Entrepreneurs with a keen sense of smell in the industry caught a whiff of the impending war.
These people sat steadily, watching the tigers fight from the mountain; since it wasn't their business, they were happy to enjoy the show.
"This grand show will be several times more exciting than before, a real feast for the eyes."
"But it hasn't even started yet, has it?"
"These two companies are mobilizing troops and preparing; if they don't fight, I'll twist my head off and let you kick it like a ball."
"Who do you think will win?"
"Alipay, probably! After all, they've been in payments for so long, have a great user base, and a higher market share."
"Then why don't you mention that WeChat Pay has higher interactivity and customer loyalty?"
"Hey, what are you two arguing about? It's not your fight."
These people weren't wrong; Alipay was launched by Alibaba in 2004, and rooted in Taobao, it had its own application scenario from the start—online shopping.
At that time, Alipay mainly served as a virtual account with a credit intermediary function, thereby effectively reducing transaction risks.
To expand Alipay's usage, Alibaba introduced the Alipay "Full Compensation" system in 2005 and began reaching strategic cooperation agreements with banks such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.
At the same time, it entered highly networked external markets like online games, airlines, and B2C; it also gradually entered daily expense scenarios such as water, electricity, coal, and communication fees, guiding and educating users to complete payments online using Alipay, thereby cultivating consumer usage habits.
As of August 2008, Alipay's user base exceeded 100 million, surpassing Taobao's 80 million users, accounting for 40% of all internet users.
Alipay's annual transaction volume exceeded 130 billion RMB.
At that time, domestic users' mobile payment habits had not yet been cultivated.
Various payment methods coexisted, such as online payment, mobile payment, NFC payment, and SMS payment.
Last year, which was 2010.
Taobao Tmall's transaction volume reached the billion-level.
Users shopping online had to jump to e-banking for payments, requiring tools like password cards and U-keys, making the process cumbersome, and the success rate hovered around 80%.
It was Alipay that first introduced quick payment, which was the biggest gamble between Alipay and banks.
While fully connecting with Alipay, banks also worried their online banking brands would be replaced by Alipay, as at that time, "he who controls the account controls the world."
In contrast, WeChat Pay, which had just recently emerged, seemed like a child compared to Alipay. Although its ecosystem was complete, its current scale was still not quite enough.
Therefore, it was normal for the outside world to view WeChat Pay with skepticism.
After obtaining the payment license, Renren.com quickly took action.
It immediately integrated value-added services such as Rennengou, JD.com, and its own internal website games.
Furthermore, Zhizhen Catering Group and Yuanfang Plaza locations nationwide were the first to integrate WeChat Pay.
Even more remarkably, WeChat Pay had also been enabled on WeChat mini-programs previously.
"In mobile payment, Chen Pingjiang fired the first shot."
Only then did people realize that Renren.com had already made preparations, not as weak as it appeared on the outside.
Li Xi reported:
"Alipay's share in the mobile payment market is as high as 70%, and even if we fully integrate, we only have 30%, and there's an overlap. This means users typically use WeChat Pay for transfers between friends or group purchases, but switch to Alipay when shopping online."
Chen Pingjiang nodded and comforted,
"A fat man isn't made in one bite."
Chen Pingjiang himself was very open-minded, knowing that the mobile payment war wouldn't be over in 5 or 8 years.
It was impossible to completely suppress Alipay; at most, WeChat Pay would gain the upper hand, but Alipay could still hold its own stronghold.
In the future, any merchant, small vendor, or even government agency would integrate both platforms simultaneously.
This meant that for a considerable period in the future, the two companies would be in a standoff.
It's just that each had different focuses.
WeChat Pay didn't have its own app; instead, it was embedded within WeChat itself.
Honestly, from a professional standpoint, it was indeed a step weaker than Alipay.
But Alipay's dream of social networking was just a pipe dream; after all, it lacked social genes.
Moreover, Chen Pingjiang had no way to develop a separate WeChat Pay app, as doing so would be counterproductive.
"I just need to extend the tentacles I should extend and play within my own ecosystem."
......
During work in the morning, Zhao Yiduo seized the opportunity while going to the restroom to slack off.
