Even if you've never used Pinduoduo, you've likely seen its name multiple times in the media or in WeChat groups and Moments recently. This e-commerce platform, where '300 million people are shopping together,' has overnight become a media darling with tens of millions of traffic, alongside Douyin. For this rustic shopping platform full of 9.9-yuan free-shipping items, people inside the Fifth Ring Road first said they didn't understand or look down on it, but the world has always been about winners and losers. As its performance soared, Pinduoduo expanded in media coverage and was crowned as the third pole of e-commerce, making Taobao silent, JD crying, and Tencent's mouth curling up. Many people like to compare Pinduoduo's growth path with Kuaishou and Toutiao, but if we want a fitting analogy, Pinduoduo's treatment in the media circle can be aptly compared to Zhao Liying in the internet world or Xiaomi phones in e-commerce—a motivational story in the world of perfect essays. (Sina) The script of a comeback story is always the old three-act structure: initially unwelcome, then after achieving results, it vividly demonstrates 'Yesterday you couldn't be bothered with me, today you can't afford me.' Once glory is bestowed, fans throw fruits and carts, so Zhao Liying became one of the Four Young Actresses, and Pinduoduo, along with Kuaishou and Qutoutiao, is called the 'Three Giants of Channel Downgrade.' However, just as press releases can't hide Zhao Liying's acting shortcomings and limited range, the media's overwhelming praise doesn't mean Pinduoduo's model is flawless and can run blindly. Is it a web celebrity or a web scam? We've activated the paid analysis mode. Pinduoduo's Advance The internet has never lacked phenomenal products, but Pinduoduo's rise is surprising not only for its grassroots nature but also because it's in the e-commerce field, which is considered almost no opportunity for entrepreneurs. Multiple data sources show that Pinduoduo's monthly GMV reached 40 billion yuan at the beginning of this year, while at the same time last year, its monthly GMV was only 2 billion yuan.******** For comparison, JD.com, which has been around for 14 years, had a monthly GMV of only 110 billion yuan last year. That means Pinduoduo took less than three years to catch up to nearly half the scale of China's second-largest e-commerce platform. On WeChat mini-programs, Pinduoduo's cumulative active users have overwhelmingly surpassed JD and Vipshop, the other two Tencent-affiliated e-commerce platforms. Many white-collar workers in first- and second-tier cities, or as Huang Zheng puts it, 'people inside the Fifth Ring Road,' don't understand Pinduoduo, but their parents might send various group-buying links in WeChat groups every day, and occasionally complain to their children that the apples bought for 10 yuan were half rotten, but next time they'll still buy 8 jin of mangoes for 15 yuan from Pinduoduo. Last November, when I wrote 'It's said that 200 million people are using Pinduoduo, are you the one who bought cheap fruit and complained about it?', Pinduoduo's slogan was 'The app used by 200 million people,' but in less than half a year, it changed to '300 million people are shopping together.' According to this, about one in four Chinese people uses Pinduoduo; if you don't shop, you're not Chinese. Official data may be exaggerated, but based on penetration rates and monthly active users from third-party institutions, Pinduoduo is indeed capable. 'You can say I'm low-end, say I'm primitive, but you can't ignore me.' Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng summarized it accurately. But do outstanding performance and media hype mean Pinduoduo is excellent? Adhering to the attitude that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, we conducted a sample survey on Pinduoduo. Review: Cheap Goods Are Hard to Find In the previous 'Cold Review,' we mentioned that many media outlets appear to cheer for Douyin but might not even have a Douyin account; similarly, for Pinduoduo, in an era where everyone in office buildings competes to be the invisible poor, those media teachers who praise it, since they can afford 39.9-yuan Chilean grapes (the Chanel of grapes), how many would actually buy things on Pinduoduo? But we are different; ifanr can't afford a 39.9-yuan box of grapes. Fortunately, Pinduoduo's experience threshold is low, so we generously sampled 6 items for a 'consumption downgrade':
- 15 kiwifruits with free shipping for 15 yuan
- T-shirt with free shipping for 9.9 yuan
