Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
$3,699! A very conscionable price! They would start to accept advanced orders of the product on the Lantern Festival, which was the 23rd of the month. Customers who placed pre-orders on that day would enjoy a discount of $300! Which meant that it was $3,399! It only cost $3,399 to bring a “Wa-wah robot” back home… the promotional price only lasted one day.
This price was finally set after an intensive round of discussions and research. Originally, Chen Jin had wanted to set a price of $3,299 – meaning that he would earn around $800 for each robot sold. But, he realized that it was not practical, as the government charged a production tax of 3%. This had caused the production costs to increase by $100.
With the additional considerations of building a better after-sales service system, the per unit cost had to be increase by another $300. Hence, the final price was set at $3,699.
There were two reasons for the promotion on the 23rd. First, it would raise the attractiveness of the product and increase its sales volume. This would make the product an instant hit! Secondly, it was to draw in droves of fans by improving the relationship with the netizens who liked Wa-wah and had been paying attention to it. In short, no matter if it was $3,699 or $3,399 after discount, the selling price of the “Wa-wah robot” could be described as honest and sincere. Its performance-to-price ratio was much higher!
The netizens’ response was, of course, extremely enthusiastic!
“Honest, this is a very honest price. I can feel the deep sense of sincerity.”
“One phrase to describe this: An honest and kind pricing touches the heart of many! Oh, I’ll add a few more words too: Its advanced technology makes its performance-to-price ratio unbeatable!”
“I’ve not seen a product like this in a long time. Its technology is so much more advanced than its competitors, yet its pricing is similar to them. I can predict that this industry will experience a huge rise of sale in the near future.”
“There’s nothing else to be said. In terms of value for money, it’s the champion!”
“I’ll wait for the Lantern Festival, then I’ll rush to buy. I hope I can get one.”
“To the user above: all who pre-order on the 23rd will enjoy a $300 discount. There’s no need to rush.”
“Who said that there’s no rush? Didn’t you see what was written on the second publicity poster? There’s only ready stock of 500,000 units for the first batch of sales. With this little stock, can you get one if you don’t rush to buy once they are open for pre-orders?”
“Damn! I wouldn’t have notice that if you didn’t mention it. This company uses hunger marketing too? Seems like I’ll have to stay up late waiting for pre-orders to start.”
“My wife is a bum; she’s been throwing tantrums about wanting to buy a “Wa-wah” robot. I’ll have to stay up late to make sure that I can get one.”
…
Time flew by. It was the night of the 22nd in the blink of an eye. There was only a few hours left until pre-orders of the “Wa-wah robot” started. Everyone had prepared their alarms and were waiting with bated breath for the moment when sales would begin.
…
Yan Mei Ling was 42 years old. She was a middle-aged lady who took great care of her looks. In addition to being a mother of two children, she was also a full-time housewife who was always busy doing household chores. Laundry, cooking, taking care of her children, keeping the house clean… there was hardly a time when she could rest.
Her husband was a gold collar worker with an annual salary in the millions. He was also a “sunshine man” who was very caring and considerate towards her. Sometimes, he would help her with the housework too. She had such a happy, complete, and affluent family. Theoretically, there was nothing else that she could want.
Even so, Yan Mei Ling did not live a very happy life. She was diagnosed with mild depression. She had frequently raised this to her husband, and told him that she wanted to find some work outside; she did not want to be full-time housewife. After more than a decade as a full-time housewife, she found life dry as dust. Her body and mind felt too exhausted.
The countless trivial minutiae of life made her feel like a robot — mechanical and monotonous. She had not experienced happiness in a long time; even the most simple forms of happiness. Therefore, Yan Mei Ling wanted to free herself from this kind of life by changing her environment and living for herself. But, for people of their social status, their children’s education was far more important than the happiness of the couple.
That was especially true during this crucial time. Their older son was about to graduate from middle to high school, and their younger daughter from elementary to middle school. All the more reason why Yan Mei Ling could not go to work. She had to keep a strict eye on their studies and pay attention to their movements at all times.
Getting a nanny to take care of them at home was not the solution either. She would have the cultural qualities of the lower class which would cause Yan Mei Ling to worry. It would be far better for Yan Mei Ling to take care of them herself. Hence, her husband did not support her getting a job.
But Yan Mei Ling was not happy leading this kind of life! Her husband had comforted and persuaded her several times, and she barely kept herself from going out to find a job. But, she smiled less often and her depression showed signs of getting worse.
Now, what should she do?
“Wa-wah the cleaning robot will let you live a more wonderful life!”
