The following morning, Baidu Waimai's official website announced: the merchant subsidy funds have been cancelled and the original prices have been restored.
This decision caused a huge uproar in the market, with many businesses that relied on subsidies complaining bitterly, and consumers also complaining about rising prices.
Some merchants were secretly relieved upon seeing this news. He had always believed that a business model relying on subsidies to survive was unsustainable; although it might generate substantial profits in the short term, it would distort market competition.
Now that prices have returned to normal, only truly capable businesses can stand out, and different businesses have different attitudes towards price adjustments.
Meanwhile, Panda Takeout's market development team lobbied merchants who were dissatisfied with the price adjustments to join Panda Takeout.
Faced with subsidies on one side and none on the other, many merchants joined the Panda Takeaway platform. In just one day, Panda Takeaway's market development team won over 80% of the merchants.
Only 20% of merchants with a positive mindset are still persisting on the Baidu Waimai platform.
That evening, the marketing director of Baidu Waimai rushed to Xiao Lanlan's office in a panic.
"Mr. Xiao, this is bad! Many merchants are uninstalling our Baidu Waimai app. What should we do?"
Xiao Lanlan jumped up. "How could this happen? Did you send someone to investigate the market?"
"Mr. Xiao, I've checked. Most of the merchants who uninstalled the app are those that rely on subsidies. Many consumers who used to order from them are now complaining that they can't order anymore, and now consumers are starting to uninstall our app."
"Also, the Panda Takeaway platform did not cancel the subsidy funds; they secretly poached many of our partner merchants."
"Bang!" Xiao Lanlan slammed her hand on the table and shouted angrily, "That bastard Wang Kaicheng is untrustworthy, he deserves to die! How many merchants do we still have?"
"Only 20% are currently able to place orders; many consumers simply cannot."
Xiao Lanlan plopped down in a chair and waved her hand, "Go back, I want to be alone for a while."
Xiao Lanlan knew that it was impossible to win back the lost merchants. Baidu Waimai's market share was now only one-tenth, and there was no hope left.
Chairman Li Yihong walked in; he had already learned of the trouble Baidu Waimai had caused: "Is there any chance to salvage this?"
Xiao Lanlan shook her head: "There's no chance anymore. We merchants are all gone. Even if we have consumers, it's useless. They have nowhere to place orders."
“Since it can’t be saved, let’s just cut off this business. Go ask Panda Takeaway Company, they’re willing to accept 500 million, so let’s sell this business to them.”
"Chairman, I'm really a little unwilling to accept this."
Li Yihong stepped forward and patted her on the back, comforting her, "If you lose, you lose. The business world is like a battlefield, it's that cruel. If you're not as skilled as others, you can only accept it."
Xiao Lanlan hugged his waist, her voice hoarse: "Brother Hong, it's all my fault. I didn't pay attention to the market dynamics. The main responsibility lies with me... Waaah."
"Lanlan, it's not entirely your fault. I was wrong too. I asked you to go and negotiate with them. Okay, stop crying. I'll give you two days off. I'll hand over the food delivery business to someone else."
Faced with the failure of Baidu Waimai (Baidu Takeout), Li Yihong painfully cut off this business and focused on improving the portal website.
In the afternoon, Panda Takeaway and Baidu Takeaway completed the business transfer, with Panda Takeaway acquiring Baidu Takeaway for 500 million RMB.
Netizens expressed their regret that Baidu Waimai's founder died young.
While everyone was still gossiping, at Ele.me's headquarters in Shanghai, Zhang Jiuhao and a group of key company employees were having a meeting in the conference room, and the atmosphere was somewhat somber.
Marketing Director Xu Kejian said with a serious expression, "It used to be a three-way competition, but now it's become a two-kingdoms battle. Panda Takeaway has also acquired Baidu Takeaway's business, and their market share has reached 70%. What should we do next?"
Zhang Jiuhao's eyes were resolute: "Even if we only have thirty percent, we will persevere."
Operations Director Guo Hanning said, "Although Panda Takeaway has a high market share, they cannot shake us. I mainly operate in first- and second-tier cities and have very loyal users. As long as we improve the user experience, we can remain invincible."
"That's right!" Zhang Jiuhao slammed his hand on the table. "We can't just sit here and wait to die! Since they choose to acquire us, then we choose to innovate!"
"But how do we innovate?" someone asked.
Zhang Jiuhao smiled and said confidently, "We can launch some new features, such as smart ordering and precise recommendations. In addition, we will strengthen our cooperation with merchants to provide users with more discounts and benefits."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Furthermore,” Zhang Jiuhao continued, “we need to increase our publicity efforts so that more people know about Ele.me’s advantages.”
"Great! Let's work together!" A round of enthusiastic applause rang out in the meeting room.
Inspired by Zhang Jiuhao's unwavering will, everyone felt a strong conviction to fight Panda Takeout to the very end.
"..."
In Wang Kaicheng's office at Panda Takeaway headquarters, Chen Ze wore a broad smile. He originally had 800 million yuan in cash flow, and spent 120 million yuan investing in Xiangya Battery and Leiyun Electronics.
Now, after spending 500 million yuan to acquire Baidu Waimai and another 15 million yuan to buy a villa, he only has 165 million yuan left.
At this stage, spending 500 million yuan to acquire Baidu Waimai is simply too worthwhile. You have to know that in 2015, Baidu Waimai was sold for 1.4 billion yuan.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
