The logic of sales equating to brand influence, along with the claim of purchasing LV at red cabbage prices, once sparked controversy regarding Chongqing's "sister service." The key lies in stimulating sales through large-scale advertising investment, even if it means losing users and traffic. However, this does not equate to brand reputation or user retention. For instance, Chen Nian reflected on the PPG model during the early stages of founding Vancl: Once PPG stopped advertising, its users would leave. Yet, at that time, few questioned Chen Nian's growth objectives, undoubtedly due to the industry's overheated effects.
However, excessively pursuing scale and unconventional growth inevitably poses significant risks. This fact was proven true. Chen Nian pointed out that to sell more products and maintain high growth rates, Vancl rapidly expanded its product categories from clothing to home goods, luggage, cosmetics, and various other items. As a result, some products unsuitable for Vancl's sales also appeared on their list, such as rice cookers, panels, and kitchen knives. "Such aggressive expansion without control is terrifying," Chen Nian reflected. He once saw a large number of mops in the warehouse, finding it an incomprehensible mistake: First, who would buy mops from Vancl? Second, delivery personnel would face significant difficulties in delivering them.
Despite being established for only four years, Vancl experienced a flood of departures. Public records showed that Xu Xiaohui (Weibo), former assistant president of E-commerce Brand Ichalk; Zhang Xiaojun, former vice president of Yougou.com (Weibo); Li Rou, former vice president of finance; Fanke Union’s original director, now founder of TuGo, Jia Shiguang; and the latest departure, Wu Sheng, who joined JD Mall as president, all left the company.
Vanke's main strategy to improve repeat purchase rates was through Vanke's social media platform, which he called last year a "very important step" for Vanke. The plan was to integrate retail, media, and internet elements into a powerful social marketing platform.
Chen Nian and Li Hongyi's management styles underwent certain adjustments. Once, Chen Nian noticed Li Hongyi always had a servant taking photos and angrily asked, "Why does every meeting have someone trailing to take photos?" Later, after seeing a pile of photo edits from RUFENGDA, Chen Nian understood this was part of their corporate culture.
Sharing to: > Related Reports: Chen Nian: E-commerce is the most superficial model in the internet. Vanke Chen Nian: A good B2C doesn't trust hearsay. Vanke Chen Nian: Now doubting e-commerce is an insult to ten years of practitioners. Weibo Recommendation | Sina Technology Official Weibo
Wu Global Entrepreneur Reporter Zhou Yebin
Chen Nian attempts to display his tense attitude to show everything is still under his control: he claims to be leisurely reading books, including recent reads like "Steve Jobs Biography" (Weibo), "Dream of Red Mansions," "War and Peace," etc. It's hard to guess his real inner thoughts, but evidently, Vanke made mistakes this year, though not as severe as outsiders imagine. "If I were to grade Vanke's performance this year, my evaluation would be passing."
But after 10 months online, Vanke Da Ren's performance clearly fell short of Chen Nian's expectations. Part of the issue stems from insufficient time; cultivating a perfect community ecosystem requires time accumulation. On the other hand, the age group attracted by communities primarily focused on photo sharing has weaker purchasing power. More directly, how much attraction can a community with direct sales goals have on users? Although some aim to make friends through Vanke Da Ren's community, without forming an incentive mechanism or compensating for self-growth costs, their enthusiasm is hard to sustain.
Li Hongyi lacks formal education but has his own systematic approach to problem-solving, excelling at identifying key conflicts. In the logistics industry, sudden incidents like fights over disputes can occur. Li Hongyi would close down all related counters within a day. "If this happened in front of me, we would consider many factors. Even educated people might not handle sudden incidents well," Chen Nian explained.
Not only does Chen Nian emphasize "immediate execution" in emails and conversations, but his personal execution ability is also strong. One night when his vehicle was restricted from driving, Chen Nian walked from the subway station to the office and noticed several employees with Vanke badges idling around during work hours. He immediately thought about the imbalance between too many monks and too little porridge, thus starting the process of layoffs across departments with given ratios.
