Edit | Yuer Lake
Produced by | Chaoqi Network "Yu See Column"
On April 24, a number of media reported that the Zhejiang Provincial High Court made a final judgment in the unfair competition case of Cainiao Network v. Pinduoduo, rejecting Pinduoduo's appeal, upholding the judgment of the court of first instance, and compensating Cainiao Network for economic losses and reasonable rights protection costs of 5 million yuan.
Although the case ended in the way of rookie victory and Pinduoduo compensation, the problems reflected in the court of the two have not disappeared. Moreover, the industry pattern of being accused of "monopoly" because of the dominance of Cainiao Network is bound to further deepen the contradictions and gaps between major e-commerce giants.
In fact, although Pinduoduo is currently on the e-commerce track, the limelight has long overshadowed Alibaba. However, in terms of seizing the distribution resources of express parcel terminals, Pinduoduo has always been in a relatively weak position compared with the rookie network backed by Alibaba.
Moreover, Pinduoduo's defeat this time is enough to show that under the suppression of the number of outlets of the rookie network such as "ant moving", Pinduoduo did not adopt various self-help models that are very reasonable in the eyes of netizens because of helplessness, and in front of the law, there is any preferential treatment.
However, after the conclusion of this lawsuit, more voices of public opinion stood on the side of Pinduoduo. There is even a view that although the rookie network won the lawsuit, it lost the hearts of the people, and although Pinduoduo lost the lawsuit, there is still no shortage of supporters.
The dispute over "receiving pieces" is accused of monopoly, and rookies are not innocent
Looking back at the legal dispute between Cainiao Network and Pinduoduo, it actually stems from the business dispute between the two. The fuse of the incident was the exclusive competition of rookies against third-party platforms in the express delivery business.
In fact, as early as the beginning of 2022, many netizens said through the APP application market, social media and other platforms that the rookie network is suspected of crowding out "Pinduoduo", and the express packages they shop on Pinduoduo not only cannot be delivered through the rookie station, but even on the rookie APP, they cannot query the express delivery of Pinduoduo.
Prior to this, there were also a number of media reports that the rookie station only sent Taobao Tmall pieces, and Pinduoduo's express delivery could only be picked up by consumers. This move was also interpreted by the media as a rookie post station that was obviously aimed at Pinduoduo. The differential treatment in terms of express delivery is suspected of vicious competition.
It is true that the Cainiao Network, which was established in the early years, was based on Alibaba's e-commerce business system and had autonomy in terms of business scope. However, from the perspective of the development of consumers and the logistics express market, it is too overbearing and even a little unreasonable to target Pinduoduo.
On the one hand, from the perspective of the rookie station manager, sending and receiving express parcels on e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo is conducive to increasing its income.
On the other hand, from the perspective of consumers, Cainiao Post Station covers the express parcel sending and receiving business of other e-commerce platforms, and can also improve the shopping experience of consumers and express companies on other e-commerce platforms, which is also a good thing for many parties.
But when it came to the rookie network, Pinduoduo was very reluctant to infiltrate the package distribution system of the rookie station in various ways, but it became "unfair competition", and was even sued in court, and finally lost the lawsuit for compensation, which is no wonder netizens complained about Pinduoduo.
Therefore, at that time, Pinduoduo could only open the express collection system service at the store end of Duoduo to solve the problem that consumers could not query the package and had nowhere to "send and receive" the express delivery.
At the same time, in order to improve consumers' shopping experience in Pinduoduo, Pinduoduo has also upgraded the software of the head of the group through the Duoduo shopping APP, so that consumers can check the progress of express delivery in time and provide express collection and delivery services, and allow consumers to pick up packages by the way when picking up food.
However, Pinduoduo's "tricks to save itself" in terms of express delivery and reception did not make it safe with the rookie network. On the contrary, Cainiao Network has carried out a "devastating" blow to Pinduoduo's operation of improving service efficiency and service experience through software.
At that time, according to media reports, a rookie post station owner in Henan revealed that after the staff of Duoduo Grocery came to the store to publicize, he logged in to the rookie post store manager system the next day, and a video learning interface popped up, and he could only log in after watching it. The content of the video mentions that if Duoduo buys groceries in the post station, it will be permanently removed after being discovered, and the post station owner is not allowed to join the rookie post station again.
