"Sister Hong, what's the specific situation?" Chen Jincheng asked after a moment's thought.
As things stood, his plan for the ad video was definitely beneficial to Tiao Yin, so they probably weren't targeting him. Based on that, any problem should be solvable.
Sister Hong explained, "I just got a call from Tiao Yin. They want us to make a change to our ad video to help them test some kind of shopping cart feature. I didn't quite understand their description of the cart, but it seems to be related to Taobao."
"The little yellow cart?" Chen Jincheng was surprised.
'Has that thing arrived already?'
He remembered that in the other world, the "little yellow cart" was the ultimate feature to pair with ad videos.
Tiao Yin had initially partnered with Taobao to rapidly build and perfect the "little yellow cart" system. Fifteen months after it went live, Tiao Yin began testing livestream e-commerce, then completely entered the era of instant-purchase links, creating a massive storm in the market.
But a few months after Tiao Yin started its e-commerce livestreams, Taobao realized it had been used as a stepping stone and officially parted ways with Tiao Yin. Unfortunately for them, by then Tiao Yin had already perfected its own product showcase feature. Taobao was powerless to fight back and could only watch as Tiao Yin quickly became the number one e-commerce battleground.
Before he transmigrated, some streamers had even reached a scale of earning billions a year. One of them was exposed for cheating on his wife with his female apprentice and became embroiled in a massive public scandal. The key thing was, this guy was ruthless—he even sent the girl he slept with to prison. He wondered if that Girl ever got out.
Thinking of this, a spark of ambition ignited within him. 'If I could get an award-winning actor to come to my livestream and obsequiously plug products, wouldn't that be a form of success in itself?'
But that was still too far off for him. He hadn't even managed to get his application for a basic guild approved yet.
If he wanted to get in on the new trend starting in 15 months, he'd need to become at least a Three-star Guild. Otherwise, Tiao Yin wouldn't even consider him for their initial testing phase.
And a Three-star Guild required not only 40 daily active streamers, but also a turnover of 400 million Tiao Coins.
So, for now, he had to focus on getting the basic guild sorted out.
Still, Tiao Yin approaching him to test the "little yellow cart" feature was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. It was likely that his 3 million yuan bet on the advertising fee had caught their attention. So, if he did a good job with this plan, it would have the added benefit of leaving a good impression on Tiao Yin.
"Boss, what 'little yellow cart'?" Sister Hong quickly corrected him. "They said 'shopping cart.'"
Chen Jincheng couldn't really explain it to Sister Hong, so he turned directly to Li Ya. "President Li, we might have another collaboration opportunity here. Tiao Yin's little... shopping cart is an excellent feature. We can link products to it, allowing users watching the video to click the cart and directly purchase the items listed."
Li Ya asked in surprise, "Like a Taobao store?"
Chen Jincheng explained, "It's a collaboration between Tiao Yin and Taobao. When you click it, you go directly to the Taobao store to buy the clothes. President Li, your company has a Taobao shop, right? We'll link to this series of clothes, so anyone who watches my ad video can click right through to your Taobao shop and buy these pajamas."
"I'm confident this video will get over 3 million likes, with a guaranteed minimum of 50 million views. A huge number of people will definitely click that link."
Li Ya's eyes lit up when she heard this.
She had hired someone for ad planning precisely for promotion and to attract distributors.
This method of purchasing seemed far more direct.
"Mr. Chen, what are your terms?" Li Ya asked immediately. She wasn't naive enough to think he would do this for free. Although the link would be on the ad video, their original agreement didn't cover this. He was free to do it or not.
Therefore, as long as it was mutually beneficial, negotiating a new deal on this point would make their exchange more pleasant.
Chen Jincheng smiled. "President Li, how about we take a commission on each item sold? Let's say a 10% commission on the sales revenue. Your pajamas are 58 yuan a piece, so how about we take a 5.8 yuan cut for each one sold?"
This was the standard commission rate for clothing on the "little yellow cart" in the other world.
He hadn't calculated the specific standards or principles for this pricing. Since Tiao Yin in the other world had set it this way, there must be a good reason for it; it had to be the most suitable rate.
Upon hearing this, Li Ya agreed almost instantly. "Alright, we'll do as you say, Mr. Chen."
In their clothing industry, profit margins were between 10% and 30%.
Her companies, Jing Hong and Jing Lan, weren't major brands, just smaller ones. The competition was fierce and profit margins weren't high. Jing Hong had only managed to reach a 19% margin by relying on quality and good reviews.
Giving up a 10% commission like this seemed like a lot, but the price she listed on Taobao was the normal market retail price.
That meant these pajamas wouldn't have to go through distributors, so the profit margin normally reserved for them could be added back to the company's bottom line.
When calculated this way, she would actually earn more per item sold than before.
Thinking it through, Li Ya realized something incredible. If this method could be done well, it might become the new mainstream in the future.
'The brick-and-mortar economy, already hit hard by e-commerce platforms like Taobao, might face an even greater impact, wouldn't it?'
Chen Jincheng then instructed Sister Hong, "Sister Hong, in a bit, draft a new contract with President Li and send it to Tiao Yin. Remember to tell them that since we're helping them test this feature, they can't take a cut of our commission for service and technical fees."
In the other world, once the "little yellow cart" feature was fully developed, Tiao Yin would charge service and technical fees, with the rate going as high as 50%.
Since they were asking for help with testing now, it wouldn't be reasonable for them to take a share of the money.
"Okay, Boss!" After her boss's explanation, Sister Hong now had a general idea of how this shopping cart function worked.
But what surprised her was that her boss seemed to have known all along what this thing was.
To be honest, she had initially been confused about the whole shopping cart thing. After all, the Tiao Yin platform's current path was clearly different from Taobao's. Who would have thought in that direction?
In fact, looking back, even Taobao in the other world hadn't seen it coming and had actively handed Tiao Yin a ladder to soar to new heights.
The group entered the hotel and followed the receptionist to the room they had booked for the shoot. Because they had paid an extra filming fee, the hotel staff was very accommodating and gave them the largest room.
Upon entering, they saw a large space. Aside from a very large and prominent bed, there was also an esports area to the side with a fully equipped desk and chair, and a PC setup that had a great atmosphere.
Without hesitation, Chen Jincheng immediately started setting things up with his team.
Meanwhile, Sister Hong borrowed the hotel's computer and printer to prepare the contract, which she then negotiated and signed with Li Ya.
A short while later, she sent the new contract to Tiao Yin and presented her boss's terms.
Han Shangyou, the new president of Tiao Yin, received the reply from Second-Life Star right away. He asked in surprise, "So fast? Didn't they have any questions about the shopping cart feature?"
The manager in charge shook his head. "When I first spoke with them, their representative didn't seem to understand. But when they contacted me again, they already had the contract prepared. Moreover, they added a condition: since they're helping us test it this time, we can't charge them service and technical fees."
Han Shangyou was stunned by this.
They were naturally planning to monetize this feature, but they hadn't yet decided what to call the charges. Now, seeing the words "service fees and technical fees," his eyes grew brighter.
'Service fees and technical fees... look how good that sounds.'
"This Second-Life Star has some real talent," Han Shangyou remarked in surprise. He immediately gave another order: "Tell Second-Life Star we agree to their condition. Also, organize a meeting on your end to discuss these service and technical fees."