"You can try your best, but you cannot refuse. There's no success in life, enduring means everything." This isn't just a line from Huang Xiaoming's Vanke advertisement series; it became Chen Nian's biggest reflection in 2011.
In Chen Nian's recent plans, this year was supposed to be crucial for Vanke's establishment of dominance. His goal was clear: Vanke aimed to reach an annual revenue scale of 10 billion yuan, increasing fivefold year-over-year. Chen Nian, busy expanding territories, no longer doubted the scale effect of e-commerce brands. It seemed like a response to the outside world's perception of Vanke as "cheap, low quality, and lacking brand enhancement." In the first half of the year, he stated, "Last year, I couldn't convince you with 2 billion yuan. This year, I will do 10 billion yuan. Am I still unable to convince you? I am a brand, an internet fast-fashion brand. By next year, when we reach 30 billion yuan, there will be no need to convince anyone because China hasn't yet seen such a large brand."
The most troubling issue for Chen Nian in the coming year may still be the IPO, although in the uncertain capital market, when to go public is clearly beyond Vanke's control. If choosing possible listings in today's Chinese e-commerce industry, Vanke is undoubtedly still one of the best candidates. Almost all successful entrepreneurs experience doubts alongside their growth, even global e-commerce king Amazon (Weibo) faced tough times after the dot-com bubble burst. Assuming Vanke's business model has enough vitality, this twist may ultimately be just a small test before its brilliant outbreak.
Chen Nian doesn't deny frequently adjusting executives' positions, but he points out the difference between managing Vanke Chengpin and Joyo lies in that each organizational restructuring at Joyo was a massive overhaul, leaving no stone unturned. However, in managing Vanke, the adjusted executives still have much room to continue playing roles. "My principle is, old hands do new things, new hands do old things. Many old hands stay because, first, they still have space, second, they still want to be with everyone."
In theory, Vanke Da Ren has a nearly perfect marketing ideal, and Vanke could gain several benefits from it. Firstly, the self-consumption of Vanke "Da Ren," followed by word-of-mouth marketing of Vanke products within their social circles, resulting in transactions where Vanke offers commissions ranging from 4% to 14% of the product selling price. From the initial plan of Vanke Da Ren's "1 billion bonus scheme," it's evident Chen Nian had high hopes for this marketing model: according to his total planning, the annual sales brought by Vanke Da Ren would reach several billion yuan.
Among the indispensable characters, Vanke Chengpin (Weibo) undoubtedly stands out. This company, founded by Chen Nian (Weibo), one of the original founders of Joyo.com, in 2007, received support from venture capitalists totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Within just four years, it ranked among China's top e-commerce companies with billions of yuan in revenue, becoming a classic case of successful brand marketing in recent years. Even though China's internet sector isn't short of rapid success stories, Vanke's rise remains one of the brightest highlights in China's e-commerce boom era.
Despite constant skepticism, Vanke still achieved notable results this year. For example, Vanke's flannel shirts and lightweight down jackets became best-sellers. Li Yuchun's "Teacher 1984" advertisement drove the rapid sell-out of that series' T-shirts. Chen Nian also revealed that internal discussions at Vanke no longer focus on the differences between online and offline, but rather on what markets are more suitable for Vanke's development. As a fashion and service brand, how to run faster is the key question.
Of course, Chen Nian sometimes gives suggestions to the younger generation's methods. In his view, sometimes slightly adjusting ways and perspectives can yield better results. Previously, Chen Nian didn't understand why Vanke's socks sold poorly. Logically, demand should be substantial in this area. He told those responsible for this business, "I hope you respect the opinions of young colleagues. Don't randomly match sock colors; try using the same color instead." As a result, socks became the second-highest selling product in Vanke's spring collection this year.
Investors also strongly support Vanke. "Currently, Vanke is the best-performing and highest-valued company among the enterprises invested by Sequoia Capital," said Tong Shihao, managing director of Sequoia Capital. Vanke's actual performance far exceeds expectations, and accusations of huge losses are unfounded rumors. Board member Yang Dong of SoftBank Capital noted that Vanke is not entirely equivalent to retail-type e-commerce enterprises like JD.com but is a brand company. Up to now, Vanke has successfully built its "national fashion" brand image through advertising marketing.
