Reinventing the Millennium

The industry policy topic of home appliances going to the countryside did not only occur in the separate meeting between Fang Zhuo and Zhang Xuebin.

In the morning, Fang Zhuo successfully held a financing meeting and initially finalized an additional US$500 million in financing to deepen the construction of warehousing and logistics and cope with the fierce competition that may break out in the industry.

In the afternoon, when senior management teams from six home appliance companies including Hisense, Haier, Skyworth, Konka, Meiling, and Changhong gathered together, Fang Zhuo took them, along with nine institutional shareholders, straight to Tesco’s Kunshan No. 1 Demonstration Warehouse. .

Kunshan No. 1 demonstration warehouse.

The warehouse is as its name suggests.

This is the warehousing center with the largest scale, the highest degree of automation and the widest business scope of Tesco.

It was first built by a former Amazon team and expanded twice. It is now the largest and most advanced logistics center in the country.

Fang Zhuo brings investors to show them where the money is being spent, and brings cooperative brands to show them the strength of Tesco's development.

Because there were a lot of people visiting this time, it was not easy to favor one thing over another, so we simply didn’t take a commercial bus, but drove a bus that could fit everyone on board.

It is only about 60 kilometers from Shanghai to Kunshan, and the driving time only takes an hour.

Fang Zhuo didn't say much during this journey. Throughout the whole process, Sun Qi, the corresponding vice president, and Dong Xueyou, the director in charge of two important logistics departments, explained in detail the most advantageous basic skills of Tesco.

When they arrived at their destination, first Xiong Xiaoge and then Hisense head Zhou Houjian came up to praise Vice President Sun Qi's clear introduction.

"Sun Qi is an old man who came from Yike to Tesco. He is the number one contributor to our warehousing and logistics construction at Tesco."

Fang Zhuo commented truthfully.

From joining Yike to moving to Tesco, Sun Qi has been working by his side for seven years.

Vice President Sun Qi is like a tour guide, showing the graceful scenery of Demonstration Warehouse No. 1 to institutional shareholders and cooperative brands, and the graceful figure of this warehouse also attracted everyone's attention.

It’s bigger than expected, busier than expected, and has fewer employees than expected.

"Dear bosses, this is the most advanced warehouse that Tesco has invested heavily in building. It is also a microcosm of our warehousing and logistics system."

"People who don't know much about it may have some misunderstandings, thinking that logistics costs more money. In fact, it is the construction of the warehousing center that spends most of the budget. This No. 1 warehouse covering Tesco's business in the Yangtze River Delta region has been invested in Nearly 1.3 billion!”

Sun Qi is usually relatively taciturn, but this time he was impassioned and extremely proud.

Zhou Houjian, the head of Hisense, looked around the warehouse and felt that the space was deep, but the busy machines had a strange kind of enthusiasm.

He withdrew his gaze and gave Mr. Fang a look next to him.

"There will be no expansion plans for this warehousing center for the time being, but we want to build a few more large warehouses like this." Fang Zhuo said casually, "This thing is quite expensive, but it is a terminal distribution network investment. Just a few million will do."

Zhou Houjian thought for a moment and asked: "How does the cost of the logistics system you have created compare with that of a third party?"

"Logistics costs are actually lower than those of third parties, and delivery costs are even higher now." Fang Zhuo talked about the data, "When Tesco first started delivering, the cost was almost 10 yuan per order, and for third parties, it was 6-8 yuan. Now , our cost has been reduced to a little more than 8 yuan, which is basically the same as that of third parties."

He continued: "However, the flat cost brings a different experience to users. Tesco's delivery will continue to speed up. Like many cities in the Yangtze River Delta, Tesco has been able to achieve 70 to 80% delivery time." Rida, this is a completely different concept from using a third party.”

Zhou Houjian's concept was impacted, and he said jokingly: "Mr. Fang, if you continue to develop, you will squeeze our dealers to death."

Today, the electrical appliance company was invited. Zhou Houjian is one of the two leaders and has the highest status.

Unlike Changhong and Meiling, Hisense's dealer system is also very well established.

From this perspective, Hisense is similar to Gree, and its cooperation with Tesco was not too deep in the past.

However, Zhou Houjian still came here with dignity.

"Mr. Zhou, I'm just providing a platform. You have your own considerations on how companies can use such a platform. Didn't a lot of Hisense's inventory come from us?" Fang Zhuo said with a smile.

Today, first-tier cities have almost completed the coverage of color tube TVs with LCD TVs, and Hisense has indeed handed over a lot of inventory to e-commerce platforms to reduce prices and clear them.