As soon as he opened WeChat, he received a notification that his version was outdated.
Zhao Yiduo updated WeChat using the company's WiFi.
"Oh, WeChat 4.0 is here."
While on the toilet, Zhao Yiduo began studying the differences in the new WeChat version.
The biggest difference was that he found something called 'Wallet' in the service bar.
Clicking into it, a row of sections appeared.
At the top was 'Balance', followed by sections like 'Bank Cards', 'Family Cards', 'Payment Settings', and 'Bills'.
Zhao Yiduo, who was no stranger to Alipay, immediately understood WeChat 4.0's approach.
"This is actively moving closer to Alipay. But it feels easier to use than Alipay; when I transfer money to my wife on Alipay, I have to enter her Alipay account, but now I can directly transfer from WeChat."
Thinking this, Zhao Yiduo clicked on an avatar named "Baobao".
Without thinking, he transferred "520".
[Grinning, Wife, try to accept it.]
A moment later, the person named Baobao replied.
[Where does this money go after I receive it?]
[Have you updated WeChat to the new version?]
[Not yet.]
[Then update first; you'll see it after updating.]
[Oh, I've updated it, I see it. Thank you, hubby, now I can save my own money and focus on spending yours.]
Zhao Yiduo replied with a silly grin:
[Yes, it's my duty to support my wife.]
Don't let the fact that the balance cannot yet be deposited into Yu'e Bao fool you; it can only be stored in the balance.
But this version update was a huge step for WeChat.
After walking out of the restroom, Zhao Yiduo's legs were severely numb; it only slightly eased after he stomped his feet a few times.
Back at his desk, he tossed his phone onto the table and asked his colleague next to him,
"What are we eating for lunch?"
His colleague next door shook his head, looking dispirited:
"Go down? It's exhausting just going back and forth; it takes at least half an hour every day just to go down for lunch."
Zhao Yiduo deeply empathized; small companies like theirs didn't have their own cafeteria.
Every day they had to wait for the elevator to go down, and again to come up, each trip taking at least 10 minutes.
Including walking and eating, the mere one-hour lunch break passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhao Yiduo sighed.
"But we can't not go down; we can't just skip eating, can we?"
"Brother, read more books, read more newspapers, keep up with the times. You went on a trip and became a bit out of touch with the times."
Zhao Yiduo's face was full of question marks: "?"
His colleague pointed out:
"Open Rennengou; there's something called 'Takeaway' in the upper left corner. Click on it, and you'll know what it means."
Zhao Yiduo, with a hint of doubt, opened Rennengou on his phone, and indeed saw the word "Takeaway" in the upper left corner.
He clicked on it, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Wow, a row at the top listed food categories like gourmet food, desserts, drinks, vegetables, fruits, dinner, home-cooked dishes, and more.
As he scrolled down, he then saw numerous brands like KFC, McDonald's, Miao Tea, Xiao Chen BBQ, Tai Er Suancai Yu, and many others.
He even found several of his favorite restaurants on his phone, though their positions were quite far down, requiring a long scroll.
"Holy crap! I only went to Thailand for two days, and it's already this advanced. Let's order a Tai Er Suancai Yu together for lunch; it's a bit wasteful for one person, but perfect for two."
"Okay, you order. I'll WeChat you the money."
Zhao Yiduo excitedly entered his name and address as prompted, ordered a few more of his favorite dishes, and then pressed "Pay."
The system prompted him to bind a bank card.
Fortunately, he remembered his savings card number.
After successful binding, the money was immediately deducted.
"So now I just sit and wait? Or do I need to go downstairs to pick it up?"
"No need to go downstairs; the Blue Rider will deliver it right up."
"Uh... that's so good."
Zhao Yiduo was still a bit unaccustomed to it for a moment.
He curiously tapped left and right, then saw a map on his phone screen, with a small blue figure riding a Q-version electric scooter on it.
Above the blue figure's head, a line of text read,
"Blue Rider has arrived at the merchant."
After browsing for a while, Zhao Yiduo felt sleepy.
He looked up and realized that at some point, his colleagues were all napping at their desks.
