Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

From midnight to 4 PM, a total of sixteen hours, the cumulative order volume reached 13.07 million. Sales amounted to 1.28 billion Hua Yuan, with an average order price of 98.1 Hua Yuan.

This showed that when it came to selling high-ticket items, Pinbei held its own against Tmall Mall.

Low-priced items and high-priced items, side by side!

Moreover, the sales performance for product categories and brands in both price ranges was strong.

”Compared to sales from the same time yesterday, growth was only 112.7%. Our customers are too smart; they’re saving their shopping for Singles’ Day itself.”

Chen Yansen joked with a smile.

Compared to last year’s Double Twelve and this year’s 618 festival, this was the first time Pinbei had extended its presale period to a full month.

It was effective, but not by much!

’I wonder how Jingdong is doing?’

Chen Yansen wondered privately.

「Meanwhile.」

Liu Qiangdong was presiding over the Yanjing headquarters, where he had hung a banner on his office door that read, ’Cat Hunting Command Center’.

He and Ma Liyun had always been at odds, and similar slogans would pop up every time there was a major sales promotion.

Jingdong’s presale was originally scheduled for October 18, but when Huang Zheng moved Pinbei’s event date up by a day, Liu Qiangdong followed suit, keeping his schedule aligned with Pinbei’s.

”Boss, as of 4 PM, sales for large home appliances are at 140 million, digital 3C products are at 210 million, food is at 97 million, and furniture and home improvement are at 84 million...”

Xu Lei reported the figures one by one.

”What’s the total?” Liu Qiangdong cut in, asking casually.

”570 million,” Xu Lei answered quickly.

Large home appliances, digital 3C, food, and furniture and home improvement accounted for 530 million, while the remaining categories—clothing, cosmetics, shoes, bags, and automotive supplies—totaled a mere 40 million.

This just went to show how incredibly lopsided Jingdong’s strengths were!

Although it called itself a comprehensive e-commerce platform, it was, in essence, still a ’vertical e-commerce site’ focused on digital products and home appliances.

”What’s the sequential growth rate?” Liu Qiangdong asked again.

”81.9%! Compared to our average daily sales, the growth is significant, but it hasn’t met our sales forecast. This is mainly because our promotions aren’t aggressive enough.”

Xu Lei paused to think for a moment before giving a clear and organized answer.

Customers knew that the best deals on any e-commerce platform would undoubtedly be on Singles’ Day. The platforms were also well aware that their biggest discounts had to be saved for that day.

Otherwise, what would be the point of calling it the Singles’ Day Grand Promotion?

Everyone wanted to boost their GMV several-fold, or even more than ten-fold, on the day of the main event. Only then could they present a satisfactory performance report to their investors.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan was considering a second round of investment in Jingdong.

Liu Qiangdong couldn’t afford to drop the ball at this critical juncture. Even if it meant burning cash or encouraging merchants to pad their own sales, he had to drive that GMV up!

”On the marketing front, add an extra 10 million in funding per day and increase the subsidies for digital products and home appliances,” Liu Qiangdong said to Xu Lei after a long moment of thought.

”Understood, Boss,” Xu Lei replied with a nod.

He knew full well that this Singles’ Day promotion was a critical moment for the company.

If they could successfully weather this storm and secure the second round of financing from the OTPP, Jingdong would make it through the first half of 2013 smoothly. Otherwise, they risked having their funding chain snap.

After receiving 400 million US Dollars in financing from the OTPP, Liu Qiangdong had built three large logistics and transit warehouses in the North China, East China, and Southern China regions, respectively. The first phase of this investment alone cost 1.2 billion Hua Yuan.

At their current burn rate, the 400 million US Dollars would only last until the end of 2012.

’I wonder how Tmall Mall and Pinbei are performing?’

Liu Qiangdong wondered to himself, his eyes narrowing.

At the same time, at the Suning Headquarters in Jinling, a banner had been brazenly hung, proclaiming the formation of the ”Dog-Beating, Cat-Killing War Department.”