Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The next day at San Yuan Bridge in Yanjing, just as the sky began to lighten, the smoky aroma from a steamed bun shop drifted into the air, carrying the faint, rich scent of wheat and meat.

A few bleary-eyed Qian Du Delivery riders were eating breakfast and discussing how they did yesterday.

”I made 390 yuan!”

”The station manager must have it out for you. How’d you only make that much? I didn’t even go online until 10:30, missed the morning rush, and still made 810 yuan!”

”Sigh! The night before last, I pulled an all-nighter at an internet cafe playing *League of Legends* and slept until one in the afternoon. Forget the morning rush, I even missed the lunch rush.”

”Unbelievable! You sleep when there’s money to be made!”

”Heh heh, but hey, I was up at six this morning, wasn’t I? I’m gonna try to make 1,000 yuan today!”

Just as the men were chatting, a young man in a bright orange T-shirt rode past on an Electric Vehicle.

Seeing him, the Qian Du Delivery riders couldn’t help but look on with envy.

”We’re all delivery guys, but the difference is huge! I heard Kuai Pao Riders get their delivery boxes, Electric Vehicles, and uniforms for free. We have to pay for our uniforms, put down a deposit, and even provide our own damn EVs.”

”You’re telling me? But Kuai Pao only hires a few people each month, and hundreds show up to interview. It’s like trying to get a government job.”

”Strictly limiting the number of riders is a good thing for them. It’s pointless if it’s like Qian Du, where there are too many riders and not enough orders to go around.”

”Actually, Kuai Pao has part-time riders too, but the requirements are really high,” one of the Qian Du Delivery riders said with a slight sigh. ”The top earner from our station couldn’t get a full-time spot, so he went to do part-time for them.”

’If you were to rank the delivery companies by university tiers, Meituan would be a third-tier college, Qian Du a second-tier, part-time Kuai Pao a first-tier, and full-time Kuai Pao would be a top-tier university.’

’They get a base salary, quarterly bonuses, and insurance. What do I have?’

’Even in harsh weather like scorching sun, pouring rain, or heavy snow, the platform just symbolically raises the per-order rate by one yuan.’

’After all, if you won’t do it, someone else will.’

To the group’s surprise, the dedicated Kuai Pao Electric Vehicle that had just passed them made a turn at the intersection and sped right toward them.

Jiang Hao parked his vehicle and counted silently. ’One, two, three... five, six. Six Qian Du riders. That’s a decent number.’

He shouted to the shop owner, ”A steamer of buns and a bowl of mung bean congee.”

After ordering, he grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the group.

The six Qian Du riders exchanged glances, wondering what Jiang Hao was up to.

’It’s June, not the dead of winter. Why does he need to squeeze in with us? Is he trying to get heat rash?’

”Hey guys, any interest in joining Kuai Pao?”

Jiang Hao got straight to the point.

A new policy had just been released that morning: invite a rider to register for the part-time Kuai Pao app, and after they complete their first order, the referrer gets 20 yuan in cash.

That’s why Jiang Hao’s expression was so enthusiastic when he spoke.

”Are you a station manager? Who wouldn’t want to join Kuai Pao? But your company only hires a few people at a time. It’s harder than the college entrance exams.”

”Brother, do you have connections? If you can get me in, I’ll give you two thousand yuan for your trouble.”

”I’ll give you three thousand!”

”Full-time or part-time?”

The Qian Du Delivery riders all started talking at once, asking questions. Some were even willing to pay for a job.

This showed just how attractive Kuai Pao’s pay and benefits were in the eyes of those in the industry.

Jiang Hao couldn’t help but chuckle. He quickly waved his hands. ”Part-time. If you register now, you can start taking orders today.”

As for taking their money, he wouldn’t dare.

Apparently, a station manager in Jinling had colluded with HR to sell full-time rider positions for five thousand yuan each.

But colleagues from the risk control department found out, and they were all sent to prison.

”Part-time, huh?”

”Part-time is fine too. What’s the per-order rate? How does it compare to Qian Du?”

”Are there any requirements?”

The Qian Du Delivery riders first frowned, then continued asking questions.

”Average of over 30 orders per day last month and a rider service rating of no less than 4.2,” Jiang Hao said with a smile, urging them on. ”Come on, scan the code to register first. I’ll teach you how to record the video; the station still needs to review it.”

”Just 30 orders? I meet that requirement.”

”Is a 3.7 rating okay?”

”Who told you to cuss out customers all day? Bet you regret it now, huh?”

The Qian Du riders joked around.

