Chapter 504: Alibaba’s Olive Branch

Group buying trends in Kyoto spread quickly, and community group buying is quite dominant, boasting an almost perfect ecosystem.

Thus, the capital giants behind the group buying market are becoming increasingly restless.

The competition has reached its later stages. Thousands of group buying websites have either died out or been sold, leaving less than ten.

They thought they had it all under control when selecting their horse. However, no matter which company’s horse it was, none performed well. Instead, a horse without a rider sprinted to the front and barked at the market, silencing everyone.

Especially Alibaba, seeing the group buying market slipping from their control, they were very anxious.

Why did they choose Lashou then?

Based on Lashou’s performance in the first half of the year, it truly has the air of an emperor!

It occupies two metropolises and has the highest market share in second and third tier cities across the north. If they don’t win, who will?

The deep cooperation agreement they discussed required Lashou to integrate into Alibaba’s ecosystem, with all decisions needing Alibaba’s permission and aligning with Alibaba’s future development strategies.

If Lashou wins, the entire group buying channel would become theirs, thereby a major ecommerce player joins a group buying heavyweight, almost controlling the entire domestic market.

Indeed, Lashou’s performance post-signing was impressive.

They quickly acquired five group buying sites, leading far ahead in the industry, even ahead of Tencent-supported Dianping when it first entered.

What now, though?

They’ve lost Shanghai and Shenzhen, even their hometown has been invaded.

Except for their second and third-tier city market share, Lashou has almost no advantages left. This is catastrophic for them.

Those who made such achievements are from a group buying website that started in a school.

You can’t say Lashou’s executives are incompetent. After all, Nuomi was also cornered and beaten by group buying without uttering a word of resistance.

And even the well-established Dianping was driven out of their hometown. Can you really say they are incompetent?

So the root cause is group buying’s excessively advanced capabilities.

After this assessment, Alibaba certainly wouldn’t want to gamble on Lashou anymore but would rather tie the knot with group buying.

On the morning of June 22nd, Alibaba’s Investment Department General Manager, Lu Zhichuan, called Jiang Qin repeatedly, nearly losing patience until he got through.

“Mr. Jiang, your phone is really hard to reach. Hahaha.”

“Who is this?”

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Lu Zhichuan, General Manager of Alibaba’s Investment Department. Mr. Jiang, would you be interested in chatting?”

Lu Zhichuan, with the previously prepared script, rambled on until the voice on the other end suddenly became softer, giving off a sneaky vibe.

“Mr. Lu, I have a final exam right now, can’t talk. The proctor is coming over… Oh no, he’s got a cane. I’m usually a star student!”

“?”

Lu Zhichuan was stunned for a while before realizing the call had been hung up, but a text message arrived saying he was in an exam and apologized for the inconvenience.

Honestly, he was baffled.

Especially by the words “final exam,” which made his head buzz.

A college student? Yes, the boss of group buying is still a student. That’s what the data said. Wow, a student managing to shake up the entire group buying market? Lashou is truly incompetent!

At that moment, Lu Zhichuan’s secretary opened his door, “Mr. Lu, Mr. Wu from Lashou has been waiting in the conference room for half an hour.”

“Got it, I’ll head there after finishing this tea.”

“Okay.”

Lu Zhichuan took a sip of his tea expressionlessly and stood up ten minutes later to meet Lashou’s boss Wu Bo and his team in the conference room.

Greetings were exchanged in the room, they discussed recent business, and Wu Bo stated his purpose, which was seeking funding.

They decided to vigorously develop markets below third-tier cities while also entering second and third-tier cities in the south.

True, they couldn’t surpass group buying, but Nuomi was an old rival, against whom they mostly won. They were determined to conquer the southern market.

As for the top-tier cities group buying, they’d leave that to Dianping, who proclaimed from the start either to not enter or dominate top-tier cities.

Hearing Lashou’s team discuss their future direction adjustment, Lu Zhichuan pondered for a while.

It seems group buying isn’t interested in cooperating. Otherwise, why would a mere final exam make them give up on a partnership?

Since Lashou was his own decision and had billions already invested, giving up now would mean everything was for nothing…

Forget it, a lame horse is still a horse, and Lashou is still the leader in north’s second and third-tier cities market rate. They weren’t at the point of being considered junk yet.

Besides, Lashou’s future planning was indeed viable and could be seen as a way out. Moreover, Lu Zhichuan knew Alibaba had another trump card that could help revive Lashou.

“Mr. Wu, regarding the next round of funding, we’ll have a meeting to discuss it.”

Hearing this, Wu Bo’s corners of his mouth lifted slightly, the sinister look in his eyes lessened a little.

