Reborn: Billionaire in College

Chapter 220: Weibo is not over yet, group buying starts

There's some not-so-good news.

On October 10, Lashou was launched.

On October 10, WoWo.com was launched.

Soon after, Volume 24, Manzuo.com, and Gaopeng.com were launched.

On November 11, Meituan went online.

Finally, Chen Yizhou from Oak Pacific Group also launched Nuomi.com.

The reason why group buying websites are listed in such a dense crowd is certainly due to Chen Pingjiang's Renren Group Buying, but also due to the establishment of Groupon on the other side of the ocean.

A new track has been established abroad and is being developed by Chen Pingjiang in China, which has attracted a lot of attention.

Just like Weibo.

Chen Pingjiang cursed so much that he almost burst out with curses.

Why are these people so fucking mean?

Such a situation is naturally not good for Chen Pingjiang.

He encountered almost unprecedented levels of encirclement and suppression.

Competitors in the SNS track are xiaonei.com and kaixin.com.

Social games plus Tencent.

The Weibo track includes Sina, Tencent, NetEase, etc.

Even the current group buying has met its rival.

Surrounded by enemies on almost all sides, we were sniped by competitors on every track.

"Although Chen Pingjiang is regarded as having the Midas touch and the ability to turn stones into gold, and his various businesses have taken the lead in different fields, we need to question how long this advantage can be maintained. After all, there is no precedent in the domestic Internet market, that is, no company can flourish in multiple areas. Because resources are limited, even a strong company like Tencent has not retreated on the SNS social platform."

"There is no eternal king on the Internet, and it is very likely that we will see a new king ascend the throne this time."

"SNS, social games, Weibo, group buying, if you add games, Chen Pingjiang is almost fighting against the entire Internet industry."

Some sharp news media captured the "dilemma" of Renren, gave it a very eye-catching headline, and then seriously invited a bunch of experts or Internet practitioners to comment on it.

Even the most optimistic commentators do not believe that Chen Pingjiang can have the last laugh on every track.

Some are spectators, some are bystanders, and some are gloating over other people's misfortune.

The special thing about Groupon's group buying model is that it only offers one discounted product every day, each person is limited to one bid per day, and the discounted product must be of the service type.

After logging into the website, netizens do not need to search for the information they want among the dazzling array of products. The entire homepage only provides one product, which is simple and clear, avoiding netizens from spending a lot of time browsing irrelevant pages. Since the merchants are screened in advance through a certain process, netizens also save a lot of time on comparison, so that they can make a simple and clear decision on whether to consume or not.

Some people call it group buying 2.0.

Unlike Renren.com, where discounts are only 7% to 8% off at most, Groupon’s discounts can be as high as 2% to 3% off, or even lower.

In other words, Renren Group Buying's advantage lies in its wide range of categories, but Groupon's advantage lies in its specialization.

Chen Yizhou's Nuomi.com is currently only available in BJ, and will be gradually launched in 17 cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen in the future.

据传网站上线首日2折团购某影城双人套票，包括电影票2张、可乐2杯、爆米花1份、哈根达斯冰激凌球1个，原价176元，团购只需要35元。

It not only broke Groupon's first-day sales record of 16000, but also created a sales record for domestic 2.0 group buying websites.

In addition, Nuomi.com also offers high-quality coupons, with a variety of consumer services to choose from, including food, leisure and entertainment, SPA, beauty salons, photography, sports and fitness, etc. You can directly download and print them on Nuomi.com or send them by SMS for free, and you can enjoy discounts in designated stores with the coupons.

After Wang Xing's Fanfou.com could no longer operate due to frequent disruptions by many Internet giants, Wang Xing turned to his new project, Meituan.

The first product launched by Meituan was the Vanya wine tasting package, which attracted 79 buyers and generated sales of nearly 4000 yuan.

Wang Xing positioned his new project as a new type of group buying website. Its biggest feature is that it only sells one item a day and only places seven orders a week, covering all aspects of food, drink, entertainment and fun, with huge discounts.

To put it bluntly, it is a copy of Groupon, from the profit model to the function planning and page design, it is a replica of the star startup company Groupon.

On the other side, Lashou.com is similar, but what’s smart is that they copied Renren’s group buying model.

In the eyes of the outside world.

Chen Pingjiang crossed the river by feeling the stones.

The others felt their way across the river.

Even nakedly, whatever he does, others do the same thing.

People in the market began to speak ill of Renren and Chen Pingjiang.