A short while later, five of the riders had registered for the part-time Kuai Pao app. Only the one with the 3.7 rating was rejected by Jiang Hao.

If the service rating didn’t meet the standard, the application wouldn’t be approved.

After comparing the per-kilometer rates, they immediately decided to give it a try during the morning rush.

Jiang Hao earned a hundred yuan. He then finished his breakfast and went online to take orders, feeling quite satisfied.

Similar scenes were playing out all across the country.

Wang Zhongpu, now in a frenzy, didn’t hesitate to continue the subsidy war after securing 4.1 million orders on June 3rd.

The money lost belonged to the company, but if he could conquer the market, the performance would be credited to him. Anyone with a clear head knew what to do.

Li Yanhong wanted market share, so he would go fight for it.

Once it was past eight o’clock, Qian Du Delivery’s merchants began another day of both pain and pleasure.

In the platform wars, they, like the customers, were also beneficiaries.

...

...

「8:30 a.m.」

In a husband-and-wife shop that sold zhajiangmian, the owner kept poking his head out to look, his brow furrowed with impatience.

There were over 30 delivery orders piled up on the counter, but what baffled him was that not a single rider had come to pick them up for a long time.

’What’s going on?’

’The customers’ calls to hurry their orders are blowing up my phone!’

It wasn’t until a quarter past nine that a Qian Du Delivery rider finally arrived. The owner furiously questioned him, ”What the hell is Qian Du doing? These orders are all cold! If the customers cancel, who’s going to cover the loss?”

The Qian Du rider pursed his lips disdainfully. ”Why are you yelling at me? I’m not a Qian Du employee. Just give me orders 37 and 38.”

”What about the dozens of orders before those?” the owner asked, taken aback.

”The system didn’t assign them to me. Not my fucking problem,” the rider said irritably.

Most of the riders from his station had gone over to Kuai Pao. His rating was too low, so he was stuck running for Qian Du, earning three or four yuan less per order. Naturally, his tone was anything but polite.

From his confrontational attitude, it wasn’t hard to see why his service rating was below 4.2.

”What the fuck!” the owner couldn’t help but curse.

”Who are you cussing at?” the rider asked, jutting out his neck.

”None of your fucking business!” the owner shot back, giving him a dirty look.

”Go fuck yourself!” The rider didn’t back down an inch, firing back with a curse before adding, ”None of *your* fucking business!”

Tempers flared, and before they had exchanged more than a couple of sentences, they were scuffling.

In an instant, zhajiangmian was flying through the air.

Before the lunch rush even began, Qian Du Delivery was already experiencing widespread order backlogs.

Either merchants couldn’t prepare the food fast enough, causing impatient riders to cancel the delivery, or there simply wasn’t enough delivery capacity, leading to a pile-up of orders.

A flood of complaint calls from merchants poured into the Qian Du Delivery business division. Their core demand was compensation for losses caused by the backlogged orders.

Wang Zhongpu quickly received the news. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately had the technology, operations, delivery, and data departments investigate the source of the problem.

”President Wang, the rider online rate in the East China Region has dropped by 36.2% month-over-month, and in the North China Region, it’s down 41.3%...”

It wasn’t long before the heads of the data and delivery departments reported in.

’Riders aren’t coming online?’

Wang Zhongpu’s brow furrowed. Suddenly, a thought struck him. ”Have someone check if Kuai Pao has increased its recruitment of part-time riders.”

Riders would never refuse to come online and take orders for no reason.

Most likely, someone was offering them more money.

All Qian Du riders were signed on labor contracts, so they weren’t technically Qian Du employees. They delivered for whoever paid more.

In fact, he had poached most of his Qian Du riders from Meituan himself.

But to his surprise, Pei Yi was now using the exact same tactic against him.

About twenty minutes later, a subordinate updated him, ”Starting from early this morning, Kuai Pao completely lifted the registration restrictions for part-time riders and increased their per-order rates. All of Qian Du’s most experienced riders have jumped ship to Kuai Pao.”

”Raise our rates! Get the riders back!”

Wang Zhongpu said in a low voice.

He had always looked down on the rider side of the business, but now he had no choice but to improve their compensation. Compared to the cost of delivery fees, marketing expenses and merchant losses from spoiled food were the real lion’s share of the expenses.

If Qian Du didn’t compensate them with subsidies, the merchants would leave immediately and curse Qian Du Delivery until it became a trending topic online.

Although Wang Zhongpu’s response was swift, luring the riders back to Qian Du would take at least half a day, if not a full day.

