this in the first place," Ernst replied with a self-righteous tone. "As for what the franchisees and shareholders will think of you?"

Ernst paused, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. "They will only respect you more."

"Of course, this respect may be mixed with some fear."

"However, I don't think anyone will jump out to oppose or criticize you, because in the end, everyone will benefit from this."

Ernst's words were both a warning to Massim and a precise prediction of the situation.

A brief silence fell over both ends of the phone call, and the air inside the car seemed to freeze as well.

If Ernst hadn't heard the faint breathing on the other end of the line and hadn't heard the busy tone, he would have thought that Massim had already hung up.

After a long silence, Massim's voice came through the phone again: "Indeed, every super tycoon didn't achieve success easily."

Through the handling of the Wawa incident, Massim truly saw the ruthlessness in Ernst.

He had considered various ways Ernst might punish Wawa, but he never imagined that Ernst would actually bury the Wood family.

"I hope that Flash Sale will come forward and explain the situation at that time." After a brief moment of reflection, Massim made his request.

"No problem." Ernst agreed to Massim's request without the slightest hesitation.

However, the moment he hung up the phone, a look of disdain appeared on his face, and he secretly mocked: "She really is trying to have her cake and eat it too. Isn't this a bit too much of an overreaction?"

Even if Flashbuy does comply with Massim's request and explains the ins and outs of the Wawa incident to the other franchisees and shareholders of the WShop Group, admitting that it was all Flashbuy's doing, it will not be able to completely absolve Massim of responsibility.

The shareholders and franchisees of the WShop Group only felt that the two were working together, that it was a carefully planned charade, a show put on for everyone to see.

The more you explain at this point, the more likely you are to arouse their suspicion.

However, as Ernst said, whether WShop's shareholders and franchisees are skeptical or believe, ultimately no one will stand up and raise any questions.

Because everyone can gain tangible benefits from this.

If Ernst succeeds in bringing Wawa to its demise, then all of Wawa's chain stores will ultimately be acquired by the WShop Group at a relatively low price, which would be beneficial to all WShop shareholders.

The Wood family's shares in the central kitchen will also be released; the WShop Group's shareholding is less than that of the Wood family.

This is a country where profit is paramount. For the sake of profit, it is normal for a poor monk to die rather than a fellow monk, and it is even regarded as a golden rule.

Moreover, in most people's eyes, Wawa is merely a business partner to them, not even a fellow Daoist. Sacrificing Wawa's interests for their own benefit is a perfectly normal choice in their eyes.

Faced with absolute self-interest, so-called morality and friendship often prove to be utterly insignificant.

"By the way, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you. How long will the subsidy policy implemented by the flash sale platform last?" With the Wawa matter already settled, Massim asked about the flash sale subsidies.

WShop is paying close attention to this matter; in fact, the whole of America is watching.

Market feedback indicates that the flash sale platform's subsidy policy has undoubtedly achieved remarkable results, enabling ordinary consumers to purchase the goods they need at lower prices and truly enjoy the benefits.

As a result, the number of registered users and orders on the flash sale platform has exploded, with orders reaching new highs almost every day.

For third-party brands partnering with flash sale platforms, the massive traffic generated by the subsidy policy has significantly boosted their product sales.

Furthermore, the stores under the WShop Group have all achieved rapid sales growth thanks to the subsidies offered by the flash sale platform.

Behind these beneficiaries are countless others in the various supply chains.

These are subsidy events where everyone benefits except for the flash sale, affecting the interests of countless people.

Everyone hopes this subsidy will last forever, but everyone knows that's impossible.

According to a market analysis report issued by Wall Street financial institutions, Flashbuy is now losing more than $2400 million per day.

Everyone believed that such a large-scale and high-amount subsidy policy could not possibly continue in the long run.

Whether from the perspective of a company's cash flow or from the perspective of investment logic in the capital market, no company can withstand such huge and continuous losses.

Therefore, everyone is speculating about when the flash sale subsidies will end, so they are preparing in advance.

The two most widely accepted claims in the market are that the subsidy will last for seven days and that it will last for ten days.

However, there is an additional explanation for this statement: the flash sale will continue to be subsidized, but the subsidy will be much smaller.

But Ernst thought that the real money-burning war on the Internet had not even started yet; this was just the beginning.

The current internet strategy is a crude and direct approach of burning money on operations, relying on capital injections to maintain company operations and research and development, and then offering free services to users in the hope of generating profits through Google Play.

However, this profit model is fundamentally unsustainable for the entire internet ecosystem, so no more than one in a thousand internet companies can make money through Google.

Wall Street understands this, so for them, the internet companies they invest in are not expected to become the next Google, Amazon, or Microsoft. They are just carefully cultivated leeks waiting to be taken over.

Whether it's entrepreneurs or Wall Street, they haven't shaken off the traditional notion that a company's valuation and success are determined by its profitability.

But Ernst is developing flash sales using a future internet model, with the ultimate goal of all merchants on the platform sharing the costs. The core logic is no longer subsidizing the market, but creating the market.

Essentially, it's a strategic investment in the market, users, and data. Although it takes a long time, it aligns with the capital logic of prioritizing market share before seeking profits.

To put it bluntly, it's all about grabbing users. As long as I have enough users and the growth rate is fast enough, I can have enough imagination no matter how much money I lose.

As for the monetization issue that investors are concerned about, this simply doesn't exist for flash sales.

Flash sales have monetization models, and Amazon has one readily available, and flash sales have even more monetization models than Amazon.

The key is how to design this pie and how much room for imagination it offers.

Clothing, food, housing, and transportation—this is undoubtedly the largest consumer market in human history, bar none.

The subsidies bring not only increased order volume, but also a massive amount of high-value user data. Information such as users' consumption preferences, delivery addresses, payment capabilities, and order times can help the platform optimize its business, such as improving inventory turnover and increasing the accuracy of product recommendations.

It can also create high-frequency consumption entry points and drive traffic to related businesses, etc.

Ernst is now holding a winning hand; he's incredibly good at drawing up this pie.

As long as everyone can see the future potential of flash sales, capital will be at his disposal.

"When the flash sale platform's funds are insufficient to support the implementation of the subsidy policy, that's when the subsidy policy will end." In response to Massim's question, Ernst gave an ambiguous answer and then hung up the phone.

When he brought the phone to his ear again, the voice on the other end of the line had changed to Afei.

"Increase promotion of Wawa stores and place their stores at the top of the search results."

There was only a brief sentence, with no further communication.