2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 395 Orange Technology Becomes a Hot Commodity
In March, people wear whatever they want.

At Lishe International Airport, you can see people like Tan Jincheng wearing only a shirt, others wearing coats, and even a few wearing cotton-padded jackets.

"Finally back. It feels like the air in Ningbo is more familiar." Tan Jincheng sighed and took a deep breath.

Having lived two lives, this is the first time Tan Jincheng has stayed in Shenzhen for such a long time. To be honest, he doesn't really like the weather in Shenzhen or Guangdong Province.

Especially since it happened to be the height of the rainy season when I went there, it was really unbearable.

Gu Qingqing nodded in deep agreement. Even Tan Jincheng wasn't used to it, so she was even less used to it since it was her first time in Shenzhen.

The company had already sent someone to deliver the GL8 to the airport. The four of them didn't linger at the airport for long; they picked up their luggage and left quickly.

"We've been walking together for so long this time, I wonder if Jin Yue has been cursing at home."

Although we talk on the phone quite often, it's been almost half a month since we last met, and the girl still keeps asking on the phone when she'll come back.

The main reason is that neither of them is home, and the little girl is lonely at home.

Now, not only is her son becoming more and more famous, but her future daughter-in-law is also very famous. Zhang Suzhi rarely takes Tan Jinyue out for walks anymore, and has started living a secluded life.

In addition, the villa area is not like the previous community; there are not as many people, and it is not easy for new residents to interact with each other.

Tan Jincheng couldn't solve this problem either. No matter what kind of material conditions you have, there are corresponding troubles. Enjoying a high standard of living and still wanting to mingle with ordinary people is something that can only exist in your imagination.

Even if you really get along well with this group of people, it's still very difficult for them to empathize with you.

Actually, it's Zhang Suzhi who has the hardest time to adapt. Her values, formed over 40 years, are difficult to change. As for her younger sister, Tan Jincheng isn't too worried. Children have their own inner world, and she'll adapt in no time.

"It's not a big problem. You might not be used to it for the first few days, but you'll get used to it in a few days."

He reclined his chair, found a comfortable position to lie down, and then said to Gu Qingqing, "You'll be very busy after you come back this time. The e-commerce website needs to be completed as soon as possible. You can try to recruit some operations staff from Ali and Jingdong."

OrangePing's model is actually the same as its predecessor, Vipshop. This vertical e-commerce company was doing well until 2023, with its net profit reaching a new high in 2022 and its revenue steadily exceeding 100 billion yuan.

In 2023, while all internet companies were busy laying off employees, Vipshop spent 1.2 million yuan to rent five buildings and rent them out to its employees as dormitories for 300 yuan per month. While all e-commerce companies were struggling to survive by offering subsidies, Vipshop lived in a paradise and quietly made a fortune.

The inspirational Richard Liu once predicted that vertical e-commerce would definitely die out, or at least be sold off.

Dong Ge (Liu Qiangdong) never said that. Vancl's glory days didn't last long. As for companies like Jumei, Mogujie, and Dangdang, some were delisted, some went bankrupt, and some even had their company seals seized.

Vipshop is a unique exception. Not only did Liu Qiangdong fail to defeat Vipshop, he also invested in it and later, together with Tencent, increased his shareholding in the secondary market several times.

Of course, Vipshop's development has not been smooth sailing. Like all internet companies, once it made money, it wanted to do everything. After making its first profit in 2012, Vipshop did not suffer any losses until 2023.

However, after the founders made money, they dabbled in this and that, getting involved in logistics and finance, almost ruining the company. Fortunately, they woke up in time, cut off all the messy businesses, and focused solely on flash sales.

Looking back now, Tan Jincheng realizes that this well-known brand's clearance sale model is actually quite suitable for Chinese consumers' consumption habits.

In recent years, when the economy was just starting to develop, people were pursuing well-known brands and wanted to improve themselves, but they were hampered by limited spending power. Then, after 19, they encountered a downgrade in consumption, otherwise Pinduoduo would not have been able to take off.

In other words, Vipshop perfectly combines the consumption views of two eras, and with the traffic support of WeChat, it can thrive in the mobile internet era even without a powerful app.

This is why Tan Jincheng wanted to create Orange Products Club. A stable and profitable e-commerce company with a large cash flow, which keeps a low profile and avoids internal competition, would be incredibly appealing.

The model is correct, but no one at Orange Technology, including Tan Jincheng, has any experience in e-commerce. If they do, it's probably just their few Taobao stores.

Even with the right model, without a strong operations team, the final result might be like QQ Triumph.

Going to Beijing to poach a professional e-commerce operations team from Ali, sparing no expense to recruit such a team, is Orange Technology's most pressing task at present. The current 6000 million yuan equity incentive plan is a bait thrown out by Tan Jincheng.

