America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 501 Conditions

At 2 p.m., Elena finally managed to dial Affil's number.

The moment the call connected, Elena quickly adjusted her tone, keeping her voice polite. "Mr. Scott, this is Elena, the Public Relations Director of Wawa. I'd like to meet with you to explain the issues that have arisen regarding Wawa in person. When would you be available?"

If possible, Elena would prefer that the two sides discuss Wawa face-to-face. Compared to the limitations of telephone communication, face-to-face communication can better convey sincerity, make it easier to understand the other party's attitude on this matter, and make it easier to handle the situation.

However, the voice coming from the other end of the receiver instantly shattered her expectations.

"There's no need for a meeting, is there?" Affili's tone was flat, clearly unmoved by her words and showing no interest in her request for a meeting.

The approach to public relations is the same all over the world.

If I had the ability to solve it, I wouldn't have made this call.

If you don't have the ability to solve it, there are only a few tricks you can use.

Money, beauty, and catering to their tastes.

"Mr. Scott, I know this is entirely a problem on Wawa's part. We immediately initiated an internal investigation and found that the root cause was irregularities in the purchasing department. The company has decided to file a lawsuit against the purchasing director and will hold relevant personnel accountable to prevent such incidents from happening again."

This was Gallup's revelation to her at noon. Knowing that this matter couldn't be resolved peacefully, she planned to sacrifice the purchasing director to save the king.

Elena scoffed at Gallup's callousness.

How could the other party have done this without his tacit approval?

Now that a crisis has arisen, Gallup is unhesitatingly shifting all the blame onto the other party, which is truly despicable.

But that's the money she earns, and since she's in that position, she has to consider Wawa's interests and prioritize the company's well-being.

Her job was to resolve the crisis for Wawa and maintain the company's image. Whether it was to keep her own job or to fulfill her professional ethics, she had no way out.

"Purchasing department?" Afeiel let out a cold laugh on the other end of the phone, his tone full of skepticism and sarcasm. "Ms. Elena, do you think this explanation holds water? Are all the store managers under Wawa a bunch of clueless idiots? Or do you think I, Afeiel Scott, would believe such a flawed explanation?"

Without Gallup's approval, would it be possible to pull off such a high-profile operation without being discovered?

"Mr. Scott, I hope you can see our sincerity. I know this incident has caused great trouble for the flash sale platform and consumers, and we are willing to take responsibility and make amends." Elena didn't expect the other party to believe her at all; as she said, Wawa was demonstrating its sincerity.

"Alright, there's no need to say anything more," Affil interrupted Elena without any politeness.

"Listen, if you want the flash sale platform to lift the freeze on Wawa's orders and to coordinate with the suppliers to stop pursuing Wawa's responsibility, I only have two requirements."

Afei's words are tantamount to an indirect admission that the previous attacks by suppliers such as Pepsi were related to flash sales.

"First, Wawa must immediately destroy all non-compliant products. At the same time, Wawa needs to provide a written commitment to ensure that all products sold online and in physical stores will maintain consistency in quality, specifications, and ingredients, and that similar problems will never happen again."

Elena was not surprised by this condition.

During their discussions with Gallup, the two knew that flash sale platforms would definitely make such requests.

"Mr. Scott, regarding the handling of non-compliant products, the Wawa Group has already taken action. We have urgently formed a special inspection team, which is currently stationed in all Wawa stores and warehouses to conduct a comprehensive inspection of all products. Once any non-compliant products are found, they will be immediately removed from the shelves and centrally collected for destruction to ensure that not a single product enters the market."

Elena promised, "I promise that this will never happen again at Wawa."

Afeier was very satisfied with Wawa's attitude of admitting her mistake, but that was all.

Things are accomplished not by talking, but by doing.

He was absolutely certain that Wawa would not destroy the near-expiry food and homemade products as the other party claimed.

At most, they'll resell near-expiry food and recycle underweight homemade products.

He didn't care about any of that; his goal was to make a show of force so that the other party wouldn't suspect anything.

"Secondly, you must provide a compensation plan for all previous Wawa orders placed on the flash sale platform."

"All orders must be subject to a refund plus three times the purchase price as compensation, ensuring that every customer receives three times the purchase amount in compensation."

Upon hearing this condition, Elena immediately raised her voice, "Mr. Scott, isn't this request a bit too harsh?"

This condition was unacceptable to her: "Wawa Group agreed to compensate consumers who have filed complaints with a refund plus three times the amount, which is already very generous. To be honest, from a legal perspective, we have no obligation to be responsible for them."

"But I am responsible for the 200 million registered users of the flash sale platform." Afeier's tone was very firm.

