135: Chapter 135 Red Envelope War

"Damn! Tianxing E-commerce is trying to drive us to a dead end!"

Jack Ma slammed his phone hard onto the conference table, his face frighteningly livid. The losses over the past few days had long since stripped him of his usual composure.

"Their drone delivery even covers towns and villages! The last stronghold of the community group buying we've painstakingly built is about to be lost as well!"

Old Huang stared at the plummeting order data in the backend, feeling extremely irritable, and kept cursing under his breath.

"The users have all run away, not a single bit of traffic is left... Chen Mo isn't even leaving us a drop of soup. Damn it, those drones of his are too advanced; we simply can't compete!"

In the huge conference room, the bosses of A fictionalized version of Taobao, Pinduoduo, and several small dependent e-commerce platforms all looked pale and dejected. Everyone had been pushed to a dead end by Tianxing Mall, seeing no hope of a comeback.

Pinduoduo's Operations Director looked up and suggested:

"How about... we also start throwing money around crazily? Issue large red envelopes and launch low-price flash sales! Aren't users just looking for a bargain? As long as we give them enough money, we can definitely pull them back!"

"Are you crazy?"

The CFO of A fictionalized version of Taobao immediately stood up to refute:

"The combined cash flow of our companies isn't even enough to fill the gaps between Chen Mo's teeth! Burning money on subsidies is a dead end; our capital chain will break in a few days!"

"Then what do you suggest? Are we just going to sit here and wait for death?"

Old Huang slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily:

"I'll bet my entire net worth on subsidies! One-yuan flash sales, 9.9 free shipping! I don't believe the users won't come back. If it really comes down to it, I'll just go with zero-yuan purchases and fight Chen Mo to the bitter end!"

Jack Ma gave a sinister laugh and spoke slowly:

"We'll do it, but not just the few of us alone."

He reached out and pulled up a map of the national market, pointing to third and fourth-tier cities and remote areas, saying:

"We can't compete with Tianxing in first-tier cities, but in third and fourth-tier cities and small counties, those small platforms still have some room to survive. Let's unite them all and shower the entire internet with red envelopes, using a massive volume of orders to crush Tianxing!"

The e-commerce red envelope war had officially begun.

Three days later, the prepared e-commerce platforms began their moves.

Pinduoduo's homepage immediately popped up a full-screen window:

"Nationwide frenzy! 1-yuan hot items available for a limited time! Be quick or miss out!"

A fictionalized version of Taobao followed closely behind, throwing money into advertisements across the web and promoting everywhere:

"9.9 free shipping to your door! Pick any big-brand items you want; miss this and you'll wait another ten years!"

Not only that, over twenty small regional e-commerce platforms simultaneously launched flash sale zones. Large red envelopes and no-threshold coupons were flying everywhere. The entire internet was flooded with e-commerce subsidies, and every street and alley was filled with discussions about this price war.

"Holy crap! Is A fictionalized version of Taobao crazy? A branded down jacket originally priced at 899 is now only 9.9? This is a clearance sale at a loss!"

"Pinduoduo is even more ruthless! You can buy five catties of sugar oranges for 1 yuan with free shipping! This is more ridiculous than giving it away for free. Are the capitalists finally willing to bleed?"

"Hurry and go for it! Small local platforms also have big red envelopes. I just got a 100-yuan voucher; it deducts the price directly. It's so worth it!"

"What about Tianxing E-commerce? President Chen, keep up! It's a huge loss not to take advantage of this wave. Don't just stand there watching!"

"No way, right? Could Tianxing be out of money? There's been no movement. Are they going to lose this time?"

"Waiting for President Chen to strike back. I don't believe Tianxing will just watch their users be snatched away!"

"Hurry and download these apps. Snatch what you can; once this wave is over, it's gone!"

"9.9 yuan for laundry detergent, 1 yuan for tissues. I have to go for this and stock up for a whole year!"

Zhang Kai knocked and entered Chen Mo's office, holding a tablet to report to him:

"President Chen! After they joined forces to throw money around, their daily order volume surged to fifty million! Our agricultural products section orders have plummeted by 80%, and many users have run off to hunt for deals!"

Chen Mo sat in his office chair and said without even looking up:

"Let them burn it; ignore them."

"But users are calling us stingy, saying Tianxing is too cheap to issue red envelopes..."

Zhang Kai said with a frown:

"The hot searches on major platforms are all about 'Tianxing is out of money' and 'Tianxing is going to collapse.' Public opinion is very unfavorable for us!"

Chen Mo looked up and spoke slowly:

"What's the panic? Tomorrow, we'll launch the Tianxing Ten Billion Subsidy."

Zhang Kai asked:

"Understood, President Chen. I'll arrange it right away!"

Chen Mo nodded and continued:

"Sitewide universal no-threshold coupons. However much a user spends, we'll return the equivalent in coupons. The coupons can be used as cash or withdrawn at any time."

Zhang Kai was instantly stunned and said in bewilderment:

"Isn't that the same as giving it away for free? With such a high level of subsidy, our costs will be enormous!"

Chen Mo chuckled and said:

"Have you forgotten the drone delivery system I have?"

As he spoke, Chen Mo pulled up a satellite map, tapped the screen with his fingertip, and pointed at the drone routes covering the whole country, saying domineeringly:

"They subsidize ten yuan per order, and on top of that, they lose another five yuan in logistics costs. All in all, they're losing a fortune. Even if we subsidize twenty, our logistics costs..."

"Heh! It's zero! And are they even worthy of comparing wealth with me, Chen Mo?"

At seven o'clock the next morning, the entire Tianxing app began pushing notifications frantically:

"[Tianxing's Ten Billion Red Envelopes are Here! Full Rebate Coupons for All Purchases, No-Threshold Cash Withdrawal!]"

Below was a line of eye-catching small text:

Full drone delivery coverage, same-day delivery to towns and villages at the fastest, free shipping!

Netizens across the entire internet began to boil with excitement:

"My math isn't great, but did I see that right? Spend 200 and get 200 in coupons that can be directly withdrawn? Does that mean buying things for free? President Chen is truly giving away money!"

"Look at the details! The returned coupons have no gimmicks and can be withdrawn directly to a bank card. Tianxing is too conscientious!"

"Tianxing's drone delivery really is free! I just ordered three cases of mineral water, the shipping fee showed 0 yuan, and it says it'll be delivered this afternoon!"

"Next door, Pinduoduo has 9.9 free shipping, but only for specific items. It's not cheap at all when you calculate it. President Chen is still the most sincere!"

"I declare! From now on, I'm only keeping Tianxing E-commerce and uninstalling all other apps. Too many gimmicks, I can't afford to play!"

"Living in a town, I'm in tears! I used to wait three or four days for things, but Tianxing's drones actually deliver on the same day. That's incredible!"

"The deals I just snatched on Pinduoduo, I'm returning them all. Compared to Tianxing, it's just child's play!"

"President Chen is awesome! He's completely crushing these gimmick-filled e-commerce sites. This is what a real subsidy looks like!"

"LMAO, I was just calling Tianxing stingy, and now my face is stinging from the slap. You can always trust President Chen!"