Chapter 342: No deposit required? Just make money! Orange Pad 1 Orange MagicBo
"What did you say? OFO bikes don't require a deposit?"
At the Yanjing Digital Valley Software Park, the headquarters of Didi Bike, Cheng Wei frowned and confirmed again with the head of the marketing department.
"Yes, Mr. Cheng." Song Tianlu nodded in response.
He paused and added: "OFO bike users only need to deposit 199 yuan into Yu'ebao and bind their Orange Pay account to their personal information to ride without a deposit."
"Chen Yansen is such a good opponent!"
Cheng Wei said this through gritted teeth, the pen in his hand creaking as he held it.
He had a "head-on" confrontation with Chen Yansen in the online car-hailing track. No one knew better than him how terrifying Chen Yansen was and how ferocious his fighting style was.
There was none of the indecisiveness of a businessman, only an all-out attack like a lion attacking a rabbit.
As soon as OFO Bike was launched, it deployed 3,000 shared bicycles in Hangzhou at one go. Coupled with the deposit-free promotion, Didi Bike was instantly put in a passive position.
The only thing to be thankful for is that OFO did not choose Yanjing as its first stop.
From his understanding of Chen Yansen, Yanjing will definitely be on the list of cities that OFO will expand into next.
"Mr. Cheng, should we adjust the deposit policy?" Song Tianlu asked directly.
"Not for now, but be prepared. Wait a moment, I'll call Haibo and Lao Hu over."
After Cheng Wei pondered for a while, he came up with a preliminary solution in his mind, so he picked up the landline phone on the table and immediately dialed it: "Haibo, call Lao Hu, you two come over together."
"Okay, boss." Zhang Haibo responded.
Although Song Tianlu was curious, he didn't ask much. After all, the boss would tell him when Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo arrived.
After a while, Hu Weijian from the R&D department and Zhang Haibo from the product department pushed the door and walked in together.
"Lao Hu, Haibo, I want to make two new features. First, the deposit will be refunded immediately after the ride is over, eliminating the user's worries about the funds being occupied; second, the pre-charge deduction deposit function, as long as the user's account balance is not less than 199 yuan, there is no need to pay a deposit."
Cheng Wei explained it logically.
In fact, in 2012 when the regulatory mechanism was not sound, there were many benefits to collecting riding deposits from users.
First, it reduces operational risks. The deposit can constrain users’ car-use behavior and reduce the cases of private occupation, damage, and theft of vehicles.
Secondly, by covering the operation and maintenance costs, the user deposit can alleviate the financial pressure of vehicle deployment, maintenance and scheduling to a certain extent; thirdly, the capital pool formed by the deposit is also a source of funds for project expansion.
As for whether the funds were misappropriated or not, the users don’t know! Cheng Wei doesn’t think there is anything wrong with using the deposit to pay for supplier payments, operation and maintenance, and labor costs.
Therefore, the two plans he proposed are somewhat cumbersome in operation, and their purpose is to get users to pay deposits and expand Didi Bike's funding pool.
Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo looked at each other. They didn't know about the launch of OFO bikes, so they looked confused.
"Senlian Capital established a shared bike company called Xingchi in October. This morning, it launched 3,000 bikes in Hangzhou and adopted a deposit-free operation model."
Song Tianlu briefly introduced the background.
"Boss, I understand. I'll check it with Lao Hu later. It's not difficult on the technical level." Zhang Haibo responded.
"It can be developed and launched in 20 days." Hu Weijian said with assurance.
"It doesn't have to be too hasty. If OFO wants to run a successful business model, it will take at least two or three months. It would be best if we can keep improving and strive to have no system bugs when we launch it."
Cheng Wei waved his hand and warned worriedly.
He had suffered psychological trauma from being fleeced by the wool-gathering party and the gray market studios, and was afraid that Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo would accidentally cause huge losses to the project again.
