Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The next morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Two men were already staked out in front of a Sunning Appliances store in Jinling. They held a product list, densely packed with model numbers like ’Sharp LCD-60LX540’, ’Chigo FR-25GW’, and ’Mountain Star UA60EH6000R’.

Every single one was a product sold by both Jingdong and Sunning!

”Boss Liu from Yanjing has given the word. If Sunning’s in-store price for an identical product is lower than Jingdong’s, register it on the spot. Jingdong will handle giving the buyer a ten-percent-off appliance coupon.”

a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a pasty face, clutching a black leather briefcase, repeatedly stressed the point.

”These dumbasses really have money to burn. If I were rich, wouldn’t buying a few houses to collect rent be a better deal?”

the other man, a round-faced youth with a buzz cut, said with a disdainful curl of his lip.

”You knucklehead,” the middle-aged man said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. ”If they weren’t competing, how would we have landed such a cushy gig?”

Three hundred yuan a day plus two meals didn’t sound like a lot, but this was 2012. The minimum monthly wage in Jinling was less than 1,400 yuan, so in reality, the two Jingdong price intelligence officers were quite satisfied with their pay.

At 9:00 AM, Sunning opened for business.

Since it was the big ”418 Appliance Festival” sale, the store was flooded with customers, even though it was a weekday.

After all, incomes weren’t high back then. Being able to buy a large appliance at ten or twenty percent off could easily save someone one or two thousand yuan—far more than they’d make in a day’s work.

It was much like how, over a decade later, many white-collar workers would take a day off just to save money during the big Double Eleven sales event.

”Do you have the Nikon D800?”

a young man carrying a laptop bag asked a salesperson.

”We only have sixteen in stock, priced at 21,999 yuan. That’s the lowest price in the country. They’ll go fast,” the salesperson replied with a practiced smile.

”I’ll take one,” the young man said quickly.

The Nikon D800, after all, had only been on the market for two months, and most retailers were selling it at a premium. At Sunning’s price, he could turn around and sell it to an equipment dealer for a hefty profit.

”Hey, buddy. You can get this camera for 2,200 yuan cheaper on Jingdong.”

Just then, the middle-aged man with the slicked-back hair and pasty face sidled over, a sleazy grin on his face.

”Seriously? I checked Jingdong last night, and it was listed for 27,999 yuan,” the young man with the backpack countered, his expression a mix of doubt and disbelief.

”Jingdong has a coupon. I’ll show you how to get it.”

The middle-aged man pulled the backpacker aside, causing the salesperson to fly into a rage and start cursing.

Some buyers, already aware of Jingdong’s subsidy policy, had long since targeted the items they wanted. They were sending Sunning’s in-store prices to Jingdong’s customer service to claim their ten-percent-off coupons.

Meanwhile, the other price intelligence officer was responsible for verifying the information. If it checked out, they would issue a product-specific shopping voucher directly to the user’s Jingdong account.

Liu Qiangdong’s tactic was completely underhanded. He had no intention of letting Sunning achieve any sales results during its 418 Appliance Festival.

”Manager, let’s beat up these sons of bitches and throw them out,” a Sunning employee suggested.

”Leave them be,” the Sunning store manager said, his eyes narrowed as he suppressed his fury. ”Jingdong is being this brazen because they want to provoke us. If we lay a hand on them, it’ll blow up into a huge incident, which is exactly what our rival wants.”

’If the big boss hadn’t given the order, there’s no way these two bastards would be walking out that door in one piece.’

’He’d never felt this stifled, not even during the bloody price wars with Gome back in the day.’

At 9:30 AM sharp, the stock market opened. Sunning’s stock immediately dropped by 1.5%.

This was because half an hour earlier, a third-party data platform had published a comparison of Jingdong’s and Sunning’s sales figures for April 17th.

Jingdong’s sales revenue was 170 million yuan, while Sunning’s was 150 million.

The old giant of the appliance industry was being crushed by an up-and-comer?

Seeing this, retail investors scrambled to put in sell orders, terrified of being a step too slow and getting left holding the bag.

”Shameless!”

When Zhang Jindong got the news, he slammed his fist on the table, which echoed with a loud THUD. As an old hand in the business world, how could he not see what was happening? Someone was orchestrating a malicious sell-off to trigger volatility in Sunning’s stock price.

’Damn it!’

’That bastard is too insidious! He’s not just waging a price war, he’s pulling dirty tricks behind the scenes, too.’

Zhang Jindong knew that if Sunning’s stock hit its daily limit down, his opponent would seize the opportunity to blow the situation out of proportion, even if Sunning ended up winning on the sales front.

”Tell the investment department to buy up all the sell orders. Absorb every single one, no matter how many there are.”

Zhang Jindong ordered his secretary after a long moment of contemplation.

”Right away, Boss.” The secretary gave a slight nod and walked out of the office, her hips swaying as she moved on slender high heels.

Liu Qiangdong wasn’t one to let such an opportunity slide. He posted a screenshot of Sunning’s falling stock price on Weibo. He didn’t write a single word, but his intention was perfectly clear.

Han Pengde, the head of Sunning’s online operations, immediately responded, announcing that the group’s management would be increasing their shareholding percentage.

As soon as the news came out, Sunning’s stock immediately rebounded!

「At the same time.」

Gome began drastically cutting prices on products also sold by Jingdong and publicly challenged Liu Qiangdong: ”Gome’s prices will always be 5% cheaper than Jingdong’s.”

Dangdang Network, leveraging its partnership with Gome Electrical City, aligned itself with Gome and turned its guns on Jingdong.

Liu Qiangdong mocked Li Guoqing, declaring that Dangdang Network had no suppliers or logistics system of its own and was therefore completely unqualified to participate in the ”418 Appliance War.” He called him nothing more than a ”shoe-shiner.”

At 9:45 AM, Li Guoqing posted a reply on Weibo: ”Old Liu says Dangdang Network is just a shoe-shiner. I don’t believe shining shoes makes you an inferior person. The partnership between Dangdang and Gome allows both platforms to play to their strengths, offering Dangdang’s users large home appliances at a competitive price. As long as the customers are happy, that’s all that matters. I, Lao Li, am more than willing to shine our customers’ shoes.”