It was precisely this kind of pessimistic voice that led to Lashou.com announcing that it had received investment from Taishan Angel Investments, totaling US$500 million, less than a month after its launch, making it the first new group buying website in China to receive investment.

Various group buying websites sprang up like mushrooms after a rain. In just one month, there were hundreds of group buying websites in the country. Of course, most of them only had a few employees.

Gao Songbin, who was originally very happy to occupy the territory, suddenly felt the pressure on him increase sharply.

The most obvious thing is that merchants have begun to cooperate with two or three group-buying websites at the same time. Some of the discounts offered by the cooperation are even lower than those given to themselves, and a lot of users have been diverted away.

Under such circumstances, Gao Songbin, who was originally in Shanghai, was recalled to Dongjiang by Chen Pingjiang through a phone call.

At this meeting, everyone was no longer solemn, but heavy.

There are all kinds of rumors and negative news from the outside world.

All the businesses of the group are facing competition and even encirclement, and no one is happy.

Chen Pingjiang smiled and glanced around and said, "What's wrong? You all look so sad. It's not the end of the world. Don't forget, no matter which business we are in, our market share is currently number one."

He then changed the subject and continued, "Today is the most comprehensive gathering of our business. Although the shareholders behind each company are different, they are all sister companies. All the heads of Renren, group buying, games, catering, Weibo, Zhihu, etc. are here."

"Since we are sister companies, we should cooperate more sincerely. 1+1+1 is definitely greater than 3. In fact, what people say is true. If our businesses fight on their own, we may be defeated one by one because of limited resources."

"I'll give you an idea here. Renren should use its resource advantages to help its allies with promotion. Catering can be co-branded with games, and group buying businesses can find big Vs or celebrities on Weibo to promote products. In short, two groups can be combined to magnify advantages and defeat competitors through collective strength."

This is the power of building an ecosystem.

When fighting, you think it is 1V1, but in fact it is N people beating you alone.

After Chen Pingjiang finished speaking, Gao Songbin said, "Mr. Chen, let me report the situation. We have just completed the coverage of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Currently, there are no major competitors in the existing base, but more local group buying websites. We are facing two problems. First, whether to speed up the layout, change direct sales to agency, cooperate with local agents, and seize the territory first. Once those second- and third-tier small cities are occupied by Lashou, Nuomi and Meituan, it will cost too much to take them back. The second problem is that in the maps we have already occupied, we are always harassed by local group buying websites, which is very annoying to be honest."

Gao Songbin is describing the current situation facing Renren Tuangou, which is struggling to compete with other competitors for territory and is also facing guerrilla warfare in occupied areas.

Chen Pingjiang shook his head directly: "Don't count on agents. It's hard to manage them. There are good and bad ones. They may seem to be one step ahead, but they will eventually ruin the brand and reputation. We are determined to operate directly. It doesn't matter if we are slow. Management is very important. Even if we cooperate with agents to occupy the second and third tier markets in advance, will other group purchases not come in? Sooner or later, they will come in. As long as they come, we will have a chance to win."

"Except for the territory we already have, there is no need to rush for other third- and fourth-tier small cities, and there is no need to worry about the gains and losses of a city or a place. As the person in charge of group buying, you must be clear-headed and have a comprehensive view of the situation. There are many ways to defeat your opponents. Group buying involves a large number of sales staff and subsidies, all of which cost money. Those group buying websites need continuous and large amounts of financing. So let them fight each other first, eliminate some of them, and then we will harvest them frequently. As long as they don't have enough funds, we can't stop them."

"As for your second question, local group buying websites that fail to thrive will naturally die, and we will directly acquire those that pose a slight threat to us."

In fact, Chen Pingjiang has a very cool head.

He is not arrogant enough to fight against various group buying websites across the country.

Even if he had the intention, he didn't have the strength.

There are not enough people for field sales, and the funds for group buying are not enough.

So his idea is very clear, that is to hold on to the basic market that has been won, let go of other cities, let other group buying websites fight on their own, and then reap the benefits after they have almost conquered the market. Sometimes it is not a good thing to take the lead, because then you will suffer the impact of other group buying websites.

If Lashou comes, beat Lashou; if Meituan comes, beat Meituan; if Nuomi comes, beat Nuomi.

Even if they agree, Renren Group Buying will be dragged down.

That was real money.

In this case, it is better to hold on to the basics.

In fact, there is no threshold to copy the group buying model, but it requires strong execution and offline promotion capabilities.

Otherwise, it may seem like you are attacking a city, but if you don’t manage it well, it will soon be taken away by others.