- Electronic scale with free shipping for 29 yuan
- 4000mAh power bank with free shipping for 29 yuan
- 2 boxes of Tieguanyin tea with free shipping for 7.8 yuan
- USB snake-shaped mini fan with free shipping for 5.8 yuan I have to admit, the price of kiwifruit really shocked me, and they were the more precious golden fruit. The nearby Baiguoyuan, which sells New Zealand kiwifruit at 10 yuan each, bowed its head in shame. Initially, I said, 'Even if I lose this money, or it's taken by robbers to help the poor, I don't want to waste it on Pinduoduo.' But when the fruit arrived, there was no legendary 'half rotten' phenomenon; they were in good condition. After tasting, everyone said, hehehe, it's actually a bit tasty. The 9.9-yuan T-shirt: you can't lose money or be cheated. Although the quality is average, the emoji on it saying 'I love studying, studying makes me happy' made the whole office laugh. I sincerely say, yes, that's me. The real human test showed that the electronic scale is quite accurate. Since girls usually say 'inaccurate,' we excluded that unscientific factor and put a water barrel on the scale; the accurate numbers proved it earns its 29 yuan. However, the USB mini fan is a bit like a disposable item. On first use, the fan spun cutely, but the next day the blades were lazy, performing a freeze-frame like a PPT. You can feel it: To be honest, if I hadn't bought the power bank and tea, this article would have been titled 'After Buying a Few Things on Pinduoduo, I Think Some People Have Wronged It!' (or maybe I'd be too disappointed to write it). The 4000mAh power bank has dual output, supports solar charging, and even the packaging is minimalist. Although it's so simple that there's no manufacturer, I risked sacrificing a phone to test it, and it did charge the phone. Friendly reminder: Pinduoduo also has a 50000mAh power bank for 3.3 yuan, an outrageous price, but I value my life and didn't buy it. In comparison, the Tieguanyin is a bit better. Although it has no production date or manufacturer, it at least has a QS food production license. However, we couldn't verify the certificate number on the official website of the State Food and Drug Administration because we didn't have the skills. As for the taste, recall the tea water used to rinse cups at Guangdong food stalls before meals. At 7.8 yuan for two boxes, could this be the legendary (notorious) 'second-hand tea'? Farewell. My survival instinct is too strong, limiting my desire to use the power bank and tea. For some products, I not only dare not buy them but also advise other buyers to turn back, such as: Penis enlarger—a medical device. If used as the title suggests, you might hate Pinduoduo for life. Experienced drivers know what I mean; newcomers can Baidu it. I won't press the accelerator here. Breast enhancement cream—a popular product under the 'beauty' category, priced at 8 or 9 yuan, very 'Pinduoduo.' But Dr. Dingxiang bluntly said that if you want to save the country fabric, there's basically no other way than breast augmentation surgery. If a few yuan could take you from A to C, then there's no B in your chest. Underarm odor spray that claims to eradicate hereditary odor—it can help you date, but not marry. The only real solution is surgery. Counterfeit goods are everywhere, and knockoffs are also common. The 'Mijia New Product USB drive' you see is actually a USB drive from a brand called 'Mijia New Product.' Similarly, there's the so-called 'Xiaomi 2 New Product m2' smart bracelet, 100 yuan cheaper than the official one, and 'Xiaomi Cloud TV'... Xiaomi seems to be favored by counterfeit manufacturers. Of course, how could counterfeiting spare Apple? On Pinduoduo, you can find a Macbook Pro with the discontinued T7300 processor for only 1200 yuan, a 349-yuan 'Apple-style' smart watch... I won't comment on the 4-5 thousand yuan iPhone X here. There are also memory cards named Samsung but actually 'SHANMARLL,' diapers named 'Pampers' but actually 'Paonmepors,' and various LV, Gucci, Prada items at prices so low they make you question life. Pinduoduo allows these merchants who play edge balls, play word games, or even blatantly sell counterfeit goods to sell on the platform and even drives traffic to them. This reminds me of the rural convenience stores exposed at this year's '315 Gala' that sold counterfeit foods like 'Xiaoge Nuts' and 'Liuqian Walnuts.' There's no essential difference between the two. Huang Zheng said, 'There may be no platform in China that works harder than us to fight