Group Network: "group buy into 1.4 billion times", data carnival behind

　At the beginning of August, COO Canga Wei, the American group network, posted a message on its personal microblog that "group buying has entered the 1.4 billion era". And give a screenshot showing: "Turnover: 1,401,119,587" It seems that this is a worthy of carnival data.

In the next few months it will still be the season of consumption. A large number of consumer power and price-sensitive student users holiday, and the entire six months are group buying spree.

According to the Regiment 800 data, 2014 1-June, the United States Group network of transactions are 2.041 billion yuan, 2.011 billion yuan, 2.393 billion yuan, 2.414 billion yuan, 2.906 billion yuan, 3.134 billion yuan, the first half of 2014, the overall volume of transactions of 14.899 billion yuan. According to this growth trend, the United States network in 2014 to complete the annual 40 billion yuan transaction volume of the target is very possible.

But this goal is not easy to achieve, behind the new expansion of the United States and the City of the Urban Branch station, the original city station stationed more staff, as well as to defend the various strategies of competitors.

However, in response to the American group data spree, there are two groups of concerns:

On the one hand, for the U.S. mission to contribute to the turnover of merchants, many of the first-line small and medium-sized businesses with the United States Regiment has gradually become the United States Regiment of "abandon son", want to go online, pay high point, otherwise on the line. On the other hand is the United States regiment grass-roots salesman, in order to sprint higher turnover, the huge pressure drop to the first line, "forced" merchant these things, are by front-line personnel to operate.

Small and medium merchant: When does the Overlord clause break?

August 13, the Sound of economic "every day 315" received a complaint from Tangshan, said the United States Regiment and Mr. Ho's catering shop to cooperate, the United States Regiment ban Mr. Ho and other group buying platform, otherwise the cooperation of all revenue points from 8% to 12%. For this reason Mr Ho expressed puzzled, why with the United States team can not cooperate with other platforms? There is a need for businesses to collaborate with multiple platforms, and they should also have the freedom to choose a marketing approach.

In fact, there are numerous shops with such unpleasant experiences on the frontline. "With the United States to cooperate with the small and medium-sized businesses more passive, especially the lack of speech rights of small and medium-sized businesses." "A local chain KTV shop in Zhejiang Province," said the chief. According to the store's long memory, from the beginning of the six months of 2013, the overall style of the United States Regiment began to change. The biggest change comes from the need to contract the "coercion" of exclusive and lowest price agreements.

The so-called exclusive is, the contract stipulates, if with the United States to sign exclusive cooperation agreement, then the revenue point may only 5%, if not to sign the exclusive, the revenue point may be 15%. The so-called lowest price agreement, that is, merchants and other platforms of the same price can not be higher than the United States Group, otherwise regarded as default.

Another change is that, when Baidu acquired Glutinous Rice, the U.S. regiment almost at the same time launched the expansion strategy, the number of front-line salesman doubled, and no longer picky about the quality of business, as long as the merchant willing to sign, the United States can be online. Of course, the precondition is to accept the exclusive and lowest price agreement of the US regiment. The results of this is good for the United States and the platform's data, on the one hand, the use of exclusive and the lowest price to lock some long-term cooperative merchants, on the other hand, crazy increase in the number of merchants means that the United States Group also do not give up the long tail of small businesses. The United States is a stable platform, but the first line of businesses are worried, of course, different businesses have different worries. In the pyramid compared to the top of the merchant worry is that group buying is only a promotional means, if the perennial use, it is bound to cause damage to their own brands. However, in the short term, consumers will flow to rivals. And the concern of small and medium-sized businesses is that the U.S. regiment's policy is increasingly harsh, if the signing of the exclusive mention is 5%, not exclusive cooperation, the point may be 15%. In addition, the United States Regiment also asked the merchant to provide the lowest price guarantee, otherwise it will increase the point.

According to a Luoyang hotel merchant said, when the U.S. team in the backstage found that the merchant and other buy platform cooperation, will be directly in the background to change the revenue point, instead of asking the salesman to negotiate, and more out of the revenue point will be directly deducted from the advance. Of course, the U.S. regiment for different businesses are also "Mas". For some brand merchant, the attitude of the American Regiment is not so disdainfully. There is a little story from the first line to illustrate this point, the United States team first-line salesman to a central provincial capital city of the Fire Banquet Mountain Buffet Marketing manager said, either exclusive, or offline. Marketing Manager is angry, he would rather bear the consequences of short-term sales, but also to select the offline. Since then, the United States Regiment salesman aware of their mistakes, in order to save this month water hundreds of thousands of yuan of key merchants, every day to the office Ruanmoyingpao half a month, and finally the way to underwrite the advance of the online.