Zhou Houjian listened to Sun Qi's introduction and thought about the changes and challenges brought by the e-commerce platform.

He knew that there was a ready-made example around him. Changhong and Meiling had achieved very good results by using Tesco.

After a while, Sun Qi ended his mission, and then it was time for free visit.

Institutional shareholders are relatively active. After all, this warehouse was built with their own money.

The brand owners were a little cautious and still walked together near Mr. Fang, Mr. Zhou and Mr. Zhang.

When Zhou Houjian talked about the idea of ​​sending home appliances to rural areas in the industry, the executives of electrical appliance companies gathered together even more closely, and their ears perked up.

"Foreign trade has suffered setbacks and the economy is in shock. This policy will definitely be continued." Fang Zhuo did not hide his secrets too much. First it was Zhang Xuebin, and then Zhou Houjian. Everyone was obviously paying attention to and thinking about the changes brought about by the policy.

He made a joke: "I know that in foreign trade, everyone has a lot of products in their own warehouses. We, Tesco, will speed up the pace of development this year. There is a lot of room for cooperation in these products that do not damage the offline distribution system. "

This is a natural space for Tesco to cooperate with brands.

Fang Zhuo added: "Although foreign trade this year is not good, the vast sinking market and home appliances that are not popular enough are in urgent need of sound channels. This is a good opportunity for the home appliance industry and our e-commerce."

"This morning, Tesco will definitely receive a financing of US$500 million. The key task is to build a channel from here to users in the lower market."

"I know everyone has heard that Taobao also intends to do B2C. However, to be honest, the combination of our website, warehousing and logistics is the best platform in China from now to the future."

"In the next three or four years starting from this year, Tesco will definitely be able to grow with everyone."

"Whether you are a third- or fourth-tier brand in the industry, or you are already at the forefront of the industry."

Fang Zhuo showed great confidence.

What you see is a busy modern advanced warehouse, and what you hear is some kind of declarative words from the richest man in the Mainland. Everyone, including Zhang Xuebin, has a somewhat complicated mood. The home appliances to the countryside policy formulated at the end of last year is not an unwarranted pilot. It is precisely because Excess capacity has created a backlog.

However, even if Zhang Xuebin is in charge of Changhong and Meiling, who wouldn't want to have a distribution system like Gree's where they have the right to speak?

Regardless of the actual situation and the degree of cooperation with Tesco, Gree's efforts and development after its separation from Gome are obvious to all, and the envy that comes from it is also natural.

After Fang Zhuo said this, he changed the topic at the end and said with a smile: "So, presidents and senior executives, if you are looking for e-commerce cooperation, just contact us at Tesco. Don't bother with Taobao. Mr. Ma's place There’s no need to go.”

Everyone laughed when they heard Mr. Fang say this. Doesn't a person like the richest man in the Mainland still ask for help from others?

Zhou Houjian joked: "Mr. Fang invited us here. I don't know about other companies, but our Hisense, well, now we all know that 'to buy electrical appliances, go to Tesco'. To say the least, if Tesco doesn't even cooperate, how could this happen?" Go find Taobao.”

Zhang Xuebin simply stated his position directly: "We at Changhong and Meiling are definitely willing to make more attempts in e-commerce. No matter how industry policies change, I am optimistic about the distance between Tesco and consumers."

The dealer system connects manufacturers and consumers, and so does the e-commerce platform.

Since Mr. Fang is sure that there will be continued policies and greater efforts, Zhang Xuebin now regards Tesco as an "e-commerce distribution channel" to assist development, which will save Gree the hard work.

Zhang Xuebin started from his own point of view. Changhong and Meiling had a good relationship with Mr. Fang, so no matter how they cheated him in the future, they would have to make fewer mistakes than other companies.

"It is, after all, Changhong." Haier's vice president Zhou Yunjie, who came this time, choked a little. Mr. Fang and Changhong are very close, and this is no secret.

But he didn't dwell on this point too much. Instead, he talked about the pilot project of bringing home appliances to the countryside.

Soon, the topic among a group of people turned to this industry policy.

Fang Zhuo did not show his understanding of the policy, but participated in the discussion of the production capacity planning of some enterprises with great interest.

Capacity planning in the industry is a problem. As soon as there is demand, everyone will expand production in unison. After a period of time, there will be overcapacity and oversupply, and another group will immediately decline.

But this situation is difficult to solve. If you don’t get involved, others will. So you can only focus on the present and make what you can earn first.

A group of people were chatting lively.

After the nine institutional shareholders finished visiting the warehouse, they couldn't help but feel more confident when they saw this scene.

