Chapter 183 The first domestic group buying website
Meituan and Ele.me are both good names, but the latter has some limitations, which seems to be a bit inconsistent when it comes to developing group buying business such as eating, drinking and entertainment.
That’s why Lu Yan grabbed the name “Meituan” without much thought.
Wang Xun, who once founded "Xiao Nei.com" and resigned in July this year, is now researching "Fanfou.com" and wants to enter the group buying business, he has to think of a name.
Furthermore, although the well-established domestic group buying website "Dianping" was established in 2003, it has not yet launched a group buying business.
In fact, the concept of "group buying" still does not have a clear and formal definition.
The Woot website, which was born in 2004, did propose the idea of offering a discount once a day that year, but there was still a big gap between it and the later group buying model.
The grouponpon website, which was founded in 2008 and created a one-day cycle and group buying model, is considered by more people to be the world's first group buying website.
But relying on this disruptive group buying model, the website attracted 1.8 million registered users and 375,000 cumulative purchasing users in just one year (as of the end of 2009).
In 2010, Groupon increased its marketing efforts to seize market share and expand its user base through acquisitions, advertising and other marketing activities.
As of September 31, 2011, the number of registered Grounpon users reached 143 million, an increase of 569% over the same period in 2010, and the cumulative number of purchasing users reached 29.5 million, an increase of 538% over the same period in 2010.
Its growth rate is soaring.
As for the development of domestic group buying, it started in 2010. From the birth of the first group buying website to the subsequent Thousand Group War, too many things happened in the domestic group buying market in 2010.
Furthermore, the first group buying website in China was not Dianping, which was established earlier, but Mangou.com.
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To apply for a business license, you must have business premises. This kind of website is relatively expensive, so Lu Yan did not rent a high-end office building. Instead, he chose a street-facing basement store near the school. It has two floors, as shown in the picture.
It's just a bargain.
The website is easy to build, but the hard part is promoting it.
It is necessary to build a strong promotion team in the shortest possible time.
Considering that the mobile Internet is not particularly easy to use at the moment, Lu Yan placed the development of the takeout business after group buying, but he is preparing to become the first group buying website in China on New Year's Day in 2008.
In the company office, which has not yet been fully decorated and is still somewhat deserted, there are nine people in total, Lu Yan, Ruan Xiaoxiao, Song Jing, Yu Shuangpeng, Xu Jiaqing, Hu Xiaoxian, Guan Xiaoyu, He Xushen, and Chen Chao, who are the current backbone of the company.
As for my roommate Wu Yukun, he has already joined the party and is preparing for the civil service examination. He only comes to help occasionally and is not involved in starting a business.
Song Jing and Yu Shuangpeng had thought about starting a business before, and Lu Yan lent them 100,000 yuan. Yu Shuangpeng actually took a car to Shenzhen and bought a batch of mobile phone parts from Huaqiang Electronics World.
This kid rented a small shabby house outside the school. When he came back, he and Song Jing went to assemble mobile phones by themselves, and then sold them to nearby electronic markets.
There was still some profit at first, but at the beginning of 2007, Motorola, which had the second-largest sales volume in the Chinese market, was dragged down by the disease of big companies and completely slumped.
Nokia, which ranks first, is completely crazy. It officially attacks the low-end market and wants to drive out all copycat phone manufacturers.
The larger manufacturers of copycat mobile phones are still unable to sell and ship goods, so there is no need to mention the small workshop jointly run by Song Jing and Yu Shuangpeng.
Fortunately, the two of them had small capital and little inventory. In the end, they sold the inventory at low prices and actually made more than 60,000 yuan, but they could not continue in this business.
After being idle for several months without a project, he suddenly saw Lu Yan starting a business, so Yu Shuangpeng dragged Song Jing to join him.
Xu Jiaqing simply thinks that the projects that Lu Yan is optimistic about will have some success. Even if he can't become a stock owner and become an entrepreneurial veteran, it is still good to learn some experience.
Furthermore, when the stock market crashed and the market reached its peak, Lu Yan reminded him that he should come and help him no matter which way he went.
As for Zhang Xun, who is the youngest in the dormitory, he has a family business waiting to be inherited. He just wants to spend his leisurely college career leisurely. He can drink and forget about working hard.
Hu Xiaoxian and Guan Xiaoyu, who were in the same class, also wanted to cheer up their old classmates and train themselves.
He Xushen and Chen Chao studied e-commerce and were members of the Wushu Association. They were activists, so they were called on.
Sitting together here, I don’t know what Lu Yancheng’s Meituan company is about and what it does.
Because Lu Yan didn't make it clear before calling everyone together.
Concepts, models, how to develop, growth and so on... In short, we haven't even painted the pie yet!
"Well, after getting to know each other and talking over the past few days, I know that everyone wants to start a business together, but they just don't know what I want to do with this company!"
Hu Xiaoxian said: "Yeah, even if I ask you, what does Meituan mean? I thought the company you set up must be named after you and Xiaoxiao!"
Xu Jiaqing said: "I was also thinking about it at first, Ruan Lu, Lu Ruan, Yan Xiao, Xiao Yan?"
Lu Yan laughed, "Actually, the name Xiaoyan is not bad, but it's not suitable as a company name!"
Everyone laughed, not knowing what was so funny.
Lu Yan waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and said: "I know that everyone has doubts, but I didn't make it clear before. Meituan, its slogan is, once a group, once a beauty!"
Everyone was confused again, what are they grouping together?
“Group buying!”
Ruan Xiaoxiao, as a person next to me, knows a little more, and said: "It is group buying. The website helps customers negotiate with merchants at a preferential price for group purchases, so that customers can get benefits!"
Everyone sitting here is not stupid, and they understood it instantly.
In fact, the thinking mode of group buying is like a layer of window paper. Once it is pierced, it is easy to imagine many things that will follow.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a “thousand-group war” in the first year of group buying! Capital from all walks of life took turns to seize the market, unlike WeChat, which was not very promising at first.
Everyone's eyes lit up. Although the follow-up developments they could think of were limited, they were still enough to look forward to.
Lu Yan continued: "This is a brand new e-commerce model that will change people's lives. The company has enough funds to promote it in the early stage. And the equity reward will not lose everyone.
Yes, as long as we can survive until it goes public, it is not a dream to be worth hundreds of millions!"
Yu Shuangpeng clicked his tongue, "How much is the promotion fee you're talking about?"
Lu Yandao: "The company's registered capital is 100 million. In the early stage, it needs to expand its business in major cities in the country as soon as possible to occupy the market. Those who are willing to travel will work as city managers in other places. In terms of remuneration, they will definitely not be disadvantaged by everyone.