Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chen Yansen and Liu Qiangdong sat facing each other, steam wafting from a purple clay teapot on the side.

The members of Jingdong’s entourage had tense expressions, betraying their nervousness.

Liu Qiangdong was the first to break the silence. He chuckled and said, ”President Chen, I made a special trip here today because I sincerely hope that Orange Mobile Phone will join Jingdong. You and I are both well aware that the mobile phone market is fiercely competitive. An additional sales channel is crucial for Orange Technology’s growth.”

”Is that so? Since Orange Technology withdrew from the Jingdong platform after the 418 Home Appliance Festival, our performance doesn’t seem to have been affected at all.”

Chen Yansen set down his teacup, leaned back, and gazed at Handsome Dong with a broad smile.

’He wanted tangible benefits, not to listen to the other guy’s bullshit.’

It was true that cooperation was mutually beneficial, but in the current e-commerce environment, a partnership between Jingdong and Orange Technology was clearly more advantageous for Jingdong.

’And Liu Qiangdong thought he could win Orange Technology back with just empty promises?’

’Not a chance!’

At these words, Liu Qiangdong gave a dry laugh and beckoned to his assistant, who understood immediately and handed over a marketing and promotion proposal.

He took it and, without the slightest hesitation, pushed it across to Chen Yansen. ”This is a token of my sincerity.”

Chen Yansen picked it up and casually flipped through the pages.

The proposal included promotional slots on the Jingdong homepage, the 3C digital channel’s image carousel, and popular recommendation sections. It also promised to host four ”Super Brand Day” events for Orange Technology annually, complemented by offline advertising, public relations, online ad placements, and social media campaigns to provide full-scale, platform-wide exposure.

Additionally, it offered a special payment period as short as twenty days, after-sales support, and big data backing.

Compared to last year’s onboarding contract, the terms of this new proposal were far more flexible, the allocation of resources was significantly greater, and every detail hinted at a desire to break the impasse and start anew.

Brother Sen was very satisfied with Liu Qiangdong’s sincere and apologetic attitude.

But then another thought occurred to Chen Yansen. ’Since Jingdong already signed an 800-million-yuan procurement contract with Meizu,’ he mused, ’they have a backup plan. Logically, they shouldn’t be groveling before Orange Technology like this. They must have other conditions up their sleeve.’

”What does President Liu want in return?” Chen Yansen couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush and asked directly.

”I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.” Liu Qiangdong grinned, then paused before continuing, ”Jingdong wants to establish a long-term advertising partnership with Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and the Orange Application Mall.”

After he finished, he stared intently at Chen Yansen, watching for the slightest change in his expression.

Chen Yansen understood what he was getting at. ’He just wants to use an annual contract to secure a lower rate.’

In 2012, limited by the penetration rates of broadband, 3G networks, personal computers, and smartphones, the total number of internet users in the country was under 600 million.

Early-starting platforms like Taobao and Jingdong were quickly hitting a traffic ceiling.

This was a critical period of transition from the PC internet to the mobile internet. Apart from Penguin, Senlian Capital controlled the most formidable mobile resources.

If Jingdong wanted to break past its valuation ceiling of 15 billion US dollars, it couldn’t do so without Senlian Capital’s help.

”No problem,” Chen Yansen agreed readily.

’Why turn down money that’s being handed to you on a silver platter?’

’But as for a discount, Liu Qiangdong could forget it!’

You get what you pay for. The advertising services for Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and the Orange Application Mall all used a CPM bidding mechanism. The higher the bid, the greater the exposure. If he wasn’t willing to spend the money, he would have a hard time acquiring new customer traffic at scale.

Seeing Chen Yansen agree so readily, a look of delight spread across Liu Qiangdong’s face. He quickly raised his cup, toasting with tea in place of wine and thanking him profusely.

”When does Jingdong plan to go public?” Chen Yansen asked casually.