counterfeits.' Then we can only say that the revolution has not yet succeeded, and Pinduoduo still needs to work hard. But Huang Zheng probably has a bad memory. Last year, when he was interviewed by the media about merchants selling fake goods on the platform, he said, 'We can't control it': 'For the platform, it's hard to set a keyword list. If it's this brand, every item that comes out, I have to make it different from others. Where do we draw the line? What if I'm a raccoon?' Consumption upgrade? Or first upgrade quality? Not long ago, Pinduoduo showed the 'Pinduoduo factory' where their 'Pin Brand' is supported, proving from the supply chain side that 'cheap goods can be good.' They said that the tissue produced by Zhihu and Kexinrou, although not as good as big brands, is better than products of dubious origin from small stores. However, using one or two model students to prove the whole class's grades are excellent is a bit of a hasty generalization and a concept swap. Huang Zheng said they are doing 'letting the right people buy the right things in the right scenarios,' and their understanding of cost-effectiveness is 'always beyond consumer expectations.' However, what we see is a fan that can't spin after one use, power banks and tea with questionable safety, anti-science beauty products... This is indeed 'beyond expectations.' We now see counterfeit products as jokes and memes, but we ignore the harm of unscrupulous manufacturers. For example, the counterfeit 'Pampers' diapers mentioned earlier caused severe allergic reactions in several newborns, including buttock rot and persistent odor. Now on Pinduoduo, this counterfeit product is still on sale normally. Readers of this article might mock these mothers for being careless enough to buy baby products on Pinduoduo, but that obviously can't be an excuse for Pinduoduo. In third- and fourth-tier cities, including rural areas, spending power is indeed limited. Even in first-tier cities, most people are price-sensitive. But because I'm poor, selling me counterfeit and shoddy goods is wrong, no matter how cheap, even if it's free. And calling it 'consumption upgrade' is even more detestable. Consumption upgrade is not about letting Shanghai people live like Parisians, but about letting people in Anqing, Anhui, have kitchen paper and good fruit to eat. — Huang Zheng That's true, but people in Anqing, Anhui, shouldn't have to improve their quality of life with substandard kitchen paper and half-rotten fruit, right? Pinduoduo positions itself as the ultimate benchmark of Costco in the US, but it should be known that Costco aims to provide high-quality goods at the lowest possible prices. At this stage, most of Pinduoduo's products are only low-priced, with no quality at all. Before talking about consumption upgrade, it should first pass the quality gate. Summary Some people think that the problems Pinduoduo faces now, including fakes, cheapness, and counterfeits, are all pitfalls Taobao has stepped in. The 15-year-old Taobao looks at Pinduoduo and sees its own past self. Even though Tmall exists today and people no longer think Taobao is synonymous with cheapness, fakes are still Alibaba's lingering heartache. Interestingly, Alibaba pointed out in this year's 'Annual Intellectual Property Protection Report' that as its anti-counterfeiting efforts gradually take effect, 'counterfeit gangs have begun to shift to WeChat business and Pinduoduo.' Although this statement from Alibaba may not be convincing, the proliferation of counterfeit and shoddy goods on Pinduoduo is an obvious fact. Now Pinduoduo's development momentum shows no signs of slowing down, and as the platform expands, the hidden dangers of fakes and shoddy goods will also grow. Since Huang Zheng believes that Alibaba has already taken many detours for China's e-commerce industry in the past decade, and Pinduoduo can learn from it, it should absorb Taobao's lessons and nip problems in the bud, rather than blindly emphasizing 'I'm cheap, so I'm right.' Pinduoduo was born from the grassroots and fears nothing, but to reach the status of Alibaba and JD, beautiful data alone is far from enough. Solving the fake goods problem is an important prerequisite for the platform's long-term development. After writing the article, I suddenly heard the familiar cries from childhood: 'A yuan can't buy you loss or deception,' 'After decades of reform and opening up, who still lacks a few yuan?' Huang He ran away with his sister-in-law. Pinduoduo, you must live up to expectations! Source: ifanr -END-