Click "Read Original" for details With the pandemic at the beginning of this year, O2O home delivery platforms achieved very good growth in the first half of the year. More and more brand manufacturers have begun to lay out new retail, cooperating directly with platforms or customers, strengthening investments to achieve bright sales growth on the "new track," competing for market share while making up for offline channel losses caused by the pandemic. At the same time, after three years of market competition, O2O platforms have gradually expanded market coverage while iterating their "playbooks," i.e., the activity mechanisms and cooperation requirements for regular promotions and holiday sales. In the process of exploring these "playbooks," platforms have gradually found the most effective means for their consumers. Of course, these means have become more aggressive as competition intensifies. Today, let's take stock of the main playbooks of each O2O platform and how brand manufacturers should actively and effectively participate according to their own situations to obtain reasonable sales returns. -01- There are many activities on the platforms, some named after holidays, some after retailers, and some after brands. The various naming conventions can be confusing for consumers and brands alike. Classified by the planner, they can be divided into:
1. Activities planned by retailers in cooperation with the platform;
2. Activities planned by brand cooperation departments/business innovation departments (names vary, but the core function is to interface with brand manufacturers). 1. Activities planned by retailers in cooperation with the platform The foundation of the platform is cooperation with various retailers, relying on their store networks to gradually expand and deepen the platform's reach. Therefore, a considerable portion of platform resources is allocated to retailers. Promotions named after a retailer on the platform are promotional resource slots given by the platform to that retailer (as shown below: JD Daojia @ Sam's Club Double 11 event), and their coverage is limited to that customer, but they may include several categories and multiple brands. For such activities, the platform typically has an annual JBP framework plan with large retailers, including a preliminary common goal for the number of activity slots per month, traffic resources, rights and obligations, and targets. The activity mechanisms generally include store-wide discounts (coupons), flash sales, and hot products. In planning such activities, the platform generally does not interfere with the retailer's chosen activity mechanisms (as long as they comply with the platform's overall price image); the retailer decides the theme, participating categories/brands, and activity mechanisms. For brand manufacturers, the cooperation partner for these activities is the retailer. In annual and monthly cooperation plans, brands should understand the retailer's online activity calendar, formulate their own plans, selectively participate, and ensure that offline activity mechanisms are synchronized online. Brands ride on the customer's activity schedule to launch activities, and fee settlement and data acquisition are also communicated with the retailer. 2. Activities planned by brand cooperation departments/business innovation departments Activities planned by brand cooperation departments/business innovation departments are those where the brand directly communicates and plans with the platform, based on the platform's activity schedule and promotional calendar, combined with their own business situation to invest and enhance output on the platform. The following is an example of a brand's activity during the recent Double 11 period: Brand-planned activities generally cover all or key customers of the platform, and the activity mechanisms comply with the platform's merchant recruitment rules (the specific rules of each platform will be introduced below). Generally, in addition to offline activity mechanisms, full reduction, flash sales, etc., there are also mechanisms like lucky draws, brand joint/category joint activities to drive sales. An extension of brand-platform planned activities is joint promotions between brands. Platforms have opened windows to encourage brand linkage, especially for brands with cross-selling attributes, which can better utilize platform traffic, expand consumer penetration, and produce a 1+1 > 2 effect. The following is an example of joint promotion between two brands on a platform: Through cooperation with the platform, brands can not only drive sales but also gain more O2O consumer data and market information. At the same time, O2O, as an emerging business format, can also serve as a brand publicity front, helping brands better reach consumers with their messages. Typically, leading brands (TOP3) in each category will engage in JBP cooperation with the platform, which generally includes an annual activity framework, business targets, expected investment, media traffic, data exchange, etc. Through this, the annual marketing calendar is determined in advance, and corresponding KPIs are set for continuous tracking. This depends on the role each brand assigns to O2O home delivery platforms in its business structure and strategy development, and also on how the platform reasonably allocates its most precious resource—traffic. **-02- Next, let's take the Double 11 recruitment requirements of several major platforms as an entry point to see how brands can effectively participate in cooperation with platforms in terms of resource investment (including off-platform and on-platform resources). Before we start, let's popularize some basic concepts of resource slots on O2O platforms: APP Splash Screen Ad: Refers to the full-screen ad that appears when launching the APP, usually lasting 3-5 seconds, and clicking it jumps to the corresponding activity page. Splash screen ads have the largest exposure but relatively low conversion rates. Homepage Focus Image: Focus images are images that attract buyers' attention; the so-called focus is what can attract people. Usually located in the middle or top of the first screen of the APP homepage, with up to 9 images/links displayed in a carousel. Product Slot: A slot, simply put, is the display position occupied by a product, such as products shown on the first or second screen of the APP homepage. Their positions are the slots, which can be understood as advertising spaces for individual products. Generally, such high-value slots require strong promotional activities to support. Banner: Generally refers to banner ads (homepage focus images are a type of banner), as well as floating special-shaped ads, which can be clicked to jump to activity pages. After understanding some basic resource slot concepts, let's first look at Meituan Flash Shopping. In terms of off-platform resources, Meituan requires brands to have: 1. Ground promotion resources;
2. Customized communication materials released through the brand's official accounts and community channels;
3. Including but not limited to online advertising traffic purchase, outdoor LED placements, and traffic-driving activities;