This time, he chose stability over speed! Moreover, before OFO bikes enter the North China market, even if these two functions are developed, he will not launch them immediately.
Let’s collect the deposit first! “Okay, boss.” Hu Weijian responded quickly.
After Hu Weijian and Zhang Haibo left, Cheng Wei asked again: "The second generation of Didi Bikes will be launched on the market soon. You and the operation and maintenance department must cooperate well and put the user's riding experience first."
"Okay, Mr. Cheng." Song Tianlu replied.
The second generation of Didi bikes is at two extremes of the first generation. Not only does it use an all-aluminum body, it is also equipped with magnesium-aluminum alloy wheels, solid explosion-proof tires and smart locks, taking into account the advantages of being sturdy and durable, safe and easy to find.
But the problem is that the combination of solid explosion-proof tires and magnesium-aluminum alloy wheels does effectively reduce the risk of punctures and blowouts, but the riding experience is hard to describe. It is acceptable on flat roads, but it can be life-threatening when going uphill.
He knew it in his heart, and he knew Cheng Wei knew it in his heart too, but there was nothing he could do. In order to extend the service life of Didi Bikes, he had to sacrifice part of the user experience.
at the same time.
Hangzhou, Wulin Square subway station.
Hu Weiyi, Wang Zihao and a group of middle and senior managers of Xingchi Technology, each holding an OFO bicycle, rode westward along Huancheng North Road.
This is Chen Yansen’s requirement for subsidiary managers, who must fully experience the entire process of their own products.
Just like Kuaipao takeout, no matter which department you are the supervisor, director, or general manager, you have to log in to the Kuaipao rider APP for at least 8 hours a year.
Otherwise, the policies formulated by the business and R&D departments will easily go astray and lose their humanity.
"This car is of good quality, fast enough, with a stable front end, and it is not difficult to go uphill."
Wang Zihao has been riding a bicycle since junior high school and has very good skills. After riding for three or four kilometers, he stopped and said to Hu Weiyi.
The remaining dozen or so executives, with cold sweat on their foreheads, parked their cars in front of the entrance of Wanxiang Park, then sat down on the ground and started massaging their thighs and calves.
"The design draft was revised several times before the boss approved it. On the premise of ensuring the supply cost, the performance of OFO bicycles has reached the best level. If we open a flagship store in Pinbei, I believe the sales performance will not be bad."
Hu Weiyi glanced at a group of executives sitting on the side of the road to rest and shook her head secretly.
"This is a good idea. Maybe it can also increase the profit of our project."
Wang Zihao thought for a moment and replied seriously.
"I'm just kidding." Hu Weiyi was slightly stunned.
"That shows that Mr. Hu does have a talent for business." Wang Zihao laughed.
Hu Weiyi smiled and didn't take it seriously, just thinking it was a joke.
But Wang Zihao thinks there is a lot of room for improvement! However, the most important thing for Xingchi Technology right now is to first fully understand the business and business model, gradually expand the scale of investment and service scope, and then use the scale advantage to negotiate with suppliers for the second time in order to get a lower supply price.
Chen Yansen said that if it really doesn't work out, then just buy a bicycle factory, which can not only save costs but also provide more jobs.
Just as they were experiencing OFO bikes, local residents in Hangzhou were welcomed with another wave of free rides following the free taxis.
On the day new users register, they will be given 7 coupons worth 1 yuan each, one of which will be valid every day and will be free for 30 minutes.
With the help of Cheng Weixing's connections, Wang Zihao easily delivered OFO bicycles to the campuses of Jiangnan University, Jiangnan University of Technology, Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang Normal University.
After all, Cheng Weixing has been in Hangzhou for more than ten years. The title of executive director of the Hangzhou University Student Entrepreneurship Alliance may not be useful in other places, but it will definitely be useful in terms of school resources.
For college students, it is not difficult to accept that they can ride from the teaching building to the dormitory or cafeteria for only one dollar.