It is worth noting that the rookie network is not just bluffing about this, but it is vigorous and immediately began to implement it. At that time, a "removal notice" that went viral among the express delivery and e-commerce industries said that because a rookie post station in Linyi, Shandong Province "used a dual system to operate parcels in and out of the warehouse", it was "immediately cleared and never cooperated; the post station filing qualification was immediately cancelled; and the account associated with the same cooperative entity could not be re-settled in the rookie post station within one year".
In fact, it was not uncommon for the media to report on the choice between rookies and Ali before. Even non-Taobao community group buying businesses such as Meituan Optimal are also within the "scope of crackdown" of Cainiao Network. And netizens complained about this, and it didn't happen overnight.
For example, some netizens took screenshots and complained that the parcel should not be put at the post station on the express delivery note, but the post station was still forcibly "signed" and put in the post station. Therefore, all of a sudden, there were endless complaints about Alibaba's "bullying" and "suspected monopoly".
For consumers who shop on platforms other than the Tao system and have "nowhere to put their packages", Cainiao Network has become a "backstabber" for the poor distribution of packages on other platforms, and has become the target of netizens' "everyone shouts and beats".
The stationmaster has a meager income and a difficult survival, so what is the crime of seeking a way to increase income?
As we all know, many migrant workers will have to look for part-time jobs because of low salaries and poor living conditions. For the entrepreneurs who run the rookie station, although they seem to be "opening a store and starting a business", their income is actually not high, and even if they get up early and are greedy late, they are not as good as the first- and second-tier workers with slightly higher salaries.
It is observed that on social media such as Zhihu and Maimai, some complain that it is too difficult to operate the post station, and there are countless stationmasters who claim to be struggling to survive and barely make ends meet.
For example, there have been media reports that the owner of the rookie post station is busy for 10 hours a day, but after all the expenses are subtracted, the income of 200 yuan a day may not be there.
There are also netizens who claim to be the owner of a rookie post station, sharing and summarizing the income of a well-run post station on the Internet, which has aroused the resonance of many practitioners: "The net income of a post station = gross profit - rent - labor - utilities and taxes and other miscellaneous expenses, if you only rely on sending and receiving express delivery, the income is only about 3,000 yuan, and the rookie post station that does not make money also exists a lot!"
But even so, entrepreneurs who want to enter the game and open a rookie station have a very high threshold. As netizens ridiculed, since the rookie station is not profitable, why can't it continue to operate in the end, and the transfer fee is still more than 100,000 yuan? The answer is actually very simple, because in the eyes of many entrepreneurs, a reliable entrepreneurial project is not easy to find, and backed by Ali's rookie network, after all, it is famous, so it is inevitable that some entrepreneurs are eager to try.
For the rookie station not to make money, some industry insiders suggest that the entrepreneurs of the rookie station may be more flexible, and even look for some other sources of income similar to "part-time" like workers.
Source: A social media netizen accurately calculated the actual income of the stationmaster and recommended several ways to increase income
In addition, there are not a few cases of relatives and friends around him opening rookie stations and finally closing their doors and losing money. And most netizens finally came to the conclusion that they were surprisingly consistent, that is, the rookie post station is a business that looks very profitable, but can only make hard money, and even lose money, and some netizens even bluntly "persuade them to quit" for netizens who try to open a post station.
Source: Zhihu
It's just that some of the "overlord regulations" of the rookie network make the stationmaster of the rookie post station not constantly fall into the idea of being the "head of the community group buying group" and doing other "part-time" jobs in the rookie station. How restrictive is this for entrepreneurs who are already freer?
Therefore, some netizens ridiculed that if the rookie post station is opened like this, in front of the workers, how will these post station "bosses" be embarrassed?
Pinduoduo overtakes Alibaba, where does Ali lose?
When Pinduoduo's market value surpassed Alibaba's, on the Internet, some netizens threw out a very interesting topic: Is it Jack Ma's arrogance that has made Pinduoduo's success?
In the past, many people would mistakenly think that with the monopoly position of Alibaba and JD.com in the e-commerce track for many years, other e-commerce platforms basically have no possibility of rising. However, it has been proved that Pinduoduo has risen rapidly with lightning speed, and even the growth rate of core performance indicators such as GMV and revenue is so high that even Ali feels afraid.