"We cannot risk consumers' health and rights. Although not all consumers who purchased Wawa products have filed complaints, no one can guarantee that they haven't been potentially affected by problematic products. To ensure that the rights of every consumer are protected, the flash sale platform must require Wawa to compensate for all orders."

"This is my responsibility, and it's also the bottom line for flash sale platforms."

"Two million registered users?" Elena's eyes widened instantly upon hearing this number, her face filled with disbelief.

She almost doubted that she had heard correctly. In less than half a month since its launch, it had already accumulated 200 million registered users.

How many users does Amazon have? As of the end of last year, it only had 150 people.

Despite the rapid development of the e-commerce industry this year, Amazon's user base continues to grow, with some industry experts predicting that its user base may exceed 400 million by the end of the year, or even reach a higher level.

Even so, it took Amazon more than three years of dedicated effort to build its current user base.

Flash sales accumulated half the users that Amazon took three years to achieve in just about ten days. What incredible user acquisition speed!

After a brief moment of shock, Elena quickly calmed down. She immediately realized that Afeier's mention of the flash sale platform's user base was not a boast, but a subtle way of putting pressure on her and subtly pressuring Wawa.

Such a large and rapidly growing user base means that the influence of flash sale platforms in the market is expanding dramatically, making their bargaining power even stronger.

He was telling Wawa with facts that flash sale platforms now have enough market power, and if Wawa wants to continue to use flash sale platforms to develop its business, it must accept the conditions proposed by flash sale.

Just as Elena was pondering, Afiel's voice came through the receiver again, his tone leaving no room for argument: "Listen, I'm not discussing this with you, I'm issuing a notification."

"If Wawa cannot give a clear answer agreeing to these conditions before midnight tonight, then I'm sorry, I think there's no need for us to talk anymore."

As soon as I finished speaking, a clear busy tone came through the receiver.

Elena held the phone, stood there stunned for a moment, and then slowly put down the receiver.

Elena knew that there was no room for negotiation.

Now Wawa only has two choices: agree or refuse.

However, she felt a little more relaxed because her mission was accomplished. Now it was up to Gallup to decide whether to agree or choose to resist.

After gathering her thoughts, Elena got up and went to Gallup's office.

When she knocked on the office door and was given permission to enter, she found Tim Hank already inside, holding a document and giving a serious report to Gallup.

"According to our marketing department's data analysis, if Wawa's account on the flash sale platform is frozen for more than 72 hours, our lost revenue will reach its peak. Preliminary calculations show that our revenue loss will exceed 58% at that time."

"Even if the flash sale platform lifts the order freeze and allows us to resume sales, it will be difficult for consumers who were forced to switch to other brands to return to Wawa's customer base. The long-term negative impact of this customer loss will be irreparable for Wawa."

"Therefore, we must resolve this as soon as possible and cannot delay any longer."

Wawa's high order volume is mainly due to the popularity of its sandwiches and coffee products.

Although it is no longer exclusive to Wawa and can be purchased at other stores, many local consumers still consider Wawa to be the most authentic and reliable.

But those in the know understand their own situation. When Wawa's orders are locked, loyal customers who are used to buying Wawa products through flash sales will have to choose other stores to meet their daily needs. They will find that the Wawa sandwiches at other stores not only taste the same as Wawa's, but also have a larger portion than those produced and sold by Wawa itself. Wawa will lose these loyal customers.

Gallup sat behind his desk, his face so dark it was almost dripping with gloom.

Why did they agree to set up a central kitchen for Wawa's products back then? Now they have no initiative at all.

But there's no point in dwelling on that now. Gallup turned his gaze to Elena, who had just entered the office, his eyes questioning.

Elena immediately understood, "I've already spoken to Afiel on the phone. We can lift the lockdown, but two conditions must be met."

Then she recounted her conversation with Afiel: "The other party's attitude was very tough, and I don't think there's any room for lowering the conditions."

Tim Hanke wasn't idle either; he started doing calculations in his notebook while Elena was halfway through her speech.

After Elena finished speaking, he looked at Gallup and said, "I've done the calculations. If we really follow the terms of the flash sale and compensate all online consumers, the compensation we need to pay will exceed two million dollars."

"This is extortion!" Gallup stood up and roared. "I'm not paying that money."

"Oh, by the way, when I was talking to Affil earlier, he revealed some very important information: Flash Sale's registered users have already surpassed two million," Elena added, earning her a furious glare from Gallup.

She did it on purpose, knowing that the other party would lash out upon hearing that all consumers would be compensated, she just wanted to slap them in the face.

Why should everyone else have to clean up the mess you made by acting recklessly, while you hide behind it all?

Sure enough, just as she predicted, Gallup ate the poop he had made himself, and it was still warm.

"Two million dollars is too much, I can only afford five hundred thousand at most."