Boss Tan is known for his generosity and willingness to spend lavishly on his subordinates. He always keeps his promises, and Cheng Hao, who started the business with him, has amassed a fortune of over 3000 million yuan in less than a year. With his generosity and trustworthiness, what is there to worry about when working for such a boss?

In addition, there are rumors in the industry that Tan Jincheng, the actual controller of Orange Technology, is also an excellent product manager. He was responsible for initiating projects such as Kaixin.com and Kaixin Farm, which have been validated by the market after listing.

Orange Technology, which is venturing into the e-commerce industry, has its e-commerce plan spearheaded by Tan Jincheng. According to internal sources, it should be making clothing similar to Vancl, but it is unclear whether the two companies are in direct competition.

In terms of team, Orange Technology is not as professional as the founding team of Vancl, which left Joyo.com, but considering that Orange Technology is backed by Flash Group and has a strong offline apparel channel, it is still a worthy competitor.

It's fine if the two sides don't compete directly; if they do, it will be a major highlight in the internet e-commerce industry this year.

As Tan Jincheng said, Gu Qingqing was indeed very busy. Ever since she got into the car and turned on her phone, her phone had been ringing non-stop. Gu Yanning and Cheng Hao were calling, asking her to make decisions about certain matters at the company.

A school called to learn that she had returned to Ningbo and asked what she could do to return to school. In 2007, it was quite a sensational news story that a third-year student donated 800 million yuan to the school with the money she had earned from her own business.

Ningbo University's unwavering support has finally yielded its first major reward; needless to say, the admission scores for the School of Engineering and the School of Business will have to be raised this year.

If you apply to Ningbo University now, you'll have a year to be classmates with Senior Sister Gu and see her on campus.

Oh right, Senior Gu's boyfriend, CEO Tan of Flash, is also studying at the school. Maybe we'll run into each other on campus.

Ningbo University is good at seizing opportunities. They worked harder than Orange Technology and other investors behind the scenes to promote Orange Technology's Series B financing, trying to ride the wave of the news and drive the topic to Ningbo University.

This tactic was taught to them by Ni Jie. Back in the Zhejiang market, Tan Jincheng tried to ride on Luyuan's popularity and create competition, making Luyuan's entire marketing team extremely uncomfortable.

The term "riding the coattails" is now a relatively new one in the electric vehicle industry. Whenever a company does some kind of advertising campaign, they will try to find a way to capitalize on the trend. Ni Jie shared this method with Ningbo University.

Ningbo University has put its knowledge to good use, making full use of the opportunity for strong publicity to market the school's reputation, and these news reports are repeatedly played in the cafeteria.

College students have boundless energy, and they are really willing to share interesting things online. The way the cafeteria broadcasts news is quite effective.

Gu Qingqing kept receiving phone calls, and Tan Jincheng wasn't idle either. Unlike the routine work calls Gu Qingqing received, Tan Jincheng's calls were much more high-end.

The main investment in vertical e-commerce is in building the online store. Products must be well-planned, and categories must be detailed, the more detailed the better, so that consumers can quickly find the products they need.

For example, in women's clothing, there are many subcategories within major categories such as tops, bottoms, skirts, and underwear. The same applies to men's clothing.

In the mobile internet era, there are various sub-segments such as apps, WeChat mini-programs, and official accounts.

A large amount of funds are invested in the mall, but in addition, warehousing and logistics are also a major undertaking. The main reason for calling Tan Jincheng was to focus on this aspect.

A warehousing and logistics center requires land, staff, and delivery personnel for subsequent logistics and transportation. Compared to Flash's factory, it is indeed insignificant, but every little bit helps.

It is, after all, a small industrial chain, which is also beneficial to the local area. Therefore, the calls Tan Jincheng received were mainly from local governments. Regardless of whether they had cooperated before, those who could call Tan Jincheng's private phone were all acquaintances.

This mainly involved places in Anhui Province. Yicheng hadn't received much meat before, except for Wangjiang, so they all wanted to try. In addition to Yicheng, they had also contacted other cities, including Luzhou.

"Small companies that we used to look down on have now become hot commodities."

All the calls the two received along the way were about Orange Technology. With $2000 million in hand, they were poised to make a move, and everyone was watching them closely. It wasn't just Tan Jincheng's side; the fact that Orange Products' main business was clothing had gradually spread.

It's no secret that the vice president of Flash Group in charge of the apparel business has been busy contacting major well-known manufacturers these days, and many calls related to the apparel industry have been coming to him.

Never underestimate a businessman's instincts.

Tan Jincheng received several calls from the government, including one from Luzhou, which reminded him of the lithium battery project he was going to cooperate with Yadi on.

This project has been stalled for a long time. Perhaps we could try contacting Dong Jinggui?

(End of this chapter)