Yan Mei Ling’s husband was shopping for a present for her on Taobao to make her feel better. By chance, he came upon this advertisement on the landing page. His eyes brightened and he clicked on the ad. After watching the product’s introductory videos, he exclaimed excitedly, “My house has an area of 260 square meters. It requires a huge amount of cleaning and my wife frequently complains that it’s very tiring to mop the floor. Wouldn’t it be great if I could buy a “Wa-wah robot” for her to reduce her burden so that she has more time to rest? The robot even has a silly mode. If the silly mode was switched on to cajole her, wouldn’t she smile more? I’ve decided! I have to buy a “Wa-wah robot.” It will be my wife’s capable assistant and she will be able to experience more of the good times in life!” Born from his love for his wife, he had become a member of the army of people waiting to rush in to buy the robot!
Time flew by. At 11:59pm, once more, he refreshed the mobile page on his phone. The red purchase button appeared and he immediately clicked on it!
The page was loading…..
It froze for a slight moment, but still successfully loaded the following page where he could pay for his order.
“Yay! I’ve got it!” He waved his fist in triumph and stood up excitedly.
“Husband, it’s so late. Why aren’t you sleeping?” Yan Mei Ling, who was wearing a silk nightgown, walked over and frowned. “The children are sleeping. You’re so noisy, what if you wake them up?”
“Ok, ok. Wife, I’ve got this, baby. I can give you a surprise after a few days. It’ll make you feel better.”
She asked curiously, “What surprise?”
Acting mysterious, her husband only smirked. “You’ll know when the time comes.”
…
At 12:05am of the 23rd, the most intensive and competitive wave of panic buying was now over. The customers who wanted to buy a “Wa-wah robot” most urgently had basically gotten the satisfactory results that they were hoping for.
In a worker’s dormitory, turning to the side, Li Xiao Lan asked the woman lying on the bed, “Su Yun, did you get one? I got one.”
Huddling under the covers, Su Yun said in a muffled voice, “I got it. It’s too bad that its limited to one unit per person. If not, I would get another one.”
Li Xiao Lan was rather confused. “Say, Su Yun, this dorm is only 20 square meters. What would you do with two “Wa-wah robots”? Isn’t one enough? You actually want to buy another one? Why do you want so many robots?”
“It’s to give it as a gift, of course.”
Su Yun explained, “I keep one for my own use, and give away the other one”.
“To who?”
“Manager He. During the past year, she helped me a lot and taught me many things. Tomorrow (strictly speaking, it’s today), is the Lantern Festival holiday. I plan to go to her home to offer my rather late lunar new year greetings and thank her for nurturing me. When the “Wa-wah robot” arrives, I’ll give it to Manager He.”
Li Xiao Lan reminded, “Gift? According to the Eight Provisions, subordinates are not allowed to give presents to their superiors. Their gifts cannot be more than $500. Su Yun, it’s ok to give small gifts, but you have to keep in mind the laws.”
“Xiao Lan, you’re not flexible at all. The “Wa-wah robot” is a very good product that many people will want to buy when the time comes. Manager He will definitely want to get one when I introduce the functions of the robot to her. At that time, she will give me the money and I will give her the robot. This is the same as helping her to do her purchase. Why would it be against the laws?” Su Yun was certain that, with the limited stock of the “Wa-wah robot”, all 500,000 units would be sold in no time. Nobody knew when the next batch would hit the shelves. She could make use of this gap and earn a favourable impression from Manager He.
Li Xiao Lan praised her profusely. “Yes, Su Yun, that’ll work. You’re really getting smarter. You’ll have a bright future.”
…
At Xing Hai Technologies, in the sales department at the deep of night, the higher-ups of the company were not sleeping. They were closely monitoring the background sales data shown on their computer screens.
“Chief Chen, the sales volume has exceeded 200,000 units in five minutes. The situation is very ideal!”
“30 minutes have passed. The current sales volume is 350,000 units. The rate of increase has started to slow down.”
“450,000 units in one hour. A sudden wave of customers have come to grab more units.”
“Sales volume is still increasing rapidly, 500,000 units have all been sold! It has all been sold in only one hour and 20 minutes! This is too awesome!”
“Yay! This is great! It’s awesome!”
“We’ve succeeded! The company’s first product has succeeded!”
“If not for insufficient ready stock, the sales volume on its first day might have reached one million!”
“Hurray Xing Hai, Hurray Chief Chen!”
“Our Xing Hai company will be able to take off very soon!”
The higher-ups and the department staff were hugging each other as they jumped and shouted in joy. Right now, everyone in Xing Hai Technologies was extremely happy!