2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 472 The Marketing Triggered by the First Order (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"Women's clothing as low as 0.5 off, men's clothing as low as 0.7 off? Holy crap, are they selling at that price?"

"Adidas up to 1% off? Running shoes as low as 179? Holy crap, let's go, guys!"

"The same jacket worn by the CEO of Orange Technology for only 159 yuan? Wow, even billionaires wear such affordable clothes? Are you kidding us?"

"1 Yuan Flash Sale! Hurry up and buy! Boss Tan is going to lose a lot of money playing this game. He definitely won't make any money."

With the support of three investment institutions, Tencent, and the promotional channels of hog farm, Orange Products has created quite a buzz. The project team has decided not to focus on sales volume and to prepare for testing the website as the primary objective.

But how could we not look at the data? If the sales data on the first day of the internal test is too dismal, firstly, it will be impossible to effectively test the stability of the website, and secondly, it will easily cause outsiders, especially the capital market, to be pessimistic about the Orange Club project.

While one day's data may not tell the whole story, combining data from multiple days can help analyze the future trajectory of an e-commerce website, especially its core business sales.

This year, November 11th fell on a Sunday, which was also a weekend. After promotion and traffic generation, Orange Products Event had good traffic due to its high popularity.

"Mr. Gu, the first transaction is complete! It's a Nike T-shirt for 79 yuan!" the staff member staring at the data shouted excitedly.

Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing glanced at the clock hanging on the wall at the same time. Only one minute had passed, which was not bad.

"Buying T-shirts at this time of year, are you from the Guangdong or Guangxi region?" Tan Jincheng asked with a smile.

The staff checked and said, "It really is, from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Could it be that it was bought by Little Ma (Pony Ma)? Haha."

"You're dreaming. Just compile the data and release it. Announce that our first order user will receive a 5000 yuan free order, and the first 10 users will also receive the same 5000 yuan free order, sponsored by Happy Farm."

They even have to advertise this; they really go to great lengths, not wasting a single bit of their time.

"We quickly coordinated with SF Express to deliver the T-shirt to the customer as soon as possible, ideally within today. Our main goal is to create a buzz and generate a sensation."

Once you truly assume the role of the boss, it's hard to keep them in check. The reason Tan Jincheng didn't interfere during the project preparation phase was simply because he didn't understand it; otherwise, given his personality, he probably wouldn't have been able to control himself.

Once he arrived at the scene and was in that kind of atmosphere, Boss Tan couldn't help but start giving instructions, especially when it came to creating gimmicks; he really couldn't control himself.

It's an old occupational hazard.

Although the members of the Orange Product Club project did not have much contact with Mr. Tan, the rumors about Mr. Tan being an excellent product manager were already so common that they had heard them countless times within Orange Technology.

As for Boss Tan's marketing methods, they're even written into textbooks.

"Do as President Tan says, and do it quickly," Gu Qingqing instructed the staff.

"Okay, make arrangements immediately."

The connection with SF Express was simple; it was already in their logistics system. If the normal process had been followed, this package should have been shipped out in the afternoon. It wasn't that they hadn't thought of this, but rather that such a large-scale online shopping event was still a novelty for them.

The online shopping festival organized by Orange Products is like hiring a spokesperson in the electric vehicle industry—it's the first time for both. Traditional logistics and transportation companies like SF Express, which haven't fully embraced the internet, are not yet used to this kind of gimmick.

Meanwhile, the staff of Orange Products Club were busy preparing for the launch plan and had a tight schedule, so they didn't have time to pay attention to these things. When it comes to creative ideas, they are far inferior to Tan Jincheng, who has experienced Double Eleven.

These are all tricks that Ali used during Singles' Day: broadcasting sales data in real time, and also using gimmicks like ordering at midnight and having it delivered to your door at 2 a.m., all to generate buzz.

This tactic would also work at the current Orange Products Fair, generating buzz while simultaneously leaving consumers with the impression that SF Express is fast and provides excellent service.

As for how often sales figures should be reported, like on Taobao's Singles' Day in the past, it depends on the specific data. If you can't sell more than a few dollars in an hour, it would be embarrassing to report it.

The impromptu addition of a promotional plan tested Orange Products' ability to perform on the spot. Tan Jincheng had previously ignored the project team's marketing plans and didn't care about them, all for this moment.

Internet companies must have a very high ability to judge trends. They not only need to grasp trends well, but also need to learn how to create trends themselves. In the Web 2.0 era, competitors' marketing is not as aggressive.

With the advent of the mobile internet, major internet companies started to get involved, and the hype was immense. Those who couldn't capitalize on or create hype would find it difficult to survive.

Coordinating with SF Express was easy; we contacted the person in charge in Shenzhen and expedited the process. SF Express's headquarters had already moved to Shenzhen, and Wang Wei was quite nervous after Orange Products went live. Orders from Orange Products are unpredictable, and currently all orders nationwide are handled by SF Express.

