126: Chapter 126 Taobao and JD.com's Actions

Ma Kun and Alibaba moved quickly.

Once it was confirmed that Pinhaohuo belonged to Langchao Group and was a brand-new blue ocean market discovered by Qin Mo, only three days had passed.

The Alibaba app pushed a silent update. The update notes only mentioned "optimizing user experience," but after the update, a new, prominent entrance appeared on the homepage.

The Fruits and Vegetables Channel.

The interface design for this channel was completely different from the main Alibaba site. It lacked the dense product lists and store recommendations; instead, the top category navigation was organized into Fruit, Vegetable, and Poultry/Meat/Egg sections.

Inside the channel, a dedicated "Low-Price Group Buying" section was created. The rules were almost identical to Pinhaohuo: two people could form a group, and the group price was significantly cheaper than the standard retail price.

Although Alibaba hadn't yet managed to roll out a nationwide fruit and vegetable delivery system, by leveraging the existing Cainiao logistics network and local courier partner points, the delivery routes for the first batch of covered cities had already been established.

The delivery time was one to two days longer than Pinhaohuo, but given Alibaba's scale and momentum, this was acceptable.

Users simply didn't mind waiting a bit longer.

Of course.

This was also because fruit and vegetable e-commerce had just launched; the disadvantage of slow delivery hadn't been noticed by users yet under the onslaught of low prices.

After the news of Alibaba opening the Fruit and Vegetables channel spread, fruit and vegetable greenhouse manufacturers and agricultural cooperatives across the country signed up with Alibaba in an extremely short time.

Alibaba didn't lack products; what it lacked was a fast pipeline to deliver those products to users.

If...

Following Alibaba's original logic, they would have taken the premium route after entering the fruit and vegetable market—selecting high-quality origins, branding them, and selling them at a premium.

However...

Because of Ma Kun's presence, Alibaba didn't do that. He knew that the entry point Qin Mo chose was the low-price sinking market, so in Alibaba's fruit and vegetable portal, aside from the premium section, a low-price port was specifically opened.

For the same product, the premium section sold imported goods, while the low-price port sold local greenhouse produce.

After Alibaba launched the fruit and vegetable portal, even without external advertising, just by using internal pushes within the Alibaba software, countless users took notice of this brand-new channel.

The number of users utilizing this fruit and vegetable e-commerce platform was skyrocketing at an astonishing speed.

This time...

Alibaba had effectively begun a dimensionality reduction and comprehensive strike against Pinhaohuo.

If...

If Pinhaohuo's previous actions hadn't been significant, and only Ma Kun had noticed it through Alipay while other e-commerce platforms remained unaware...

Then...

After Alibaba completely entered the fray and opened the Fruit and Vegetables channel on its homepage, within just a few hours, several other mainstream e-commerce platforms in Great Xia noticed it.

Their reactions were equally swift.

Yigou's operations team submitted an internal report less than half a day after Alibaba's update, and Vipshop's board of directors held an emergency meeting that same afternoon.

Other e-commerce platforms also immediately began researching this blue ocean of fruit and vegetable e-commerce, wondering why Alibaba had suddenly opened a fruit and vegetable channel.

Tracing the source, they quickly discovered something.

About twenty days before Alibaba set up the fruit and vegetable portal, a piece of software for fruit and vegetable e-commerce had just appeared on the market.

After deeper investigation...

Other e-commerce platforms were also able to discover something.

Behind this Pinhaohuo platform was an extremely massive logistics and warehousing route, with nationwide delivery times averaging only two days.

Naturally, JD.com wouldn't create new software; it would definitely add an entrance on JD.com.

Besides JD.com...

And currently in Great Xia, the only company possessing this set of idle logistics systems was Langchao Group.

After verifying this, almost all internet companies in Great Xia could confirm that this software called Pinhaohuo belonged to Langchao Group, and therefore to Qin Mo.

Alibaba didn't care at all that other e-commerce platforms would discover this; they weren't afraid. They wanted to play with their cards face up.

Playing with cards face up.

Their own chips were the biggest!

...

One day after Alibaba's fruit and vegetable portal went live.

JD.com Chairman's office.

This office wasn't large, and the decor was far less impressive than the headquarters of Anli Group, with only a bookshelf that held few books.

Liu Qiang sat behind the desk, with JD.com's Vice President Wang Bing standing in front of him.

The other man held a freshly printed industry trends brief, his expression somewhat serious.

"Is it confirmed?" Liu Qiang asked.

Vice President Wang Bing nodded.

"Confirmed."

"Pinhaohuo belongs to Langchao Group. Although the operating company behind it is registered under a third-party enterprise, only Langchao Group matches the logistics lines and warehousing sources."