As a result, Qian Du Delivery’s lunch rush was plagued by severe order backlogs. Merchants saw how bad things were and quickly closed their shops.

Countless office workers couldn’t even get their lunch.

There was simply no one to accept their delivery orders!

With a single move, Chen Yansen had completely disrupted Qian Du Delivery’s offensive momentum.

Hashtags like ”Qian Du Delivery System Crash,” ”No One Accepting Qian Du Delivery Orders,” and ”Qian Du Delivery Rider Brawls with Merchant” began climbing the trending news lists.

”No wonder no one’s taking orders. Turns out the riders are busy fighting the merchants.”

”Not necessarily. Looks to me like the merchant has the rider in a headlock.”

”I waited an hour and no one took my order. Luckily, I canceled it right away and placed a new one on Kuai Pao. And guess what? Sigh, it arrived in ten-something minutes, delivered by a guy wearing a Qian Du Delivery uniform.”

”LOL!”

”I’m dying! I ordered from Kuai Pao, and a Qian Du Delivery guy showed up too.”

”Well, what do you expect when Li Yanhong is too cheap to pay for his riders’ social security! They don’t even get a base salary. It’d be weird if they *didn’t* leave.”

Weibo was filled with mockery from netizens.

In their view, Qian Du Delivery had neither quality service nor sufficient delivery capacity. It was miles behind Kuai Pao Delivery.

”Li Yanhong just got lucky riding the wave. At his level, he’s no match for Chen Yansen!”

Liu Qiangdong sat in his office chair, scrolling with his mouse as he skimmed through news of the ”delivery war” between Kuai Pao and Qian Du. He chuckled softly.

”Boss, ever since Chen Yansen entered the industry, no one has been able to get the better of him in business. It’s only normal that Li Yanhong is getting crushed,” Xu Lei chimed in.

”Never mind that. The most important thing for Jingdong right now is to fight a good battle for 618,” Liu Qiangdong said with a wave of his hand.

Once the red ”challenge” was issued, Sunning, Gome, Dangdang, and Yixun had formed a pincer attack against Jingdong.

Xu Lei nodded and took out a brand image design proposal. The cover featured a metallic dog logo.

Tmall’s brand logo was a black cat, which had proven to have immense positive value in expanding brand recognition.

Naturally, Liu Qiangdong wasn’t going to be outdone. The first thing he did upon returning to the country was to upgrade their brand image.

Little did he know that as soon as the metallic dog debuted, Jingdong earned the nickname ”Dog-dong.”

With the 618 shopping festival just around the corner, all the major e-commerce platforms were pulling out all the stops, hoping to deliver an impressive performance.

Orange Mall, Xiaomi Mall, and 360 Mall were no exception.

Although the Qingcheng D2, Orange C3S, and Yaocheng X1 weren’t discounted, they came with some free gifts.

Zhou Hongyi, on the other hand, lowered the prices of the 360 N2 and 360 F1 phones by 50 and 30 yuan respectively, hoping to surpass the sales of the Redmi 1.

Lei Yijun’s marketing strategy was the same as Orange Technology’s: only include free accessories, with the price remaining unchanged.

Phone manufacturers like Huawei, ZTE, Meizu, and OPPO also realized the importance of online channels and rushed to complete the process of opening shops on Tmall, Pinbei, and Jingdong before the mid-year mega sale.

「Meanwhile.」

On the second day of the ”Peak Competition,” Kuai Pao launched the ”Kuai Pao Super Member” program. The standard fee was 12 yuan per month or 120 yuan for a full year.

However, for those who signed up between June 4th and June 10th, the first month was only 6.9 yuan, with a special annual price of 69 yuan.

Each month, members received five 6-yuan ”no-minimum-spend” delivery coupons, two ”5 yuan off 10” Group Buy coupons, three ”20 yuan off 69” grocery coupons, and free grocery delivery on orders over 39 yuan.

The Super Member program integrated the delivery, Group Buy, and grocery businesses in one fell swoop.

Although the platform was still in the midst of the delivery war and gave out a limited number of no-minimum-spend coupons daily, one coupon a day was simply not enough for frequent users.

The launch of the Super Member program perfectly filled this gap and gave users a new reason to choose Kuai Pao.

On June 4th, Kuai Pao’s delivery orders surpassed 11 million!

Group Buy orders reached 4 million!

Grocery business orders hit 1.7 million!

The total daily order volume soared to 16.7 million!

Without a doubt, Kuai Pao had become the uncrowned king of the O2O (Online-to-Offline) sector!