"How rare."
Zhao Yiduo clicked his tongue.
Usually, at this time, the company would be empty, everyone having gone downstairs to eat.
After a hazy nap of about ten minutes, Zhao Yiduo was awakened.
A young man in a blue T-shirt and a blue safety helmet shouted:
"Who is Li Yuan? The takeaway has arrived."
"Me, over here!"
The girl Li Yuan jogged a few steps, happily took the takeaway, and said,
"Thanks, you guys are really fast."
Soon, a fragrant smell of food wafted over, and Zhao Yiduo, unable to resist, swallowed his saliva, then looked at his phone again.
Above the blue figure's head, it showed "Blue Rider is delivering quickly, estimated arrival in 5 minutes."
"Tong Shaozhen, takeaway!"
"Qiu Zhongyun!"
Wow, within a few minutes, a large contingent of Blue Riders arrived one after another, and the office became lively again.
However, the style then began to deviate.
"Daniel Wu, takeaway!"
"Andy Lau, takeaway!"
"..."
"Zhao Yiduo, takeaway!"
Another Blue Rider rushed over, and Zhao Yiduo finally heard his name, scrambling to run up and take his takeaway.
Seeing the packaging, Zhao Yiduo nodded in satisfaction.
The food was in a green insulated bag, the opening slightly torn to reveal an exquisite packaging box, wrapped with plastic film to prevent spills.
"Eat, eat, I'm practically starving to death. Oh, it smells so good. Haven't eaten this in a long time."
Zhao Yiduo chattered as he opened each box.
"The speed is incredible, only half an hour in total? I usually have to wait at least half an hour to eat at Tai Er Suancai Yu. And the price is decent, plus there are red packets for discounts."
His colleague chuckled,
"I didn't cook at home last night; I was too tired after a day of work, couldn't move, so I just ordered two dishes."
Such situations were constantly occurring in various CBDs or core business districts of first and second-tier cities.
Currently, the inherent constraints on widely promoting the takeaway business no longer existed.
GIS had long been integrated into Rennengou, and coupled with WeChat Pay, takeaways gradually became prevalent.
This began to force users to use WeChat Pay, otherwise, they couldn't pay.
Even worse, if they didn't have a smartphone, they would have to buy one just to order takeaway.
In this way, the entire ecosystem was activated.
The sales of Orange phones would further increase, the number of WeChat Pay users would steadily climb, and Rennengou's takeaway business could finally be widely promoted.
By the time the outside world saw this, "shock" was no longer sufficient to describe it.
Gao Songbin also finally let out a complete sigh of relief.
The takeaway business was one of the earliest to emerge, even before group buying.
It was precisely because various conditions were not mature that it was firmly suppressed within the Dongjiang University Town area.
And now it finally showed its fangs.
Completely changing people's lifestyles.
......
Wang Xing, far away in Beijing, could only be described as having a head as big as a bushel.
He also noticed the rise of Ele.me and heard about Rennengou's frantic recruitment of riders in major first- and second-tier cities.
Although he immediately thought of following up, he was still several steps too late.
It wasn't that he was too slow, but that Rennengou's speed was too fast, so fast that he couldn't react in time.
He had originally planned to watch Alipay and WeChat Pay fight.
Unexpectedly, WeChat Pay immediately integrated with Rennengou, instantly bringing the battle to his doorstep, which left him somewhat speechless and amused.
Why would the giants' fight drag in a small shrimp like me? This is really damn bad luck.
Wang Huiwen asked:
"We also need to speed up; if we're a bit slower, the market will be completely taken over."
However, the Senior Vice President in charge of Human Resources gave a wry smile:
"I also want to recruit people, but the problem is it's not that easy. First, Rennengou's reputation is bigger than ours; riders recognize them. Additionally, Rennengou indeed pays well; besides the delivery fee paid by the user, with Rennengou's subsidies, a rider can average 8 yuan per order. They also have a full attendance bonus, and recently they've been running an event where every order delivered within 24 hours gets an extra two yuan delivery fee."