"Now that Alibaba has officially entered the market, the fruit and vegetable entrance is in the most prominent position on their homepage."

He paused.

"According to our observations, Alibaba's investment in this direction has only just begun."

"They have signed cooperatives in six major fruit and vegetable producing areas across the country, and their delivery routes are expanding rapidly. Ma Kun's actions this time are very decisive, giving Pinhaohuo almost no time to breathe."

Ma Kun's return to the country hadn't been hidden; basically all internet companies in Great Xia knew about it, and they also knew that Ma Kun had taken direct charge of Alibaba.

After finishing this, Vice President Wang Bing placed the brief on the desk.

"The board of directors is already waiting in the conference room. Alibaba entering the market so quickly indicates that the fruit and vegetable e-commerce market must have significant potential. The board wants to know JD.com's choice: follow up or wait and see."

Liu Qiang was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I understand. Let me think about it."

Vice President Wang Bing didn't say anything more, turned to leave the office, and closed the door behind him. The office became quiet.

Liu Qiang leaned back in his chair and picked up his phone.

On the screen was the Pinhaohuo app he had just downloaded today. The brand-new icon lay quietly in a folder with several other e-commerce apps.

He clicked on the software. The group-buying products on the homepage were scrolling and updating—strawberries, apples, oranges—the prices were nearly half cheaper than the fruit shop downstairs.

He stared at the icon for a long time.

"Interesting."

"This isn't your true purpose, is it?"

Liu Qiang muttered to himself.

He recalled a brief conversation he and Qin Mo had back at JD.com headquarters after signing the contract.

Qin Mo had said at the time that he wanted to grab Alibaba's market, and it wouldn't conflict much with JD.com's unique ecosystem.

But now...

What Qin Mo was doing with this logistics line was fruit and vegetable e-commerce. Fruit and vegetable e-commerce was a brand-new market; there was no issue of seizing Alibaba's existing market share.

Therefore...

There was only one explanation for this.

Fruit and vegetable e-commerce was not Qin Mo's true goal.

This was likely a diversionary tactic by the other party.

Liu Qiang let out a long breath, pondering: if fruit and vegetable e-commerce was just a diversion, why did Qin Mo take the initiative to tell him that he was seizing Alibaba's market at that time?

The safest situation would have been for Qin Mo not to reveal this information to anyone, not even JD.com, not even him, yet the other party still said it.

This was the reason Liu Qiang frowned. He could be certain that Qin Mo wouldn't let anything slip; every step the other party took in the business world was extremely steady.

In other words...

The other party had intentionally told him that sentence back then, specifically so that he would know at this moment that the other party's true goal was not fruit and vegetable e-commerce!

Liu Qiang leaned back in his chair and pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"You kid, you actually wanted me to solidify this matter."

"You wanted me to give you a push, to make Alibaba make up its final determination to go down the wrong path."

Liu Qiang quickly understood.

Alibaba discovering Pinhaohuo and entering fruit and vegetable e-commerce was something Qin Mo had anticipated.

But just letting Alibaba discover it wasn't enough; Alibaba was only entering the market and could adjust its strategy at any time.

What Qin Mo needed was...

To make the entire industry believe that fruit and vegetable e-commerce was a huge blue ocean market, to make Alibaba continue to increase its investment in this direction, pouring in capital and energy until it couldn't turn back.

And to achieve this...

Pinhaohuo alone couldn't support this momentum; it needed other platforms to follow up, it needed enough industry attention, and it needed continuous hot searches and discussions so that everyone would think fruit and vegetable e-commerce was the next trillion-dollar market.

Qin Mo was waiting for a pusher.

And that pusher was him, Liu Qiang. Qin Mo had intentionally revealed this information back then, specifically so that when Alibaba entered the market, someone could add fuel from the sidelines to make the fire burn even brighter.

If the industry leader, Alibaba, entering the market could make most people pay attention, then if the second-ranked JD.com also jumped in without hesitation, it would be enough to get all those people to take action.

Even if Alibaba, which had some doubts about entering the market, saw that JD.com was doing the same, it would dispel its own doubts.

The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Being able to make Alibaba suffer a big loss was something Liu Qiang was indeed very interested in.

Furthermore...

The most ingenious part of this plan was that if Alibaba were dull and hadn't discovered Pinhaohuo, or had discovered it but hadn't entered the market, then he wouldn't have recalled this information either. Everything would have proceeded normally until Pinhaohuo bared its fangs.

But as long as Alibaba discovered Pinhaohuo and entered the market, he would also discover the information Qin Mo had left behind, and subsequently add fuel to the fire.

Thinking of this...

Liu Qiang leaned back in his chair, his smile slowly fading.

"This so-called fruit and vegetable e-commerce likely has a huge trap."

"But I'll do this favor!"