Honestly, Lashou’s performance this half-year was a mess. Asking for money was somewhat difficult for him.

When the group buying market was just established, he was dominating the negotiations with Alibaba, even though he was ultimately merged into Alibaba, every word during the negotiations was firm and resounding.

But in less than half a year, the situation had changed drastically, and the person who beat him black and blue was a university student’s group buying website he never took seriously.

Thinking of this, Wu Bo subconsciously sighed, a gesture that Lu Zhichuan promptly noticed.

“Mr. Wu, don’t worry too much. There are no permanent winners in business. A temporary defeat doesn’t need to weigh too heavily on your heart.”

Wu Bo was startled, “What do you mean, Mr. Lu?”

Lu Zhichuan waved his secretary over and whispered something in her ear. Then she left the room, returning with a stack of brochures about Alipay.

Wu Bo took them and browsed for a long while, his eyes widening gradually.

“Alipay got the payment license last month and is currently in beta testing. It’s estimated to launch soon. The future of the group buying market will definitely belong to mobile payments.”

Lu Zhichuan smiled, “The country controls payment licenses very strictly, it’s not only a technological barrier but also a policy barrier. Do you think group buying still has a way out? Are they going to continue doing business with a U-shield?”

Instantly, Wu Bo frowned, a curious sparkle appearing in his eyes.

The mobile internet had developed very rapidly over the past year. Their company was also fully developing an app. If Alipay could interface with Lashou, then group buying would truly be a non-issue.

By then, all the advantages group buying had accumulated would be lost due to the change of platform. Their enormous accumulated wealth might just turn into someone else’s dowry!

“Mr. Lu, when does Alipay launch?”

“They are not in the same business group as our investment department, so I am not clear about their progress. How about this, I’ll invite Mr. Pang over for lunch at noon, and we can discuss it over a meal.”

“Sounds good…”

“However, Mr. Wu, don’t take it lightly. To my knowledge, Tencent and Baidu have also obtained payment licenses, so your biggest opponents are still Dianping and Nuomi. You must be cautious with each step you take.”

After the meeting, Wu Bo and his team still felt like they were dreaming until they left the investment department’s doors. Their minds were still not quite back to reality.

Honestly, from the battle of Shanghai to the battle of Shenzhen, and finally the battle of Kyoto, just hearing the name group buying filled Lashou’s people with despair.

But they never expected that a trip to Hangcheng would lead to such unexpected wealth!

With the mobile internet market right within reach and third-party payment platforms safeguarding them, even if Lashou lost the Kyoto market, they could still catch up later.

Most importantly, group buying had no internet giant backing them. Their company didn’t have the qualifications for a payment license. This means that once Alipay launches, group buying would probably collapse completely!

Damn, isn’t this sweet revenge?

At 11 AM, Wu Bo received a call from Lu Zhichuan and hurried to the restaurant, where he entered a private room and met Alipay’s CEO Pang Rui.

Pang Rui thought it was just a simple meal but was surprised to see a third person there.

“Who is this?”

“Let me introduce him. This is Mr. Wu from Lashou.”

Lu Zhichuan pulled Wu Bo over for the two to meet, “As you know, the group buying market is a very important part of our group’s development plan, but recently, the market has been quite unstable.”

Pang Rui nodded subtly, “Because of group buying?”

“Yes, the entire group buying market has been disrupted by them. Old Wu is also quite troubled as he’s been changing development strategies. I told him not to worry since our Alipay has obtained the payment permission.”

Wu Bo also took the opportunity to speak, “Mr. Pang, Lashou would like to join hands with Alipay.”

During the meal, Lu Zhichuan and Wu Bo discussed the plans for Lashou and Alipay’s cooperation and the mutual benefits for both parties.

Essentially, Alipay could utilize Lashou’s offline channels for direct and widespread promotions. Pang Rui nodded continuously, expressing interest and clinked glasses with Wu Bo.

After the meal, Wu Bo felt completely relieved and returned to his hotel feeling like he was wearing the dowry meant for group buying.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhichuan and Pang Rui returned to the headquarters together. However, upon reaching the entrance, Pang Rui suddenly called out to Lu Zhichuan.

“Mr. Lu, do you know the owner of group buying?”

“I know, a college student named Jiang Qin. But something doesn’t sit right with me, Mr. Pang. Do you really think a college student could manage a business to this extent?”

Pang Rui nodded subtly, “Yes, Jiang Qin.”

Lu Zhichuan stopped in his tracks, looking mildly stunned. “Mr. Pang, you know him?”

“We’ve met before, at the National Day two years ago. Initially, I thought he was a capable businessman. Now, I think he’s quite frightening.”

“?”