"Take Shanghai, for example; they don't recruit locally. Many of their riders are recruited from third- and fourth-tier cities and brought directly over. Initially, they might not be familiar with the routes, but now with AutoNavi's GIS, they learn the routes very quickly."
"They have 1-2 stations near almost every business district, with an average of 60-70 riders per station. They also provide dormitories and car rentals. All their facilities are very complete; compared to them, we are almost the difference between a regular army and bandits."
Wang Huiwen and Wang Xing exchanged glances, both smiling wryly.
The Senior Vice President of Human Resources was indeed correct; it wasn't their fault, as they hadn't thought of this strategic layer from the beginning.
On the other hand, Rennengou.
If they hadn't been preparing for a whole year in advance, Wang Xing would dare to chop off his own head.
"It's not that we're putting pressure on you. If this delivery fee can't attract people, then we'll add one more yuan than them; if one isn't enough, then two. I'll figure out the money."
The group-buying war had not long passed, and now the takeaway war was about to begin.
Meituan's money was clearly insufficient, so he could only seek financing.
Wang Huiwen said:
"Go to Alipay. We need Alibaba, and Alibaba needs us. Anyway, we all have to integrate mobile payments, and there's no difference between Alipay and WeChat."
Wang Xing nodded helplessly and said:
"Actually, I really don't want to approach Alibaba. Everyone says Renren.com is domineering and Tencent is domineering, but Alibaba is even more domineering. The main thing is that Old Ma always wants a full acquisition at the drop of a hat; who can stand that?"
"If you don't go to Old Ma, who else can you go to? Are you going to Chen Pingjiang? We can't possibly integrate WeChat Pay now and help someone else assist, can we?"
Wang Xing was bewildered, and Zhang Xuhao's team, far away at Jiaotong University, was even more dumbfounded.
"Ele.me" was originally co-founded and operated by a student startup team composed of several students.
In April 2009, Zhang Xuhao, then a student at Shanghai Jiaotong University, saw potential in the food delivery industry with his classmates, and together with alumni Kang Jia, Wang Yuan, Ye Feng, Cao Wenxue, and others, they co-founded Ele.me Online Restaurant.
The beginning of their venture was quite arduous, especially for a student startup team.
Difficulties were inevitable, and various confusions and trade-offs followed.
The initial seed money was pieced together by themselves.
Even so, the young people always fought side-by-side with strong entrepreneurial enthusiasm.
As the team's founder, for an initial period, Zhang Xuhao slept only four to five hours a day, often personally "donning his armor" to deliver takeaways, continuous through strong winds and heavy rains, accumulating credibility and popularity bit by bit.
What likely sustained them throughout was the entrepreneurial dream in the hearts of these young people.
They had already completed coverage of the university town and were gradually expanding to surrounding business districts.
Unexpectedly, three days ago, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
The giant Rennengou suddenly entered the market, almost sweeping clean the business districts they had planned to target next.
This forced their plans for outward expansion to be interrupted, and they could only refocus on the campus market.
Fortunately, Rennengou's takeaway business had just launched, and the giant hadn't yet set its sights on the university town.
However, that day was expected to arrive soon.
Kang Jia rushed in from outside the office, jogging:
"Three riders didn't come to work this morning, and they're not answering their phones."
Zhang Xuhao had no doubt:
"They were paid just the day before yesterday. They worked ten days this month, averaging an estimated 1500 yuan. If they don't want their wages, they probably went to deliver takeaways for Rennengou."
"Are you saying they were poached by Rennengou?"
"Not necessarily. If there were thirty of them, Rennengou might notice, but three is too few. Chances are they heard that Rennengou's Blue Riders get paid well and approached them themselves."
"So what do we do now?"
Wang Yuan said helplessly.
Zhang Xuhao threw up his hands:
"What can we do? The giant is crushing us. We can't outspend them. We only have 800,000 USD left from our Series A funding."
"We can only find more money, otherwise, we'll just have to wait to die."
Zhang Xuhao's heart sank.
It was simply a dimension reduction strike; this sense of despair was suffocating.
After two years of hard work, personally going out early and returning late, through wind and rain, he thought everything was getting better.
Unexpectedly...
(End of Chapter)