138: Chapter 138 Taobao's impending collapse: a price cut

The impact of Taobao's latest campaign was immense; it had only been launched for a few hours before it surged to the top of the trending lists across major platforms.

This was the first time Taobao had ever launched a campaign with such an exaggerated scale, giving away products directly, including high-value items like mobile phones.

For a moment.

Almost every major platform was buzzing with discussion, and the comment sections were equally shocked.

However, it was quite strange.

The campaign had only been live for a few hours, yet there was already a huge influx of comments claiming they had successfully completed their Slash, and most of these comments were from new accounts.

"I can't believe Taobao is also doing Slash, and they're giving away so much stuff right off the bat. They must have been pushed to the edge by Pinduoduo."

"I just managed to get a rice cooker through Slash. It costs several hundred yuan for an authentic one. I didn't expect it to be given away for free; Taobao is really generous this time."

"I got a pair of headphones. It's an item worth several hundred yuan, but it requires more new users than I imagined."

Besides these comments.

Under this trending topic.

There were also many people specifically posting on Weibo to show off screenshots of their successful Slash, claiming they had received everything from cash red packets to other merchandise.

However, these people also mentioned in the comment sections that since the prices of Taobao's items started at several hundred yuan, the difficulty was much higher than on Pinduoduo, requiring more new users, and they urged others not to give up easily.

They even said.

Because Taobao didn't have many new users to begin with and the number of people who could be recruited was limited, it was normal for the success rate of Slash to be low.

And because the campaign had just launched, most people didn't feel anything was amiss and were understanding.

At this moment.

The comments were still harmonious.

"After all, they are giving away products worth hundreds or thousands of yuan, so it makes sense for the difficulty to be a bit higher."

"Pinduoduo requires twenty people to Slash for a hundred yuan; isn't it normal for Taobao to have higher requirements since they are giving away more expensive items?"

The campaign's effect was immediate.

Within hours of the campaign's launch, Taobao's ranking on the download charts of major app stores skyrocketed to number one.

Countless users, having seen the trending topics or received push notifications from Taobao, flocked to re-download the app, wanting to try their luck at getting some good items through Slash.

But soon.

These users quickly discovered that the difficulty of Taobao's Slash was simply too high. Often, the progress bar would reach the very end, just a tiny fraction away, but it would never complete.

However.

Because of Pinduoduo's prior success, and coupled with the fact that the trending topics had already stated that Taobao's Slash would be harder than Pinduoduo's, most users still felt at this moment that it was just due to their own bad luck, not a problem with Taobao.

After all.

Taobao was giving away items worth hundreds or even thousands of yuan; if it were that easy to get them, wouldn't Taobao go broke?

So, for three consecutive days after Taobao launched this campaign, surprisingly, no one noticed anything wrong.

...

During these three days.

Taobao deployed a massive number of internet trolls across major platforms, all claiming they had successfully completed their Slash, with the exception of Douyin.

On these platforms, if you clicked on the trending topics, among the top few entries, there was bound to be one about a user showing off their successful Slash and receiving high-value Taobao merchandise.

There were people showing off mobile phones, tablets, and branded home appliances, with each post followed by a pile of envious comments.

It was precisely because of this situation.

A significant cognitive dissonance emerged within the Taobao user base.

Most users, whether themselves or their friends around them, hardly knew anyone who had successfully completed a Slash.

No matter how many people they recruited, that last bit of progress just wouldn't complete.

But as soon as they opened Weibo, the screen was full of success stories, as if they were the only unlucky person in the world. In this situation, they didn't know whether to doubt themselves or something else.

As more and more users became suspicious, finally, some started to question it.

That afternoon.

First, a Douyin video hit the trending list and was pushed to many Douyin users. The video content featured an ordinary user speaking to the camera, their tone filled with a bit of helplessness.

"My whole family, because we previously succeeded in getting a red packet through Pinduoduo's Slash, tried to do the same for Taobao this time. But not a single one of us succeeded. Is my family just that unlucky?"

The comment section was immediately flooded with responses from a large number of Taobao users.

The number of comments increased by nearly a hundred thousand within a few hours.

"Me too. I recruited nearly a hundred people and still didn't succeed. That last zero-point-something percent just won't finish."

"My relatives and friends are the same—all failures. But when I go to Weibo, it's all screenshots of success. I'm starting to wonder if I'm living in a parallel universe."

Some people analyzed that it might be survivor bias; among hundreds of millions of Taobao users, there must be a small fraction who could succeed. These people posting online made it look like a lot, but in reality, the proportion was extremely low.

However, as time passed, the voices of ordinary users became increasingly difficult for the internet trolls to suppress, and those real experiences of failure began to spread across more platforms.

At 8:00 PM that night.

Douyin influencer Super A-Jie was livestreaming.

A-Jie was a streamer in the tech category on Douyin. His videos were all about various tech content, but he usually livestreamed league of legends and occasionally played crossfire. He didn't have a massive following, but there were still tens of thousands of people online during each of his streams.

He had just finished a ranked match and leaned back in his chair to flex his wrists.

"The feel of this keyboard isn't great anymore; I need to get a new one."

"Wait while I order a keyboard first."

As he spoke, he switched out of the game screen and opened Taobao on his phone, intending to buy a high-end mechanical keyboard. Although he knew about Pinduoduo, there weren't many of these kinds of products on Pinduoduo at the moment.

Watching this scene.

The comments scrolled by rapidly. Someone asked him to buy a few more to give away to fans, and A-Jie smiled and said it was time for him to host a giveaway.

Just as he was browsing for keyboards, a Taobao push notification suddenly popped up right in the center of his phone screen.

"Congratulations! You have received a free product red packet. Invite new users to Slash for you to claim your reward. The item you've drawn this time is the latest model mobile phone worth two thousand yuan."

Subconsciously, he clicked on the link. The progress bar on the red packet surged, and it actually jumped straight to ninety percent.

A-Jie was stunned for a moment, then turned his phone screen toward the camera.

"I think I just drew a Taobao Slash red packet. It's for a mobile phone, worth two thousand yuan."

"I just clicked in and the progress is already at ninety percent; only the last ten percent is left."

The comments exploded instantly.

"Holy cow, a two-thousand-yuan phone? The streamer's luck is too good!"

"Get that Slash done and give it away! Give it away!"

A-Jie nodded.

"Alright, I'll finish this Slash, and then I'll give the phone to the brothers in the stream."

"But I need people to help me Slash. I'll send the screenshot to my fan group first. With thousands of people in the group, it should be enough very soon."

The comments were cheering, but soon a comment reminded him.

"The probability of succeeding in Taobao's Slash is too low. I recruited nearly a hundred people and still couldn't finish it."

Many other comments also said they had never succeeded in Slash, and there was quite a significant number of these comments.

If you looked closely, you could even notice.

The comments scrolled for ages, and not a single person said they had succeeded in Slash.

And this.

This was the disconnect caused by Taobao's massive number of internet trolls. In places not covered by trolls, the true voices of Taobao users showed that basically no one had succeeded.

Meanwhile.

A-Jie first sent the screenshot to his QQ fan groups; combined, there were thousands of people across several groups. After sending it, he leaned back in his chair.

"Let's wait; it should be quick."

"Following Pinduoduo's logic, a one-hundred-yuan red packet requires twenty people. So for this two-thousand-yuan phone from Taobao, proportionally, it should take about four hundred people."

"Even if Taobao is a bit harder, five hundred people should definitely be enough."