4. Celebrity/IP resource authorization (e.g., variety shows, films). On-platform, Meituan will match the brand's off-platform investment with resources such as convenience store channel banners, homepage special-shaped banners, supermarket channel large floating layers, APP Push notifications, etc. The maximum number of cooperating brands allowed during the period is 20. In selecting brand partners, Meituan uses a comprehensive evaluation balancing categories + historical GMV + off-platform resource support + number of stores actively covered + promotional expense investment. Regarding promotional intensity, for platform-wide/cross-category full reduction/super coupons, Meituan requires brands to participate in the brand joint coupon mechanism of 59 yuan off 15 yuan (equivalent to 75% off), and single-brand product coupons/full reduction must be below 20% off. In the fourth quarter, the most significant change for Meituan is requiring brands to strengthen traffic-driving to Meituan in their communications, participate in livestreams, and drive traffic to livestreams. The order of brands in the main venue will also be sorted by the intensity of off-platform investment. Meituan has shifted from the relatively simple resource slot purchase + discount fees in 2019 and the first half of 2020 towards a direction of on-platform + off-platform marketing. Brands need to measure the effectiveness of off-platform traffic, and at the same time, Meituan's requirements for on-platform discount mechanism subsidies are not high. Brands should consider planning special mechanisms (e.g., limited-time flash sales) for special products (e.g., new products) based on their own characteristics. -03- Now let's look at JD Daojia, which recently listed on Nasdaq. JD Daojia has more than 26 promotional periods throughout the year, with an average of one activity period every two weeks. Based on importance, they are divided into S-level, A-level, and B-level periods. S-level periods include 415 Anniversary, 618, 1020 Home Shopping Festival, Double 11, etc. Since 2019, JD Daojia has adopted a model of seat fees (on-platform resource slot packages) + discount mechanism subsidy fees to cooperate with brands. In terms of off-platform resources, JD Daojia does not impose excessive requirements on brands; meeting some basic conditions such as promoting the activity on the brand's official WeChat and Weibo accounts is sufficient. On-platform is the main battleground for brands. JD Daojia's seat fees for each activity period are not cheap (the specific amount varies based on the importance of the period). The platform will have dedicated resource slots for brand collection theme activities (note: theme activities are given to brand collections, not a single brand), including splash screens, first focus, super brand day exclusive entrances, fission red packet banners, etc. After clicking these resource slots to enter the brand collection activity page, consumers can click on each brand's banner to receive coupons and select hot products. For the order of brand exposure during the activity period, JD Daojia uses a scoring mechanism to balance (because each brand has obtained the qualification to participate by paying the seat fee, but the specific order will affect consumer exposure and clicks), including brand GMV size, depth of brand activity mechanism, and brand fee investment amount. In terms of activity mechanisms, JD Daojia recently promotes super brand joint coupons (139 yuan off 30 yuan; requires ≥30 hot-selling SKUs), brand independent flash sales and full reduction (generally not less than 20% off), coupons, etc. Other effective ones include free shipping coupons and shopping cart recommendations. JD Daojia's on-platform resource investment threshold is relatively high. Brands need to weigh the relationship between their business volume and resource slot investment. In terms of activity mechanisms, JD Daojia's category joint coupons and single-item free shipping are effective, and brands can invest accordingly based on product sales and development strategies. -04- Finally, let's look at Taoxianda, part of Tmall's same-city retail. As a Taobao-affiliated platform, Taoxianda's recruitment plans have always been relatively complex and changeable. Since Taobao itself has overall on-platform traffic-driving publicity, Taoxianda generally does not impose excessive requirements on off-platform resources. For on-platform resources, Taoxianda does not use a resource slot sales model; instead, brands exchange "promotional investment" for corresponding promotional resource slots. Of course, correspondingly, brands need to concentrate their expenses on price concessions. Taoxianda will designate A, B, and C tier brands in each category, with corresponding discount intensity and requirements. Taking the requirements for A-tier brands in an important period as an example:
At least one half-price super coupon, covering most products, with requirements on the number of coupons issued;
Pre-purchase brand full reduction coupons;
Pre-purchase brand joint full reduction coupons, with intensity around 30% off;
At least 2 products with 50% off or buy-one-get-one-free per distribution merchant, with a certain quantity required;
At least 10 products with 30% off or below across all distribution merchants, with quantity requirements per store. At the same time, in line with digital store requirements, brands need to invest in commercial POS screens/sampling/campus store projects, etc. Requirements for B and C tier brands are correspondingly reduced. Correspondingly, when brands meet the promotional intensity and investment requirements, the resource slot configuration on the Taoxianda platform, again taking A-tier brands as an example, Taoxianda will give brands resource slots such as the big whirlwind main venue brand floor/brand wall, one-drag-two venue brand floor + hot product selection/Icon ball floating logo, deformation/search top, post-purchase full-coupon venue/pre-purchase full-coupon (limited dates)/brand joint coupon venue banner/extra brand joint coupons/livestream/card/coupon center brand hall, etc. Taoxianda will weight and score based on the brand's investment in product benefits, coupon intensity and quantity, commercial content, and on-platform/off-platform resource placements (e.g., drill ads, new media) to confirm the brand's tier. Taoxianda's approach is typical of the Taobao system: there is no resource slot purchase fee, but brands need to invest more in activity discounts. For brands, choosing the right products and balancing channel differences is key. At the same time, Taoxianda's data visibility is higher. Based on the data bank, it can reach consumers more precisely, which actually improves brand investment efficiency. Final Thoughts: Platform "playbooks" are advancing with the times, with new content emerging in each month's plans. But no matter how they change, brands should focus on effective traffic introduction and use the right activity content and the right products to carry the traffic. In addition, brands should think about how to measure the relationship between "omni-channel investment" and "omni-channel output," where the additional resources invested on platforms come from, and not lose themselves in the crazy growth wave of O2O. Clarify the development direction to have better sustained momentum for growth. Add the editor's WeChat to join the new retail O2O community for in-depth discussion and exchange.