Pinduoduo is so popular, is it because everyone is out of money?

From: WeChat Official Account "Whisper Whisper".

Hello, everyone.

Not long ago, when Pinduoduo's market value surpassed Alibaba, Whisper wrote a short reflection, never expected the top spot in China's internet e-commerce to change hands so quickly.

Today, looking at the comments section, I found many people saying:

Pinduoduo's popularity is because everyone is broke, leading to a downgrade in consumption.

I've been using Pinduoduo for so many years, and now I feel awkward, did I downgrade? How come I didn't know?

I feel that I use Pinduoduo purely because the products there are cost-effective, it has nothing to do with downgrading or not.

When I'm broke, I use Pinduoduo, and when I have money, I still use Pinduoduo, right?

I buy my cat food, digital products, lighting equipment for photography, household appliances, consumables, beverages, and some daily necessities all from Pinduoduo.

I used to like a shopping guide app, but gradually stopped using it because I found a situation that left me speechless:

Buying laundry detergent or mineral water, things that are not worth much in themselves, but you have to collect coupons, smash golden eggs, wait for flash sales, meet the minimum order amount, or hoard goods like five kilograms, and in the end, they sit unused for two years.

Bro, you're buying something worth fifty bucks including shipping, and you want me to solve a math problem for you??? How much are you really saving me???

Sometimes it's not just about being cheap, it's about convenience, you can feel it once you use it, from searching to placing an order, Pinduoduo has the shortest and simplest interface, with the least fancy stuff on the page, one-click ordering, no need to fill in the address or choose a payment method, one-click smooth checkout.

Secondly, if you're not satisfied with your purchase, just return it, the seller won't hassle you. Once I had a long blackish grape at a bathhouse, seedless and very sweet. I asked and was told it's called "Black Finger." So, I searched and bought some on PDD.

When it arrived, I found out it wasn't as tasty as the one at the bathhouse. The skin was thicker. I planned to share it with my colleagues, but was advised against it.

So, holding this big bunch of grapes that I only took two bites of, I was torn. The skin wasn't sweet. How do I go about after-sales service?

I've already eaten some, returning it might not be appropriate. How should fresh produce be packaged? And how can I prove these grapes aren't sweet enough? A photo won't show if they're sweet or not. Do I need a sugar content tester? Those are quite expensive.

After much thought, I plucked up the courage and complained to PDD about the grapes not being sweet.

To my surprise, the seller promptly refunded me and even sent me an emoji pack.

PDD even included a voucher.

From now on, I can shop on PDD with peace of mind!

To confirm if this was an isolated case, I asked my company colleagues.

The first one I asked was our business colleague, Tian Yang, a very delicate young lady, whose usual social media posts have this vibe:

Curious, I asked if she shops on PDD. She replied:

I saw: 99 items awaiting delivery!

! Image

What can she buy so much of? I can't even imagine.

Until I saw her Pinduoduo (PDD) homepage.

First of all, she now buys cosmetics all from PDD.

Even the accessories in the car are purchased from PDD.

Shampoos and shower gels are also stocked up from PDD.

Does she also buy clothes and such from PDD? The answer is: yes.

Even small pieces of furniture are bought from PDD, like this dressing table she bought from PDD.

And here's the cat villa she bought from PDD👇🏻

PDD has covered our business beauty from head to toe, most of the money she earns goes to PDD. (And her cat 🐱)

I asked another colleague at the company, Assistant Wu Wu.

Wu Wu is a tall and big boy, who likes playing games, drinking, and usually jokes around. I found out he is a gourmet, knowing all the best dishes in every restaurant around.

This sophisticated Boy, I asked him if he uses PDD?

He said he often buys alcohol on PDD.

At first, he wanted to save ten yuan, then ended up spending tens of thousands of yuan 😭.

What shocked me even more is that Wu Wu actually buys vinyl records on PDD!

The vinyl records he bought on PDD are more than half the price I saw in the store.

These are the vinyl records in Wu Wu's home, many of which were bought on PDD.

Is it only us young people who love using PDD? I was a bit skeptical, so I asked our company's Qian Jie. Qian Jie is from the 80s (not implying that Qian Jie is not young!)

Qian Jie's child just started school, she is one life stage ahead of me!

I asked Qian Jie what she bought on PDD, and she sent me a screenshot that startled me.

Qian Jie actually bought a human-powered tricycle on PDD...

The key is that it was later sold off, sold for 400...

The heartwarming story behind Xiaodianlu.

After interviewing this group of people, I chatted with a friend who works in private equity in Shenzhen, and we also talked about the rise of Pinduoduo. He mentioned a set of statistics to me that I found very interesting.

In November, the national consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.5% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month. Many people lamented that everyone was not spending money.

But are people really not spending money?

In November, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the country reached 4.2505 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.1% year-on-year.

This indicates that people are still spending money, and even more frequently, it's not that they are not spending money, but rather they are pursuing value for money, not willing to be taken advantage of.

Now everyone is re-evaluating their consumption, not easily paying for premium.

It's about being able to buy expensive things, but not overpaying.

So why is Pinduoduo so popular? It's very simple, it's just about putting consumers first, meeting their needs, that's all.