Every customer sincerity problem: how to maintain the advantages of how to face the cost

"Oxford Management review-News" Now, every customer how to maintain their own advantages, has become the focus of attention. A large number of layoffs, individual executives leaving the market did not, rumors of serious losses ... After four years of high-speed growth, Van Gogh's emergence of the flat network clothing brand encounter a dilemma, on the one hand it to keep running, rapid expansion of scale, but on the other hand, expansion has brought high costs and management problems.

For the four-Year-old van Gogh, there was hardly any good news in the second half of 2011. The company's founder, the 43-Year-old CEO, has until recently been actively cooperating with various media outlets to try to dilute the doubts and concerns that surround them.

Shanxi people aged once was Beijing "China book Business Newspaper" book Review Weekly edition. When the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, he founded the Online bookstore Excellence network with Lei and became the executive vice president of the website. After exiting the network of excellence and creating a virtual goods trading website, I failed, and in October 2007 he created an E-commerce website for every guest.

In four years, every guest has created a miracle of rapid growth. According to the data from the executive, the 2008 after-tax income was only 110 million yuan, but by 2011 years, after-tax income had reached more than 3 billion. and other electrical business is significantly different from the old to every customer injected into the "people's fashion" connotation, will play a well-known Internet clothing brand.

"History is here, you're right there, you're making history." "February 4, 2012, aged in the spacious office at Van's headquarters, told Southern weekend reporters." Every guest headquarters is located in the Beijing East three ring double well bridge next to the Lok Cheng Mansion, occupies four floor space. An old man's office took up one-seventh of a floor, and a half wall shelf was full of books.

Aging this explanation, and the United States Network CEO Wang view similar "traditional industry entrepreneurship like mountaineering, Internet entrepreneurship is like surfing." You just have to step on a wave and hold on, and its height determines your altitude. Wang was once a network of nets, rice no net, the founder of the domestic network, but repeatedly entrepreneurship has not been able to "maintain", eventually failed.

Whether aging can "keep living" Van Gogh's high-speed growth momentum, now become a suspense. Although old as Cheung Xianglin to the outside world to refute the voices of those questioned, but he also had to admit that the guests are indeed the time to reflect.

The revelation of PPG

Every guest's rise, in addition to the rise of a wave of e-commerce, but also to thank a pioneer PPG company. 2005, PPG to "light Company" mode of emergence, quickly become a dazzling network apparel company, known as the "apparel industry of Dell." It only makes men's clothing, its business almost all outsourced, no plant, equipment, stores, only marketing department, Design department, call center and warehouse.

It is the overwhelming network of advertising and traditional advertising to rob consumers of the eyeball. Although the growth speed is astonishing, but also for the future buries the huge hidden danger. 2007 years later, the company eventually closed down due to non-payment of its suppliers. This year, every guest is born.

Aged to create a van, the original is entirely imitation of the sale of men's shirts by telephone ppg. Its advertising strategy and PPG is no different, February 2008 ago, where customer marketing to cast flat media. In the two years from 2008 to 2009, the amount of advertising that customers put into their sales amounted to 60%.

But luckily, every customer started to try online marketing in March 2008, and orders grew rapidly. At that time, the effect of internet advertising is not favored by enterprises, the price is very low. Portals may even send some ads for free. Where the customer tasted the sweetness of network marketing, quickly abandoned the phone direct marketing model, to become Internet brands. This has led to the avoidance of a huge drop in the traditional media, such as PPG. Like every guest, Mai Lin, Dream Bazaar and other online clothing brands also began to use internet advertising to attract popularity.

In addition, since October 2007, where the first round of financing began, from then to the end of 2011, a total of financing six, the overall financing amount of 400 million U.S. dollars (RMB about 2.4 billion yuan). A vice president of the electric business, who asked not to be named, told Southern Weekend reporters that it could also be seen that the sophistication of the old, where many of the number of customers to finance the wheel, is likely to be a shrewd pricing skills. Multiple rounds of financing can raise the premium.

