ng> Media: Shenzhen is Dingdong’s first cross-regional development city. How is it performing now?
Liang Changlin: Shenzhen currently has 60,000 to 70,000 orders per day. We are now the number one in Shenzhen. It only took 4 months for the front warehouse to be covered with Shenzhen, which is currently the fastest in all cities in China with more than 10,000 orders per day.
Media: Do you come up with a new concept “Public Benefits”, or are you prepared to use front positions to achieve this goal?
Liang Changlin: We have opened many new warehouses in newly expanded Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shenzhen and other places. But inclusive people do not necessarily have to use front positions. We started with front positions and let consumers recognize us, but then we can consider other models elsewhere, not necessarily using front positions. Still have to adapt to local conditions.
Media: I heard that there are more than 20,000 people now? What are the specific functions and division of labor? How are these more than 20,000 people managed? How is your IT system built?
Liang Changlin: The headquarters is more than 700 people, the front line is like the army, and the headquarters is like a band. Let me give an example of a digital system. For example, our path planning is completely based on digital. Our order volume and takeaway are on the order of magnitude, but the violations are twice as low.
Media: There should be a lot of adjustments in Ding Dong’s grocery shopping in 2019? Including closing some stores, adjusting delivery prices, and building logistics companies
Liang Changlin: In fact, the most important thing is to go out, such as driving to Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shenzhen, of which Shenzhen is our first cross-regional city, logistics companies will be available in each region afterwards. It is a normal operation to shut down some stores with poor profitability and too high costs. On the whole, we will not have a particularly large adjustment.
Before you die, the industry spring has arrived
Media: Everyday, Youxian made a foray into Shanghai and said that it would become the number one fresh-food company in the city. Do they aim to win the number one spot in Shanghai?
Liang Changlin: The market share of Dingdong’s grocery shopping (in Shanghai) is 10 times that of its rival.
Media: What do you think of the tide of fresh food companies closing down?
Liang Changlin: This is normal. This phenomenon will occur on any track. The most important thing is whether it creates value for users. It is meaningless to have empty scale. An important reason for the collapse of fresh food companies is that scale, supply chain and efficiency development are highly mismatched.
Media: What do you think of Hou Yi’s recent questions about the relevant position of the front position model?
Liang Changlin: Everyone has their own positions.
Media: HealthDo you have to stand in line to buy fresh food? Ali now has a box horse, so will you rely on Tencent?
Liang Changlin: We are open.
Media: Daily opponents such as fresh and fresh products enter the base camp Shanghai, will it affect the pace of Ding Dong ’s expansion?
Liang Changlin: Actually, we are expanding mainly because our profitability has improved. I think it is time to do so. We look at internal forces (that is, our own supply chain capabilities) rather than external forces. We think it is good to have competition and provide consumers with more choices.
Media: Do you think community freshness is your opponent?
Liang Changlin: Eating is a big thing, and it supports the coexistence of multiple formats. At present, it is not possible to compete with each other and completely kill each other. Before you die, it is more important to do yourself well.
Media: What are the fresh head companies doing in 2020?
Liang Changlin: Competition is usually a price war, especially if a company is rich, it often does this. We still need to increase the value of the supply chain so that we can reduce customer costs. Moreover, fresh produce is a competition with thresholds, and there is no complete price war.
Media: Unlike other fresh food companies, Ding Dong now has a long list of investors in its grocery shopping market. How did it attract so many investors? Why did you choose front positions in the first place? What do you think of the relationship between financing and freshness?
Liang Changlin: We have adjusted our financing strategy and adjusted it once a month to accelerate the speed and efficiency of financing.
Media: Are you still fresh in nature? Many companies want to use food shopping to bring other categories and businesses.
Liang Changlin: Yes, we just do grocery shopping, and we will not expand to other categories. We do n’t do anything like buying vegetables with a mask.
Media: Now the environment is cold, why do you think it is the spring of fresh food industry?
Liang Changlin: The traditional agricultural industry is a “sad curve”. The two ends are weak, scattered, and the intermediate links are large, complicated, and inefficient. Now things are starting to change. On the one hand, China’s agriculture is now undergoing a transition period. Rural land has been reversed, and more and more large and modern agricultural enterprises have emerged, including many large well-known enterprises such as Vanke, Lenovo, Country Garden and so on. A number of new retail companies have also grown in size. With the increase in scale, they have the ability to force upstream to improve quality and service. In addition, China’s logistics technology, big data, artificial intelligence, etc.