From Taobao intern to the father of Pinduoduo

Chapter 161 The Terrifying Boost Brought by Free Fruit

Chapter 161 The Terrifying Boost Brought by Free Fruit

A few days later, the Shatin pomelos successfully arrived.

Zeng Weiguo took the poorly packaged package from the courier, tore open the tattered box, and saw that it was cushioned with foam board, and in the middle of the box were two medium-sized pomelos.

Sure enough, the goods arrived, Zeng Weiguo couldn't help but think. Watering the plants was exceptionally easy for the next 7 days, and he felt a genuine sense of joy at getting something for free.

He sat down and broke open the pomelo with his hands, revealing the glistening, plump flesh inside. The flesh was not rotten, even though this type of fruit is not prone to rotting.

He tasted it again, and to be honest, it wasn't much different from the regular Shatin pomelos you buy in the market. However, these two Shatin pomelos would cost around 12 yuan in the supermarket, which wasn't cheap; this was 12 yuan in 2011.

Zeng Weiguo ate most of a pomelos by himself. Just then, his wife, Su Ruanruan, returned home. Seeing her husband eating fruit, Su Ruanruan exclaimed in surprise, "Did the sun rise in the west today? It's rare to see you buy fruit."

Zeng Weiguo explained, "I didn't buy it. I got it for free through a promotion on Pinduoduo. Have you forgotten the link the child sent us before?"

Su Ruanruan recalled what happened two days ago and said in surprise, "The express delivery arrived at my home in just two days? That's pretty fast. How does it taste? Let me try some."

Zeng Weiguo handed over half of the fruit he had broken off, saying, "It's good, and it's free, so it tastes even better."

Su Ruanruan tasted it and found it to be quite good. She said, "Send me the link, and I'll go get a few for free too."

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Soon, Su Ruanruan received a new message on her phone. She accessed Pinduoduo through a link and was immediately struck by the dazzling array of cheap goods. Seeing the prices, she even stopped eating her fruit and asked her husband, "Weiguo, can all these things be claimed for free?"

Zeng Weiguo replied, "Only fruit can be claimed for free; everything else has to be purchased. However, you can check out the flash sale section; if you can find someone to share an order with, the prices are extremely cheap."

Su Ruanruan clicked into the flash sale and pointed at the tissues in surprise, saying, "The tissues here are so cheap! A pack of 400 sheets of kitchen paper is only one yuan, while it costs 10 yuan in the supermarket! It's so cheap, I'll buy things here in bulk from now on."

Having received a free Shatin pomelo from Pinduoduo, Zeng Weiguo had developed a sense of trust in the platform. He took out his phone and said, "Wife, let's place an order."

The group-buying function wasn't complicated, and the two quickly completed the purchase. Su Ruanruan said regretfully, "It's a pity that each account can only purchase one item. We'll use Xiaowen's account to buy another one when he comes back."

After buying tissues, Su Ruanruan began a shopping spree, wanting to buy this and that. The items in the one-yuan flash sale were easy enough; Zeng Weiguo lent her his phone, and the two of them could easily place a group order. But the items in the 10, 20, and 30 yuan flash sale were too much for two people to handle. Su Ruanruan thought for a moment and then decided to try and get help from her neighbors.

A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Neighborly relations in 2010 were not as cold as they would become later.

dong dong dong.

Su Ruanruan knocked on her neighbor's door.

"Who is it?" the neighbor asked, opening the door.

Su Ruanruan spoke first: "Xiaojing, quick, do you have Pinduoduo? Let's join a group purchase!"

Xiao Jing, the housewife next door, looked puzzled and asked, "What is Pinduoduo?"

Su Ruanruan briefly explained: "Pinduoduo is an e-commerce platform where you can get free fruit and buy things at super low prices."

"Really? Is there really such a good thing?" Xiao Jing's voice rose considerably upon hearing that there was something for free.

Su Ruanruan patted her chest and assured her, "It's true, my husband already received fruit. That fruit would cost over ten yuan at the supermarket!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go next."

Aunt Jing took out her family's mobile phone. Most of the people in this neighborhood were workers, teachers, and civil servants, and their families were all quite well-off. Aunt Jin used a China Unicom contract phone, which could connect to the internet. After fiddling around for a while, Su Ruanruan directly registered a Pinduoduo account for Aunt Jin using her phone number, and then taught her step by step how to claim free fruit.

To be honest, Pinduoduo's design is incredibly user-friendly for Aunt Jin, who doesn't understand the internet. It's almost like a foolproof operation; you can water the plants and check in with just one click, and then you just need to check in every day.

After teaching, Su Ruanruan said, "Now let's do a group order! I just bought a lot of cheap stuff, like 400 sheets of kitchen paper for one yuan!"

"Really? So cheap?" Aunt Jin stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Soon, the two were browsing through the one-yuan and ten-yuan flash sale sections, and if they found something they liked, they would buy it together. They bought slippers, long and short-sleeved shirts for spring and autumn, and various daily necessities, spending a total of five or six hundred yuan.

As evening fell, Xiaojing's husband came home from get off work, and Xiaojing belatedly exclaimed, "Oh no, I forgot to cook!"

The husband asked, "What are you two chatting about? You seem to be having so much fun that you forgot to cook dinner?"

Xiaojing proudly told her husband, "We buy things on Pinduoduo, and the prices are super cheap there!"

"What is Pinduoduo?" the husband asked, looking completely bewildered.

Before long, the three adults were sitting around the table, scrolling through their phones, and putting together a group order.

Around 6 PM, Xiaojing's high school son came home from school, clutching his stomach and crying out, "Mom, I'm starving! What are you making for dinner today?"

The group looked up abruptly, all somewhat embarrassed. The husband said, "Let's go out to eat today, we won't eat at home!"

Inspired by Su Ruanruan, more and more people in the neighborhood started group buying, creating a small craze. The first thing people asked each other was no longer "Have you eaten?" but "Did you join a group buy today?"

At the end of January 2011, at Pinduoduo headquarters.

Looking at the data report in front of him, Lin Mu realized that the "free fruit giveaway" event had been a great success, with 50 tons of fruit purchased at cost price.

All 10,000 jin of fruit have been delivered, but that wasn't enough, so another 500,000 jin were ordered.

The "free fruit" feature alone brought Pinduoduo more than 20 monthly active users, with a user acquisition ratio of an astonishing 1:8.

In other words, every 1 yuan spent on free fruit can generate 8 yuan in platform revenue for users.

Of course, this is mainly due to Pinduoduo's ultra-low prices, platform subsidies, and the terrifying chemical reaction created by the combined effects of group buying and viral marketing.

At this time, Pinduoduo's monthly turnover had reached 2.4 million yuan. However, the data was growing rapidly, and the subsidies were also burning through a lot of money. This month's subsidy expenditure reached 1000 million yuan, and for a long time to come, the expenditure will not be less than 1000 million yuan.

At this rate of spending, the 2 million yuan raised will be gone in a year and a half, and if it's spent even faster, it will be gone in a year.

After a moment's thought, Lin Mu felt that the time was ripe and it was time to officially start charging merchants service fees.