The extraordinary place of aging is also embodied in its strategy of branding. May 2010, where the guests bought a number of road signs, ready to put Han and Dan endorsement of every guest ads. But old found signs advertising screen has a large blank, so will customers than the manuscript brought by the TV script, cut and put up. Then Han and Dan fans took this shot down, with many netizens together, fermentation of the object.

All the objects that quickly became popular in the internet have redefined every guest. For every guest's brand positioning, aged said, he now only emphasizes three: unlimited fashion, cost-effective and best service. Others are given to the user.

At this point, every guest out of a self-built Internet clothing brand unique path. And the first echelon of the electric business representative Jingdong Mall is the platform-type model, from 3C product development to food and clothing with the line of all the goods. Jingdong's money-making model is to buy goods from suppliers and sell them to consumers on the internet, earning the difference. This is Dangdang, Lok Tao Nets and other electric business to go.

But the brand, which has been painstakingly built, is hard to produce a premium effect. and aging that the brand premium may be the traditional Chinese brand to take a detour. The reason is that the GAP, ZARA, H&m and excellent Uniqlo, such as foreign garment giants, to go is the route of civilians. And the domestic brands that made a little money began to go higher.

In this respect, another electric trader to Southern Weekend reporter said, do brand, can not be separated from the law to improve customer price. To do retail, the highest goal is to increase the premium rate. For example, the price of a brand Shang's shoes is usually multiplied by 5 on the basis of cost. In his view, aging to break the spell, a bit against the industry rules.

Quick Price

Although the customer walks is to build the path of the brand, but it and other electric business, have to face the destiny of Fast run. It also means that to be the last winner, you have to keep putting in all the costs so that you can run faster than others and do what others cannot.

"He is concerned about the growth of new users and the two-time purchase rate," he said of the southern weekend correspondent. In his view, the two figures are the only prerequisite for the health of the company. One important reason for PPG's failure, he argues, is that it does not have enough user capacity and growth.

In order to expand, many dealers imitate the Amazon model from a single product to an all-encompassing department store, and provide a third-party platform to allow other businesses on their own platform to compete with themselves. At the same time, increase the logistics distribution and warehouse and rear information platform input, in order to better improve the user experience and expand coverage.

The same is true of every guest. May 2010, where the customer began the rapid expansion of the category, began to do men and women wear, shoes, home textiles, and even made cosmetics, rice cookers, mop. Variety expansion will naturally bring sales scale, but also bring the inventory cost of unsalable products increased. T-shirts and canvas shoes are the best selling products, but the rice cooker, mop less people.

The month, where the customer also launched the V channel, set up a platform to attract third-party collaborators, the sale of department stores products. The competition will be directed at the Beijing East and when.

But V expansion did not meet expectations, more than a year to achieve only about 500 million yuan scale, only account for the total sales of about 10%. The reason is that consumers are accustomed to the low price of their own brands, from where customers enter the V channel, it is difficult to accept the V product high customer price, so the rate of conversion is not high.

Furthermore, suppliers are concerned with the client's cooperation. Online Shoe city Lok Amoy with Van V talked about cooperation, where customers require Amoy shoes into the warehouse. Le Amoy can't promise, because Amoy sell things, is the supplier in Amoy Warehouse consignment, Lok Amoy get sales commission. Goods in the warehouse in Amoy, 10 days half a month can turnover once, put to the warehouse, where the customer processing speed slow, distribution first to do every guest own brand, product turnover to one months, the supplier naturally do not agree.

On the other hand, where the customer built, such as wind Tatsu logistics company has not formed sufficient redundancy ability, from the third party to make money. such as wind Tatsu general manager Li Hongyi to the southern weekend reporters that the future, such as the wind can be opened. However, such as wind Tatsu now take some of the outside list, is still connections orders, such as Millet mobile phone.

Amazon's early investment in logistics and cloud computing centers has now become an important source of profit. But for Fank, it is still a long way from reaching this point.

Every guest's trouble is more than that. As a result of the fierce competition of electricity business, Internet advertisement price rises suddenly, push up the cost of every guest. Internet advertising prices in 2011 rose by 50% over the same period in 2010, according to a person in the electricity business.

