Chapter 516: Integration Platform

Business in the southern market wasn’t progressing, causing Robin and others considerable anxiety. Eventually, they decided to head back to Kyoto for the weekend.

He was still thinking about Yang Xueyu’s Da Hong Pao tea, feeling it would be a waste not to drink it.

But before going for tea, he had to report to his boss about his work.

Cui Yiting also returned to Kyoto with Robin, mainly because the summer heat in Yongcheng was too much for her as a northern girl.

Upon arriving at the company, the Lashou boss, Wu Bo, was being interviewed about the development and prospects of the group-buying market.

Wu Bo confidently shared his views and stated that Lashou would always strive to serve merchants and offer benefits to consumers.

However, when a reporter asked about the recently turbulent group-buying firm Pine Group, he just smiled without commenting, seemingly dismissing the question as irrelevant.

After the interview, Robin and Cui Yiting were invited into the CEO’s office to report on their recent work and expressed remorse for their lack of success.

“Let it go, Nuomi won’t last much longer, oh and that Pine Group too. But the opponent we really need to watch out for is Dianping.”

“Has Tenpay been integrated with Dianping yet?”

Wu Bo nodded: “The service is now active.”

After hearing this, Robin fell silent, “Then it seems like Dianping might dominate the market here in Kyoto.”

“No worries, as long as we successfully capture the Guangzhou market, we’re still making progress.”

“Not necessarily, boss.”

Wu Bo looked at him, surprised, “How so?”

Robin frowned slightly: “If Pine Group’s community group buying is taken over by Dianping, it’s going to be tough for us later.”

“We have no choice. We left Kyoto market to preserve our strength, which admittedly created this risk. But even if Pine Group gets throttled, they might last a few months.”

“Speaking of which, Pine Group might end up suffering the most.”

Just as Robin finished speaking, a sudden, urgent knocking erupted. Knock knock knock it sounded, like an emergency was unfolding.

Wu Bo shouted for them to enter, and then a manager from the technical department burst into the office, panting heavily before speaking.

“Boss, I have important news.”

“It’s just us here, go ahead.”

“Uh…Pine Group, they’ve got a tech team of six, walking around with badges looking very official.”

The technical manager swallowed hard: “They’ve set up within Alibaba’s headquarters.”

“What did you say?”

Lashou had considered Dianping its main competitor, who had been surging in influence during the last couple of days.

Because Tenpay was now integrated into Dianping, their app swiftly rose in all major app stores, becoming the first group-buying site to enable mobile payments.

It was like a landmark in group-buying history.

For this, they even launched a special mobile app deal offering up to 60% off, accessible only via the app.

Countless consumers flocked to it, skyrocketing the app downloads for Dianping.

“How’s the promotional effect?”

“Not bad, the app’s download rate is impressive, and there’s a huge rush for coupons.”

“And the numbers using Tenpay for payments?”

“Uh, none yet.”

Hearing this report, Chen Jiaxin wasn’t disappointed.

Mobile payment is a new method after all. You can’t expect immediate adoption. Even group-buying sites had to spend heavily at the start.

So, they were not in a rush.

When Tenpay promotes more, user numbers will climb, and a targeted discount by Dianping could quickly expand across the city. That’s the advantage of business synergy.

As online payments spread, traditional banking methods like phone bill payments or card secret payments will fade, expanding Dianping’s business across vast regions.

“Chen, have you used online payments yet?”

As Chen Jiaxin sat thinking silently, Yang Xueyu walked into the office, his presence heralded by his voice.

“I have. It’s a bit slow to jump between screens, but it’s way more convenient compared to PC-based payments.”

Chen Jiaxin showed her phone where she’d just used Tenpay to buy a hair salon coupon at 30% off.

Yang Xueyu unbuttoned his suit and sat down: “The era is progressing, internet development is truly rapid and revolutionary.”

“Any news on the Tenpay promotion plan?”

“Not yet, but Alipay is about to go online. Since both major companies are entering mobile payments now, a costly competition is imminent.”

Chen nodded then remembered something: “Oh right, I have a little news to share.”

“What is it?”

Chen swiveled her chair: “Mr. Li from Tenpay told me Jiang Qin asked for collaboration recently but was outright rejected and wasted four hours waiting.”

Yang was stunned: “Really?”

“He refuses Tencent’s investment but wants a partnership with Tenpay. Not sure if I should call him naive.”