Look, Mr. Fang has such a good relationship with the brands, they really get along well!

The topic of industry policies has gradually come to an end. After all, it is all speculation and it remains to be seen how it will be implemented.

Zhou Houjian walked beside Mr. Fang and mentioned the signal of Taobao’s entry into B2C.

"To be honest, Taobao's June 18th event is around the corner. They are definitely still focusing on C2C. The B2C field will take a year and a half." Fang Zhuo said his judgment, "On the contrary, now the B2C track, Dangdang It’s not bad, you know your shame and then you are brave, and you have a lot of momentum for development.”

Zhou Houjian took two steps and said: "Dangdang is indeed building warehouses frequently. It wants to be second to Tesco, but I don't know if their funds can keep up. This is not the US financial market."

"There is turmoil in the United States..." Fang Zhuo was a little surprised by the connection.

"With your Tesco in China, investment institutions are not so optimistic about Dangdang." Zhou Houjian also half-guessed, "It was said before that Dangdang obtained financing and borrowing from American institutions. Didn't Bear Stearns come here last year? Domestic? And that Merrill Lynch, Mr. Fang, is it not in a good situation now? "

Fang Zhuo stopped. Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch... this... Qingzi's taste in choosing institutions was as good as his in finding a wife.

He became a little hesitant.

When it comes to knowing one's shame and then being brave, and changing one's development strategy, I really don't know whether it is better to "know" or to still "not know".

…

Teams from investment institutions and electrical appliance companies spent two days in Shanghai.

The former has greater confidence in Tesco, while the latter dispersed after maintaining the scale of cooperation and discussing the intensity of future cooperation as appropriate.

This time, the head of Hisense came in person, unlike other companies that needed to ask for instructions. Even after returning to the headquarters, Zhou Houjian could not hide his complicated mood. This e-commerce was developing so fast that people were caught off guard.

He thought about it for a day and inquired about industry policies. Before he could make a decision, he received a call from Ali Majan himself.

"Mr. Zhou, we at Taobao want to build a brand. This doesn't require you to pay anything more. We just want to try something new. Domestic e-commerce is developing so well, why don't you come and have a look?" Ma Chen personally shouted for Taobao's B2C.

"Mr. Ma, you have to solve the problem of counterfeiting on the website first." Zhou Houjian is more direct. This is a aspect of Taobao that has been criticized very much.

Ma Ren explained the difference between "Taobao Mall" and "Taobao".

Zhou Houjian still refused to agree, and even moved out to Mr. Fang: "I just came back from an inspection trip to e-commerce two days ago. Mr. Ma, if you want to do B2C, you should also go and inspect it. The warehouse they do is really good. I'm so excited." I haven’t heard anything about you doing warehousing, are you planning to engage in B2C?”

Ma Ren didn't say anything more after hearing this.

However, a few days later, Zhou Houjian saw Mr. Ma’s confidence and public comments on the model.

"Taobao is developing very quickly, and this speed is unique in China."

“The reason why we are so fast is that we have fully utilized the asset-light advantage of e-commerce.”

“In e-commerce, we must always think about connecting customers and products.”

"E-commerce companies should not touch logistics. Logistics is a heavy asset. The cost and bloated staff will bring the company down. I may be exaggerating. Even if it does not bring down the company, it will slow down the development."

Ma Ren pointed out the situation, and it was better not to mention names than to name names. He also talked about the explosive growth in the number of employees that would inevitably be brought about by the delivery of packages and future development.

Taobao's C2C business is indeed booming, and what Mr. Ma said makes some sense. If measured over ten years, Tesco's employee size must be very exaggerated, and will this cause many operational problems?

Zhou Houjian became interested and paid close attention to President Fang's response.

He felt that he was nothing more than a nobody, and an evaluation of Mr. Ma's level would definitely receive feedback.

Sure enough, Mr. Fang, who has never been a good person, complained publicly on Weibo just one day later.

"Mr. Ma, don't care what other people do."

"If you keep doing this, I just want to ask about the tax issues of the big merchants on your platform."

"If you keep doing this, I will live stream every day to see if I can easily buy fakes from your platform."

Zhou Houjian almost laughed when he saw Mr. Fang's words.

For some reason, he felt that Mr. Fang was capable of buying fake goods from Taobao every day, and he was especially looking forward to Mr. Ma continuing to increase his efforts in commenting on Tesco's business model.

pity……

The world suddenly became peaceful and nothing happened again.

I guess this is to keep my mouth shut, and I will see the truth in my hands in the future.