But the story of the Southern weekend reporter said that advertising price growth of 50%, only for the 360 and a handful of companies. And every guest's advertising volume accounted for the proportion of sales, these years has been downward. From 2009 to 60% fell to 2011 20%. In 2012, he said, that proportion would continue to fall to 10% per cent.

Despite this, there is still no way to avoid the pain of a high overall cost. Southern Weekend reporter from every customer in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, the supplier of the century Liaoyuan company learned that the gross margin of customers at least 20% or more. For example, where the customer has a 99 yuan of clothing, from the century Liaoyuan purchase price is about 76 yuan.

An electric business person to the Southern Weekend reporter analysis that the gross profit margin is very high, every customer is a 30-day unconditional return, all returned goods logistics impairment than other electrical companies to high, coupled with such as the wind Tatsu adhere to the positioning of high standards of service, where the total logistics cost of customers to calculate the gross income of the total should be around 20%. Administrative cost 8%-10%, market cost 20%-30%. These items add up to about 50% of the cost. "Therefore, every guest is certainly a loss." Moreover, the larger the size of the customer, the greater the loss. Of course, with the size of the big, logistics costs and market costs will decline. It depends on how long the guests can insist. "he said.

The aftermath of the Great Leap Forward

After the category expansion began in 2010, the number of employees from the initial start-up of more than 100 people increased to about 10,000 people. The data, which was seen at the time, was 6 times times that of January 2011, when the growth of the visitors was the same as in 2010. This gave him confidence in the sales of 10 billion yuan a year in 2011.

Aging began to devolve. Many more than 20-year-old employees now manage hundreds of billions of dollars in sales, which are the annual sales for 2008.

But in the June 2011, aging often found downstairs and so on the elevator staff too many people simply gather together to chat. There are also some employees who sneak off at work hours. He realized the seriousness of the problem, so he made an experience of the company, the conclusion is: high level of impatience, grass-roots corruption.

By July, every guest began to lay off staff and the probation period was cleared away. The month, where the customer also began to analyze too many categories, will do a bad category deleted.

At the same time, aging also began to operate on the organizational structure. In the past, there were only two products division, now dismantled into eight departments, in addition to the five major division, there are three production centers.

These five departments of the establishment of ideas are mainly by category. In the past, every customer's products, promotion, marketing and brand completely separate. After the establishment of five business departments, each division through the product, marketing to promote all the functions.

In the past, in the scale gradually become larger, where customers as the traditional clothing industry, the color is more and more heavy, the production department become the leader, launched a mop and nail clippers and other unsuccessful categories. Now, every guest's production center becomes three, one is clothing, one is shoes and hats, one is other miscellaneous class.

Division of authority is, from product planning to the final marketing all through, and responsible for inventory. In the past, the product is responsible for the product, marketing is responsible for marketing, product department into a pile of things, marketing departments do not see, the product department every day scold marketing department even a photo is not good, both sides do not see each other.

In the future, customers will also subdivide more business departments, which also requires more managers. South Weekend reporter asked aging, whether will consider to the company recruit a professional manager to do CEO, Old shook his head said: "Company big, want to respect history." The more important issue is the ability of team learning and error correcting. ”

But the team is not stable. In the second half of 2011, every guest individual executive chose to resign Vice President Shengchang defected to Jingdong Mall, PR manager Li Jianxiong to learn and think. How to retain people is a new challenge for aging.

Aging has not assigned options to the management team until layoffs and executives leave the storm. Where the current management of One-third is the old outstanding people, these people rely on feelings can still retain, every guest at the same time there are many young people in the management position, for these young people, where customers do not take out real money, it is difficult to keep people.

In the February 2012, after a reflection, the overall strategy for every guest is carrying out a new plan. He said that every customer adjustment, which to collect, which to put, will be a data system to say. In the future, it will be the driving force of the company's development, which is the core of the customer, and is sustainable.

It's already one of the secrets of Amazon's success. Amazon tracks everything, and most decisions are based on data. "Oxford Management Review-oxford.icxo.com"