Chapter 289

“Exactly. It’s basically a referral-based, price-slashing model. If one invites enough people to help, one could even score the item for free. And new users get even bigger discounts.”

“But isn’t this approach too risky?” Birgitte voiced her concern. She thought, ‘An e-commerce platform thrives on building a mutually beneficial relationship between merchants and customers. To put it simply, we’re an intermediary platform. Our job is to balance both parties’ interests and incentivize both sides to participate.

‘If merchants can’t make a profit, why would they ever join us? But if the platform has to burn through cash on subsidies, when we’re already positioning ourselves as high-quality yet affordable, where’s the profit margin in that?’

Even Birgitte thought Aubree was being a bit naive. “Sure, this model might attract a wave of users,” she mused, “but what then?”

Birgitte didn’t hold back, voicing all her concerns.

Aubree smiled at her. “Of course, but don’t we control how much gets slashed and what discounts are given?”

“Go ahead, you explain,” Aubree said, turning her gaze to a programmer she’d brought from Bree Technology.

Birgitte led the project operations, while the programmer Aubree had brought over from Bree Technology handled the technical side.

The programmer explained, “Ms. Miller had me implement some algorithmic enhancements during development. Whether it’s group buying or group bargaining, our platform keeps costs low. Getting an item for free or at a steep discount would require an unusually high number of user referrals.”

Aubree nodded. “A product that sells for three dollars can bring us dozens of new users. Even if we give it away for free, we’re still the ones profiting in the end.”

Aubree thought, ‘If a million people each invite a hundred others to slash the price of a product of 30 dollars, that’s a hundred million users. Even if I give away all those products for free as an investment, as long as I make just 30 cents from each user, I’ll break even.’

Birgitte’s eyes lit up as she finally understood.

Aubree said confidently, “So there’s no need to worry about a shortage of merchants or suffering losses. As long as we have customers, even if we don’t actively help merchants make a profit, they’ll find their way to monetize.”

Birgitte shook her head in admiration and exclaimed again, “Ms. Miller, you’re truly a natural-born businesswoman!”

Online shopping was convenient, but it had an obvious drawback. While platforms and merchants might offer coupons and discounts, one couldn’t haggle over prices like one could in a physical store.

Group bargaining and group buying models ingeniously address the gap left by the inability to haggle online. Even better, this approach creates a win-win-win scenario: platforms gain massive traffic, customers score great deals, and merchants enjoy a flood of shoppers.

“Don’t just bask in joy. Let’s make National Day holidays a real celebration for our project.”

Aubree made the call. “Pour every last cent of our remaining startup funds into promotion.”

Aubree was utterly confident. Once the project took off, it would definitely carve out a whole new space in today’s e-commerce market.

During the National Day holidays, an e-commerce platform called GrabCheap stormed into the already saturated online shopping market with lightning speed, sinking its teeth into the competition and seizing a hefty slice of the pie almost overnight.

Aubree had incubated the GrabCheap project a month ahead of schedule, establishing its reputation through strategic partnerships. Now, with Zappy and Playzy, the two major traffic powerhouses, at her fingertips, promotion was practically child’s play for her.

With Manchotech’s partnership, GrabCheap’s promotions weren’t just limited to these media platforms. They were popping up everywhere in WhatsApp Moments, too.

GrabCheap’s two core models went viral, sweeping across the market like wildfire.

After the National holidays, seeing GrabCheap’s steady progress, Aubree temporarily returned to campus to resume her studies.

Birgitte lived up to Aubree’s expectations.

By the end of November, GrabCheap had firmly established its foothold in the e-commerce market and was showing clear signs of evolving into an industry giant.