The gameplay of group buying is the same as that of taxi-hailing, both of which require online + offline. This is very different from the purely online promotion methods of Renren and Weibo.

People all over the country can directly access advertising on Renren and Weibo, but group buying cannot. Ultimately, it has to be done offline, in every city and neighborhood.

Besides, Chen Pingjiang saw it clearly.

Even though they are having a great time now, the era of mobile Internet has not yet arrived, and they will have to reshuffle the cards when the time comes.

…………

What shocked everyone was that they originally thought that Renren Group Buying would expand wildly, but unexpectedly, it actually shrank back.

While others are scrambling for territory, Renren Group Buying is sticking to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongjiang and several second-tier provincial capitals and is not moving away.

"Is Chen Pingjiang no longer capable of this? Sure enough, random punches can still kill the master."

"If Renren Tuangou doesn't expand its territory now, when others have occupied all the territory, they will occupy the national market and crush Renren Tuangou."

"I don't understand this picture. They are obviously the strongest, have the most funds, and the most complete team structure, but why are they the most conservative?"

"..."

Chen Pingjiang is not in a hurry at all. He believes that the outcome of this group buying war will not be determined without 2-3 years of fighting.

Let the bullet fly for a while first.

Renren Group Buying is not in a hurry, but other group buying websites are very anxious.

BJ is the hardest hit area, with 16 large and small group buying websites such as Meituan, Lashou, and Nuomi.

This forced them to run away quickly.

On October 10, Lashou.com opened its Shanghai station.

On November 11, Meituan Lin’an Station was opened.

Nuomi.com: On November 11, Tianjin Station was opened.

……

Among them, Meituan and Nuomi both subconsciously avoided Renren Group Buying.

The main reason was that Wang Xing felt that Chen Pingjiang was a bit evil, and Chen Yizhou was suppressed by Chen Pingjiang in the SNS field, so neither of them wanted to provoke Chen Pingjiang.

Only Lashou.com, which had just received $500 in venture capital, shouted: "You are a bunch of cowards. You dare not come up. I will do it. Chen Pingjiang, right? I have been annoyed with you for a long time."

Renrentuangou's Shanghai branch is ready to meet the challenge from Lashou.com.

Other field sales personnel in cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen were all pulled into temporary training classes for the Renren Iron Army.

Chen Pingjiang specially found two Sanda coaches to train these two groups of people.

At the same time, Shen Nanpeng also flew from BJ to Dongjiang to meet Chen Pingjiang.

As soon as he saw Chen Pingjiang, he smiled and said, "I'm here to give you money. I heard you guys were going to fight, so I'm here to give you ammunition."

Chen Pingjiang laughed out loud: "Old Shen, there are so many group buying websites in BJ, don't you like any of them?"

"If it weren't for you, Chen Pingjiang, I would probably have invested in Wang Xing. Of course, if you rejected my investment, I would also go to Wang Xing."

Shen Nanpeng made a lot of money following Chen Pingjiang. Although Chen Pingjiang was very strong, he was also very capable.

Renren is firmly in the number one position in SNS, Weibo is also doing very well, DNF is leading the pack in gaming, and the overseas expansion of social games has been a huge success.

Shen Nanpeng's expression reminded Chen Pingjiang of the classic line: "Lao Xu, do you want a wife or not?"

Chen Pingjiang nodded: "Of course we need the money, but let me make it clear to you, this is the B round, not the A round. When Renrentuangou first came out, the A round was already taken by some local partners in Dongjiang."

Shen Nanpeng frowned: "For such a good project, why did you look for those small local investors with limited funds and resources? This is not your style. You were so strong in Renren's second round of financing."

"It's different. Some of them are my friends. But most of them are bosses in the service and catering industries. With the help of Renren Group Buying, they have established themselves in several first-tier cities except BJ, and they are doing well and have a great influence."

Shen Nanpeng didn't say anything for a long time, but pondered Chen Pingjiang's words. Not long after, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Chen Pingjiang in surprise: "You have laid the groundwork to this extent? If these more than ten influential service and catering stores are only opened on Renrentuangou, how can Lashou.com compete with you?"

Shen Nanpeng is not exaggerating.

It's like if McDonald's and KFC only put discount coupons on Renren Group Buying, with their strong user base and popularity, they would go bankrupt and users would not use Renren Group Buying.

This is almost equivalent to exclusive cooperation!
There is no solution to the conspiracy.

This further strengthened Shen Nanpeng's idea of ​​investing in Renren Group Buying.

(End of this chapter)