Over the past few years, China's e-commerce industry has been like a high-speed train traveling through mountain tunnels, roaring ahead amidst alternating light and darkness. This once-mysterious industry has proven its bright future with unprecedented explosive growth, but it has also not lacked gray areas and controversies. If writing the grand commercial history interwoven with light and shadow, hope and dreams, PPG's collapse, Taobao's success, Mecox Lane and Dangdang's (Weibo) subsequent listings, the outbreak of group buying and luxury e-commerce, JD.com's (Weibo) massive financing, will all be key events woven into this narrative.
During this process, Vanke needs to continuously adjust, but the inventory costs incurred will likely be enormous. Therefore, before expanding from initially only offering shirts to over 100,000 SKU, Vanke realized the importance of simplifying product offerings, which obviously requires a process. For certain categories, Vanke needs further observation, such as cosmetics.
Within Vanke, below the president are senior vice presidents and vice presidents, followed by assistant presidents, senior directors, and deputy general managers at the same level, then directors, assistant directors, senior assistants, managers, and supervisors. "E-commerce was too hot last year, from the second half to this year. So hot that even manager-level personnel at Vanke were written about in the news. If the team is from Vanke, like the customer management team from Vanke's marketing department starting a business, many VCs would seek them out, let alone directors or vice presidents. Members of the president's office are even more sought after; they do everything."
As a premium asset of Vanke, Ruifengda's team sometimes needs to meet with Vanke and the company's investors. When asked, "How do you guys do it? How are the personnel?", Li Hongyi would pull an employee beside him, "He studied abroad in the UK." One of this overseas returnee's tasks is to create PPTs for Ruifengda, hence Ruifengda's PPTs are exceptionally beautiful.
Behind executive resignations
The story of Li Hongyi and Ruifengda vividly reflects Vanke's internal corporate culture.
Chen Nian introduced more standardized management to Ruifengda. When he suggested that delivery personnel print business cards, the Ruifengda team didn't understand. "This could harm the relationship between delivery personnel and users. No logistics company has done this before. But print them anyway; it's not expensive." Chen Nian recalled. Now, the entire Ruifengda team is very enthusiastic about printing business cards.
High Li Hongyi and Ruifengda's story effectively reflect Vanke's internal corporate culture.