OFO bikes are becoming popular on campus very quickly!
When college students have used up their cycling vouchers for the day, they usually do not wait until the next day, but choose to pay to continue using them.
One coupon per day, cultivate users and market first, then seek profit.
On the first day of its launch, 3,000 OFO shared bicycles made a total profit of 7,400 yuan. After deducting depreciation, maintenance, operation and labor costs, the gross profit margin was less than 10%.
It can be seen from this that shared bicycles, like the online car-hailing industry, is an industry that relies on economies of scale to make profits.
Spend money in the early stage and reap the rewards in the later stage.
Of course, if you fail to become the ultimate winner in the industry, then the money invested previously will be wasted.
For example, companies like Gaopeng.com, Wowotuan, and 24quan that went bankrupt during the Thousands of Group Wars, investment institutions invested billions of dollars in them, but in the end they did not get back a single cent.
…
…
Xucheng, Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park, Building No. 9.
Chen Yansen leaned back in his chair, flipping through the work email sent by Hu Weiyi. On the first day of testing the product, it generated revenue of 7,400 yuan.
In his opinion, it was a very good start.
Once the scale of deployment is expanded to 1 million vehicles, it will be able to generate annual revenue of 1 billion, and 3 million vehicles will generate revenue of 3 billion.
In addition, when the time is right, OFO will also enter the shared electric vehicle field and cooperate with Kuapao to operate the electric vehicle battery replacement business.
In this way, the advantages of having many subsidiaries and many businesses can be highlighted, and many resources can be shared, including maintenance, repair and dispatching personnel.
“Knock, knock, knock—!”
At this time, there was a knock on the door.
"Enter!"
Chen Yansen responded.
Zhou Shouzhi pushed the door open and walked in, holding two new products.
"The engineering test machines of Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook? They look pretty good. Lin Qingbai's design aesthetics are improving very quickly."
Chen Yansen put down the mouse and joked with a smile.
Previously, when Lin Qingbai was designing the Alexa smart speaker, he was tortured repeatedly by him and almost ran away.
"If Mr. Lin heard this, he would probably be so excited that he couldn't sleep all night." Zhou Shouzhi smiled faintly and followed Chen Yansen's words and joked.
"What do you and Wang Teng think?" Chen Yansen leaned back and asked Zhou Shouzhi.
Orange Technology's new products are all in preparation. Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook are two "profitable" products. From hardware to software, there are almost no self-developed patents, and they are all borrowed.
Therefore, Chen Yansen does not intend to "brag" about these two transitional products at next year's spring launch conference.
To put it bluntly, apart from the price-performance ratio, the Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook do not have many outstanding advantages.
It is just to make up for the shortcomings of the product line, and it can also be regarded as a test work of Orange Technology.
"Wang Teng wants to hold a small press conference in the form of online live broadcast. If there is no preheating and promotion, and it is all sold through online channels, it will be difficult to improve the reputation and sales of Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook."
Zhou Shouzhi explained slowly.
"Yes, you don't have to worry about resources. What's Worth Buying and Toutiao will first push content. Next, Pinbei will divert traffic to Orange Pad 1 and Orange MagicBook."
Chen Yansen made the arrangements calmly.
If the sales performance meets expectations, the Aurora Future OS will be installed on the next generation of Orange tablets and laptops.
"Okay, boss." Zhou Shouzhi nodded slightly, then placed the engineering test machine on Chen Yansen's desk, leaving it for the boss to experience.
The two chatted for more than ten minutes and finally set the product launch date as November 25th.
The other side.
After receiving an investment of 800 million yuan from Qiandu.com, Didi Dache quickly expanded its business scope to the central China region.
Faced with the subsidy provocation from Kuaidi Taxi, Didi remained unmoved and only wanted to survive.
However, due to the lack of subsidies for old customers, Didi Dache has developed extremely slowly and its threat to Kuaidi Dache is almost zero.
(End of this chapter)
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