It has been observed that this may be because the Internet era is changing, and consumer needs are also "keeping pace with the times", and Alibaba's service model based on the e-commerce ecosystem is already somewhat outdated.
On the other hand, this may be due to the change of Internet technology, so that the new platform model has gradually replaced the original traditional e-commerce model. Taking Pinduoduo as an example, if the rise of Pinduoduo threatens Alibaba's monopoly position, it is only an isolated case, or even just a matter of luck. Then the counterattack of short video live broadcast e-commerce platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou is enough to prove that Alibaba's past era of dominance is gone.
At the same time, this also means that once the trend of the times comes, it will be like paper that can't hold fire, even if Alibaba "uses" its monopoly position to desperately suppress it, I'm afraid it will not help.
Especially in recent years, under the banner of national anti-monopoly, the overlord clause that required suppliers and partners to choose one or the other in the past is no longer effective. It is also the general trend for Internet platforms to move towards win-win cooperation.
In fact, as early as March 2017, SF, a high-end logistics company, challenged the authority of the rookie network. At that time, Cainiao required that the triggering of all express cabinet information must be wrapped through Cainiao, and the pickup code information was unconditionally given to Cainiao, and Fengchao, a subsidiary of SF, also needed to return all package information to Cainiao (including non-Tao orders).
However, who would have expected that under Alibaba's "obscenity", SF Express refused to "comply". In the end, after the rookie network blocked SF's logistics data interface, the State Post Bureau came forward, and the two sides had already shaken hands.
In addition to being a "winning general" in the competition in shopping malls, Alibaba is not invincible because of its monopoly position in the face of justice.
For example, on December 30, 2023, after a lengthy lawsuit against Ali for "choosing one of the two", the court ruled that Ali lost the lawsuit, and JD.com was compensated 1 billion. For a while, countless netizens thought that this was a fair trial brought about by law and justice, and applauded the verdict.
It can be seen that the majority of netizens have long been aware of Alibaba's "domineering". As for the changes in the competitive relationship between Jingdong and Ali, some Zhihu netizens hit the nail on the head.
Source: Screenshot of Zhihu Gaozan's answer, author: Atacama
For example, some netizens said that Alibaba was not prepared to appeal again at that time, perhaps due to the spearhead of market competition, which is no longer the "choice of two" on the supply side, but the upgrading of consumer demand and the cost performance of goods.
Therefore, the balance of industry advantages, this time ruthlessly tilted to Pinduoduo. It can be seen that Alibaba seems to have won the lawsuit this time, but in fact, it is still losing the "people's heart", and even losing the market that is being eaten away by Pinduoduo step by step. At this moment, Alibaba's insistence on terminal resources such as rookie stations, which seem to be "fighting for every inch of land", may not be the antidote to Alibaba's growth anxiety.
epilogue
Although the competition in logistics express delivery, parcel sending and receiving and other tracks in the past few years has been chaotic, various forms of vicious competition have also been escalating.
However, since March 2024, the newly revised "Express Market Management Measures" has been officially implemented, and the official has intervened in the disorderly competition in the express delivery market, and will give the "last mile" option of express delivery to users. After the introduction of the new regulations, it is reasonable for consumers to demand that express delivery must be delivered to their homes. Under such an industry trend, rookie stations are becoming more and more like "chicken ribs".
As a result, the last thing Alibaba wants to see has appeared. That is, a large number of rookie post stations were cleared, and many post station owners had to transfer post stations "with hatred" and leave in a hurry.
At this point, the fate of the rookie network has also begun to show a turning point. As Alibaba's chairman Joe Tsai said in response to Cainiao's withdrawal of its listing application: The current market environment is sluggish and liquidity is insufficient, and it is meaningless to forcibly promote the capital market in the short term.
At this moment, the fate of Alibaba and Pinduoduo is also very dramatic. Although in this lawsuit, Alibaba's Cainiao Network seems to have the upper hand. However, in terms of the company's business development, Pinduoduo has already passed the mountain, and Alibaba's rookie network, even the qualification to stick to the base camp, is gradually losing everything.
In just a few years, the e-commerce industry, the logistics express delivery industry, and the terminal distribution track have long been different, and they are also showing a different scenery, which has to be embarrassing.