Chen Nian injects more standardized guidance into Ruifengda. When he instructed Ruifengda's delivery personnel to print business cards, the Ruifengda team was quite puzzled. "This might affect the relationship between delivery personnel and users. No logistics company has ever done this before. But print them anyway; it's not that costly." Chen Nian recalled. Now, the entire Ruifengda team is very keen on printing business cards.
Price of Expansion
This was an exaggerated crisis? Currently, there is no clear conclusion. However, an obvious fact is that since the failure of 8848 and eChina over a decade ago, apart from Jack Ma's Taobao model, Chinese e-commerce companies have yet to present convincing profitable models. Even the most representative JD.com and Vanke in the past two years have not provided clear answers on how to step out of a robust growth curve and摆脱对外部资金的依赖路径，仍没有给出明显的答案。在中国电子商务行业前景看好但过于急躁的大背景下，如果能由凡客开始推动电商企业的深度思考，或许并非坏事。
尽管凡客和陈年并未披露过详细的经营数据，也未对市场猜测作出过具体回应，但在凡客关闭上市过程后，其招股说明书在投行圈子中流传甚广。据知情者告诉《环球企业家》，招股书显示凡客的运营状态较为健康，并不存在外界传言的资金链断裂情况，“淡马锡和中信等投资方肯定经过详细的审计和核查，假如凡客真的有那么多问题，早就被发现了。”
无论事实真相究竟如何，这都是凡客成立以来最艰难的时刻。尽管从今年上半年以来，凡客都以处于上市静默期为由拒绝了大部分外界的探询，但这次陈年不能再回避。“我是最喜欢掌握节奏的，不让一件事情随着我完全陷入泥潭，也不让一件事情把我拖垮。一件事情稍微有点风吹草动，我一定先整理清楚。”12月初，陈年在一次饭局上向《环球企业家》等媒体如此表态。
陈年的管理有很多个人风格。作为一名曾经的文字工作者，陈年会让犯错的下属写书面检讨，诉诸文字形式，这一点让下属很紧张。平常，陈年回复的电子邮件会有很多成语，如“摧枯拉朽”等，有时候一些接到邮件的员工还得跟其他员工打听一些字句到底啥意思。
虽然凡客和陈年并未披露过具体的经营数据，也未对市场猜测作出过具体回应，但可以确定的是，凡客仍在解决的问题包括如何提高客单价和用户复购率。
过去凡客的明星产品多为衬衣、T恤等基本款产品，凡客内部的设计团队会先将自己设计的衣物用内部生产线生产一批，投放到平台上看市场反应。如果市场反响好，马上让代工厂做一大批放在仓库里。但基本款的价格一般不高，比如29元T恤，在一定程度上拖低了凡客的客单价。如果要冲高销售额，推出更高价格的产品无疑是办法之一，但凡客在此同时考虑如何将用户需求和库存压力匹配，否则必定导致大量的高额库存积压。
陈年列举了如风达总经理李红义的换岗来解释自己的意图。2008年调整李红义时，陈年就找他谈了一分钟，“你上海库房被偷了。你别管库房了，去弄个快递公司吧。”后来站在陈年面前的李红义脸立即就绿了，一句话也没说就出去了，后来就有了如今风生水起的如风达。
陈年坦承公司经历了多次调整，只要一出问题就调整，人调整得快换得快，很残酷。为什么我拿李红义举例子？因为他现在牛了，血泪史都是光荣史了，还有些人还在发愤图强，你要老去揭伤疤没什么意思，我们总是用最大的善意，来看待自己的干预。”
“电商做物流方面，凡客和京东的覆盖面是最广的。在中国，做物流并不是简单的事情。很多物流公司在国内的三四线城市，这其实很麻烦。凡客能够在500多个城市和地区支持货到付款，挺不容易的。”业内人士告诉《环球企业家》，“陈年做卓越网出身，他很早就认识到物流的重要性。陈年选择李红义，也显示他的识人用人能力。”
作为凡客的一大优质资产，如风达如今已经成为电商行业的标杆性企业。如今不仅为凡客提供物流服务，同时也为招商银行、优衣库等电商提供物流配送服务。
但做如风达并不易如反掌，李红义也有着自己的辛酸。创办如风达时，陈年给了李10万元，到第三个月，工资都发不出来了，向总部申请5万的批条又杳无音信。“如果这样的故事发生在你面前，你也会说陈年怎么这么好呢？”陈年说道，“中国上海库房被偷小事一桩，但是我们深入调查之后，发现问题是他自以为是的家族管理模式。这说明他的管理出了问题。他此后用三年时间证明了自己。”
最让陈年惊奇的一个李红义节费成原的话。“李红义对着员工大声地说‘我跟大家说，为了节约成本，配送员的提成每单加一元，自己说好不好？’，然后下面的人异口同声地说‘好’。我当时看录像就震惊了，加钱是这样加上去的。”慢慢地，陈年也就尊重李红义的处理方式。
但在具体业务上，陈年也并非一意孤行。年初一个10岁的用户对陈年的刺激很深。那小孩跟陈年聊自己喜欢的帆布鞋的图案，并详细解释具体的图案意义。“我也得承认自己老了，现在我们的设计团队也越来越年轻化。”陈年说。
高管离职成为引爆凡客危机的关键因素之一。其中原因除了凡客推迟上市的预测外，陈年个人的管理能力也因此受到质疑。
元老们纷纷离开陈年是因为股份太少或者个人反目？陈年对此予以否定，他认为每个离开的人都在各自岗位做出过贡献，离职各有原因，都会索取祝福，但如果过于炒作这些人的离职对凡客并不公平。
被种种负面消息环绕的凡客诚品看起来仍能挺过这一轮电商的寒冬。陈年从中悟到了什么？