To enter the top five of the list, this social e-commerce app did these operations

While concepts such as new retail and unmanned stores remain popular, Taobao today launched a high-profile “group buying” feature. In fact, the social e-commerce model of sharing product links in social circles, group buying with friends, and purchasing products at low prices is still extremely popular.

Speaking of social e-commerce, Hezijun thinks of a social e-commerce app dominated by the group buying model - Pinduoduo. According to the data from Cheetah Think Tank, Pinduoduo app ranked fourth among e-commerce apps in the first quarter. Pinduoduo has jumped from being plagued by negative reviews to being ranked fourth among e-commerce apps. What has Pinduoduo done during this period?

1. Product Model

1. Backed by Tencent

Users share product group buying information through social relationships such as WeChat groups and WeChat Moments . Friends click on the link to join the group and purchase the products at a low price. Pinduoduo APP has its official operating community , but because the products are cheap, users have spontaneously created a large number of group buying communities. The instant messaging app WeChat has brought a large amount of traffic to Pinduoduo. One year after its launch, its MAU (monthly active users) has reached 2.87 million.

2. A change in the group buying method

The above is a transformation of Pinduoduo's group buying model. When the Pinduoduo APP was first launched on the market, its incredibly low prices attracted a large number of users to forward and group buy. However, after the group was formed, the goods were distributed by lottery, and many users were surprised to be cheated.

After optimization, the group-buying model has been transformed into a group of two people, which ensures that participants can purchase the goods. However, the low price is exchanged for goods of varying quality. Posts such as Tieba and Zhihu are full of complaints and exposure posts. The change in the group-buying model ensures that every user can purchase goods at a low price, but the quality of the goods cannot be guaranteed.

2. APP operation efforts

The product logic of the Pinduoduo APP is relatively simple. It invites friends and allows them to buy goods at low prices. It seems to be a great value, but low-priced goods and quality cannot be compromised. Product quality issues and counterfeit sales problems have been frequently exposed, and operations have begun to work hard to solve this problem.

1. Anti-counterfeiting and quality control team

For the problem of poor product quality, Pinduoduo punishes merchants on the platform. As long as there is a user complaint, the merchant will be fined after verification. When goods are sold at low prices, counterfeit and forged goods are bound to appear. To deal with counterfeit goods, Pinduoduo has set up an anti-counterfeiting department. It is reported that one-third of Pinduoduo's team of employees are engaged in anti-counterfeiting.

2. Branded products settled in

Although Pinduoduo APP has invested heavily in anti-counterfeiting and quality control, there are still many negative news. In order to enhance consumer trust, Pinduoduo APP has cooperated with many brand merchants such as CK, Be & Cheery , Pampers, Snoopy, etc. By inviting brand merchants to settle in, it provides users with more high-quality products and eliminates users' perception that "low-price group buying will inevitably lead to the purchase of low-quality products."

In addition to the entry of brand merchants, related brand activities have also been planned, such as the global simultaneous launch of iPhone SE, the official exclusive launch of the new Thermos children's straw cup, and the launch of brand products, which also brought traffic to the platform.

4. Used to assist with daily activities

Most of the activities within the APP are in the form of cash coupons. Recently, Pinduoduo APP exclusively sponsored the second season of "The Voice of China" and also launched a sign-in function within the app. Users can receive cash red envelopes by signing in within the Pinduoduo APP. Moreover, if you sign in for 7 consecutive days and complete the purchase, you will have a chance to win the official prize of "The Voice of China".

3. Brand Building

As mentioned earlier, Pinduoduo APP exclusively sponsored the second season of "The Voice of China". In fact, before that, Pinduoduo APP also placed advertisements offline. For Pinduoduo, traffic is not a big problem. The current issue is how to strengthen its own brand building. Pinduoduo gave a response to the issue of brand building in the second half of 2016.

1. Offline advertising in Guangzhou

In the fall of 2016, Pinduoduo APP placed advertisements in 16 subway stations with heavy passenger flow and 500 bus stops in Guangzhou. The advertising slogan was "80 million people are pinduoduo." Pinduoduo APP, which has always been low-key offline, adopted the method of offline advertising. On the one hand, it attracted more potential users for Pinduoduo APP, and on the other hand, it also began to focus on brand building.

Source: Internet

2. Beijing launches video ads

In May this year, the advertising video of Pinduoduo APP was released on the Beijing subway. The music of the video advertisement was adapted from "I Miss You So Much". As long as you listen to it once, you can feel the lingering sound lingering in your brain. Soon, this advertising video spread like a virus, once again spreading the brand of Pinduoduo.

3. Top sponsor of "Go Fighting"

Pinduoduo APP has won the sponsorship rights for "Extreme Challenge". Advertisements for Pinduoduo APP can be seen on the official posters of "Extreme Challenge", and the products in the show also have the Pinduoduo APP logo. The program also inserted an advertisement shot by a celebrity for the Pinduoduo APP. You can also see the poster of Go Fighting by opening the Pinduoduo app.

4. Exclusive sponsorship rights for "The Voice of China Season 2"

When "The Voice of China Season 2" started airing, Hezijun had already seen the shadow of the Pinduoduo APP from the pre-show advertisements, and Hua Shao also verbally promoted the Pinduoduo APP while hosting the show. The Pinduoduo APP logo also appeared many times in the program.

An analysis of Pinduoduo APP's advertising shows that since the second half of 2016, Pinduoduo APP has focused on its brand. There are quite a few social e-commerce APPs on the market that focus on group buying. By shaping their own brands, they have improved users' awareness of the brand and shortened the user's purchasing decision process.

Summary: Judging from the operation of Pinduoduo APP in the past year, Pinduoduo APP has transformed from plundering traffic to building a brand. Pinduoduo's success depends on WeChat providing it with a large amount of traffic. It can be seen that the number of users of an APP is the basis for the APP to carry out other businesses. The Activity Box is such an APP activity operation tool that can help operators acquire users and perform user operations .