But the small merchant obviously has no such treatment. Another wedding photography business because of the contract with other group buying platform, the United States regiment salesman attitude Blunt, "or immediately offline other platforms, and pay the line during the extra revenue points, or as you would like in the United States group offline." "In contrast, hotels, wedding photography business on the purchase platform of the online passenger flow is more dependent, which led to a front-line salesman overbearing or even unreasonable, and the United States in the background unilaterally modify the revenue points of things also happen repeatedly."

Lawyer Xu Haiming, Zhejiang Antze law firm, said that the exclusive agreement between the United States and the merchant is illegal from the legal point of view, the United States is suspected of commercial monopoly, and although the agreement has been mentioned can not cooperate with other Web site provisions, but this is a unilateral agreement of the invalid clause. In addition, the well-known electric power lawyer Zhao occupation that the unilateral change of revenue without consultation is clearly a breach of contract law performance.

Salesman: Pressure and confusion coexist

American Regiment COO claim to build a ground to push "army", but this "army" front-line staff is pressure and confusion coexist.

At the beginning of the year Wang proposed that the United States group turnover of the mission is 40 billion, the target city station 300. In order to achieve this goal, some of the original City station team also expanded more than twice times, and opened a number of new stations. After the level of revenue and profit pressure levels, all the implementation of the first line of business staff. Merchant or these merchants, users or these users, how to increase revenue and profits, become the chief consideration of the salesman things.

The United States Regiment first-line salesman has been instilled in the user firstly, the concept of merchant second, in the company's revenue targets and the salesman's own performance commission under pressure, to another extreme, that is the United States Regiment platform first, personal income second. In order to get the exclusive and the lowest price of cooperation, the grassroots salesman has been to the point of intimidation and inducements, and competitors are also prone to wipe the gun.

As mentioned in the section above, the salesman first forced the merchant to sign the exclusive, if the merchant succumbed to that the best, if the merchant to quarrel, the key business to apologize to obtain understanding, the key businesses on the offline.

A U.S. team first-line salesman said that this year, by the public comments and the impact of Baidu glutinous Rice, the local brand of business sales point has been reduced, catering in the last year to mention 8% of the merchants, 3%-5% this year. And these brand shop sales actually basically stable, cannot form increment. And the headquarters required to increase the turnover and profit of the two major indicators, need to expand small and medium-sized businesses to achieve. So the United States Regiment many city station this year recruit, expand the team, is to attract a large number of new people to sweep the street, to increase the coverage of the United States. In addition, for these small and medium businesses, which cannot create a lot of revenue, the attitude of the United States Regiment salesman will not be very good, if you want to online, it must contribute to profits, if the merchant can not accept, as soon as the line, to talk about another merchant, anyway, the number of local small and medium-sized businesses, the major group buy platform to rob the focus is not on these small As a result, the relationship between the new salesman and the merchant will naturally deteriorate.

A business for more than 3 years old salesman said, just enter the time also want to grow together with the merchant, create value together, but the reality can not be reached. The essence of group buying is a promotional behavior, and promotion itself is not the normal business as a merchant.

The abnormal business model leads to the salesman often needs to make the choice, is deceives the merchant on the lasting package to maintain own performance income, or provides the real marketing suggestion for the Merchant's development. Most chose the former. Because when the interests of companies, individuals and businesses conflict, most of the first option is to sacrifice the interests of the merchant.

There are even more excessive things happen, some of the salesman will go to the shops to destroy competitors placed in the merchant side of the material, but also in the merchant secretly affixed to the rival group buy can not use the notice. In addition, there are 5.17 of this year's focus to brush the competitor's campaign list, or even spread the competitors do not collect revenue points of rumors and so on.

The above staff told the author, work more than 3 years, also only hold hundreds of shares, the United States listed not listed on the market is not big. The biggest regret is that in the United States so many years, do not know what they have harvested. For the purpose of the company to offend the merchant, and the company platform to gather the users have no relationship with themselves. New people from the entry to the company's revenue, profits, they do things more extreme. For example, the recently reported by the Qianjiang Evening News of the United States Regiment of the delivery platform contracted 14 merchants, incredibly 7 address is counterfeit, and the sanitary conditions of these businesses are completely substandard. If the electric business platform can be a pretext for the third party to provide false material, but this salesman to shop contract O2O mode, the platform is to blame. This is obviously unscrupulous merchant and salesman mutual "collusion" can produce results.

"At the beginning of the United States Regiment, the team attracted me is a far away from the noisy students temperament, simple, hard, regardless of gains and losses, but such a day is gone forever." Where the hell are we going, I don't know anything about it. "The old employee is no longer covering up his worries.