This was the first time Wang Wei had ever received such an unpredictable volume of orders. Like everyone at Orange Products, SF Express had also entered a highly strategic state.

The CEO was overseeing things from headquarters, and he immediately relayed Orange Products' requirements to Wang Wei, who was delighted upon hearing them.

"This must be President Tan stirring things up. Tell him that since we are the first in Shenzhen to receive this order, it's like fortune has been delivered to our door. He must deliver it to the customer before 1:30 pm. Also, cooperate with Orange Products Club's promotion, but the focus should be on SF Express itself."

"If you have any questions, you can ask Orange Products Association. I'm sure President Tan will be at Orange Products Association."

Wang Wei knew that although Tan Jincheng, the actual controller of Orange Technology, didn't usually get involved, he didn't believe that Tan Jincheng wouldn't be on-site to supervise such an important moment as the launch of Orange Products.

Moreover, this seemingly minor incident of early delivery was clearly Xiao Tan's doing. Only someone with his wildly imaginative marketing mindset would immediately come up with this kind of way to stir things up.

Delivering the goods to the customer within two hours, coupled with the advertising campaign from Orange Products Club, greatly enhances SF Express's brand image. This is equivalent to Xiao Tan giving him a free advertising opportunity.

Oh, right, in his words, this is called riding the wave of popularity. In fact, as long as things go smoothly on their side, the positive feedback that SF Express will get is no less than that of Orange Products Club.

When it comes to marketing, we still have to look to our little Tan brother. It's not that others can't think of this, but we don't know in advance where the first order will come from. If the first order comes from a remote area, this project definitely can't be done.

When the first order came in Shenzhen, Xiao Tan was able to quickly seize the opportunity to maximize the impact. This is the most basic quality of a professional marketer and someone who is good at creating buzz.

"Haha, speaking of which, we should thank this consumer in Shenzhen for giving us a great opportunity to promote our products. If the first order had come from a remote area, we would have had a really hard time. It would probably have taken several days to deliver it, by which time it would have been too late."

Having capitalized on the trending topic, Wang Wei was in a good mood and started joking with his assistant.

The assistant, however, did not echo this sentiment. Instead, he replied, "The Orange Products Club has updated its information. The first order was placed in Shenzhen within one minute of going live, and the first 10 orders were completed within three minutes."

"In addition, Orange Products Club also announced that the first 10 orders will receive a 5000 yuan free credit, which can be used for any purchase at Orange Products Club. Tencent has already updated the homepage of Tencent.com to reflect this."

After saying this, the assistant paused and then laughed, "The first 10 customers who get a free meal are sponsored by Happy Farm. President Tan really takes marketing to the extreme; he even has to squeeze out the smallest opportunity."

"Haha, that's just like President Tan's style. He always takes several programmers with him when he goes on business trips to Tencent. You'd better watch out for him next time he comes to our area," Wang Wei laughed heartily.

The assistant smiled, naturally understanding that Mr. Wang was joking.

Wang Wei waved his hand, dismissing his assistant, and then took out his phone to call Tan Jincheng: "Little Tan, you've got some skills, haven't you? You managed to squeeze into such a small gap, you little rascal."

The cooperation between SF Express and Orange Technology is based on mutual needs. This cooperation model is like a married couple, currently in the honeymoon phase. In addition, Tan Jincheng also helped SF Express establish its East China base in Yiwu.

For this reason, Wang Wei and Tan Jincheng had a pretty good relationship in private. He usually called Tan Jincheng "Xiao Tan" in private, but even in front of his assistant, Wang Wei always gave Tan Jincheng absolute respect and addressed him as "President Tan".

"Haha, you're joking, bro. I happened to see it on site. I didn't expect our first order to come from Shenzhen. Our staff were even wondering if it was Mr. Ma supporting us, since Tencent's internet speed is the fastest."

Actually, Tan Jincheng had wanted to jokingly call Wang Wei "Brother Wei" before, but he didn't dare to, so he could only call him "Brother". As for Brother Ma, Tan Jincheng had called him Brother Ma before.

"Haha, we found out which customer it was at 1:30 pm. I've already told the delivery person to take a picture to help with your promotion. If it's Mr. Ma, that would be hilarious."

"Haha, it's not Mr. Ma. I've seen the order. It's from a regular customer. If it were really Mr. Ma, I would definitely cancel his order. How could he be so shameless as to buy me a 79 yuan T-shirt? He should at least buy me a 179 yuan one."

"Hey kid, are you trying to pick me on? Okay, okay, I'll buy you some. How about this, I'll buy you 200 pairs of those Adidas shoes that cost 179 each and distribute them to the company employees."

"No, no, no, those are for regular users. If your internet speed is so fast, you'll buy all 200 pairs. I'll get yelled at. Buy some more expensive ones. You're not short of money anyway. You can also buy some other things to give to your employees as New Year's benefits or something."

Wang Wei was speechless. He should have known better than to respond to him. This kid was like a dog that would be groped if it passed by.

Well, another expense has been incurred.

(End of this chapter)