Yang sighed: “He’s prideful, thinks he can take us down so he can take on the big companies. But he doesn’t grasp the concept of an internet ecosystem, meaning no one can remain independent.”

Chen’s smile faded: “He won’t even accept Tencent’s investment, let alone Alibaba’s tough conditions. I do admire his guts.”

“Taking on major companies does require courage.”

“It’s probably due to his youth. At his age I also thought I could conquer the world.”

Chen sighed then proceeded to the main agenda: “Pine Group is no longer an issue, but we have other competitors. Mr. Yang, gather everyone for a meeting, we need to discuss our next moves.”

Yang stood up: “Understood.”

Then, all the managers of Dianping’s Kyoto branch gathered, while Chen, dressed in a white suit and high heels, walked in confidently.

In their plans, as long as the promotional funds were in place, the expansion of mobile payments in major cities wouldn’t take more than three months to impact the current situation.

By then, Pine Group would pose no threat, but Lashou could indeed ride the wave back to its peak.

Thus, Chen outlined three tasks. The first was to unconditionally accept Pine Group’s community group buying projects.

Second, Lashou wouldn’t immediately return to Kyoto since Nuomi had just hit them hard, and they had to retaliate and also capture the Guangzhou market.

Therefore, Dianping needed two additional teams for Shanghai and Shenzhen to take advantage of the gap and capture these cities’ market share.

Third, to use powerful marketing paired with Tenpay’s rollout to quickly get consumers into the habit of using mobile payments.

“Manager Qu, advertising is your department’s responsibility. This is essential for our tasks, so please take it seriously.”

“Chen, actually we started contacting various offline media channels a couple of days ago.”

“Good.”

Manager Qu was a bit choked up, slightly anxious: “But many prime media slots have already been booked by others.”

Chen was startled: “Who’s making such big moves? Real estate developers?”

“No.”

“Then which company?”

“It’s Pine Group. They’ve booked three months’ worth.”

“?”

Nuomi had just entered the Guangzhou market posturing between Pine Group and Wowo Group’s sectors.

They were also aware of third-party payment platforms but fortunately, all such supported group-buying sites were in the north.

Neither Pine Group, Nuomi, nor Wowo Group had access to this channel. Since everyone was equally disadvantaged, there was no fear among them.

However, Lashou was currently planning a southern expansion, and once integrated with mobile payment portals, they would definitely make a move.

But currently, Pine Group controlled the core business sectors, so they would naturally be Lashou’s primary target, buying them some time to find other remedial strategies.

Indeed, this barrier could stall many. But with Jiang Qin’s formidable capabilities, he could likely hold out for three months.

Three months was enough time to accomplish quite a bit.

However, Chang Jian Song, responsible for the Guangzhou market, noticed something very strange on the streets during these two days.

That was, the subway, elevator, bus station, and outdoor billboard ads were all removed at about the same time, leaving only bare metal and backing boards.

These ad spaces were highly valuable. Not just for a day, even an hour’s vacancy was exorbitantly expensive. It was exceptionally strange for them to be unoccupied.

Chang couldn’t figure out the tactic, only regularly noticing it on his way to work, which made him take an extra look each time.

Until the 27th morning, a seemingly ordinary day for most.

As dawn spread across the city streets, these vacant backings and metal sheets were suddenly covered with new content.

Like usual, Chang rushed to work, passing this spot and catching a glimpse that buzzed his mind.

In Kyoto, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou— a poster quietly appeared across these major cities, in sky-blue and bright-yellow colors, thundering through the group-buying market like a drought-ending cloudburst.

“Chen, Pine Group and Alipay… strategic collaboration!”

“What?”

“You should see it yourself, from the glass wall. Their ads are everywhere now.”

Chen Jiaxin and Yang Xueyu were discussing a plan to recruit celebrities for promotional films when they heard Zhang Li’s report and were shocked, rushing out of the office to the glass wall.

Previously, the building opposite hosted Pine Group’s rhythmic DuangDuangDuang ad, which made countless men crave milk.

Now, the whole screen was just two colors, water-like sky blue and moon-like bright yellow.

The blue part featured Alipay’s logo with the slogan, “You dare to use, we dare to compensate.”

Below it another line read, “First-time card-linking gets a 100 yuan Pine Group shopping coupon.”

The bright yellow part had Pine Group’s logo with, “Group buying on Pine Group saves more money.”

Below that, another line echoed: “Choose Alipay for payment, you dare to use, he dares to compensate.”

The stark sky-blue and bright yellow were so striking as to be almost dazzling.