On January 27, Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council executive meeting proposed that the so-called “C2B” is the request made by consumers, and manufacturers design consumer products and equipment accordingly. This is a real revolution: a business is no longer a single closed business, it is closely linked through the Internet and the market, and consumers flexible communication at any time. This is the trend of the times. electronic prototype development
C2B: New Business Model in the Internet Age
The Internet is undoubtedly the most dynamic and decisive factor in the various forces that affect the future business landscape. However, in the first decade of the 21st century, the Internet not only brought excitement to the managers, but also confusion and chaos. In the long tail, crowdsourcing, wikis, light companies, wet marketing, free economy, a round of new ideas bombing, in the end we should listen to? Behind these colorful new ideas, is there a big trend running through them? In our opinion, the new ideas, new models and the new company’s eruption in the past decade or so have in fact been exploring a topic that has been discussed for decades for a number of different perspectives: the business model and the organization and management model in the information age what? electronic prototype development
Based on Alibaba Group’s practice and extensive research over the past five years, we find that if the organizational model change in the information age is still in its infancy, the future shape of the business model in the information age has begun to take shape. The above exploration is the quick answer to the final answer: The manufacturer-centric B2C model in the industrial era is being replaced by the consumer-centric C2B model in the information age.
All managers must be alert: In the history of modern business development, the massive emergence of the C2B model is an unprecedented event. It is not a fleeting wave, but a massive ocean current shaping the global commercial climate. Whether this big trend can be grasped will determine who the future business leaders will be. electronic prototype development
Vertical B2C dilemma
Since 2010, the vertical B2C website was once fantastic. With the help of venture capital, with a large number of advertising investment to attract user traffic, while investing heavily to build its own logistics system, this go it alone, heavily invested, strive to scale, the path to earn the difference appears clear, but in reality contains a huge Model risk. By the second half of 2011, a lot of vertical B2C websites seem to have suddenly gone into winter. Huge billions of huge marketing costs have been drastically reduced, layoffs, fees and other initiatives are no longer rare, and some sites even went bankrupt.
The problems encountered by these enterprises have nothing to do with the good or bad of e-commerce, which is fundamentally caused by the natural defects of their own mode. Most of the vertical B2C websites are just trying to move the retail segment to the Internet. There is absolutely no understanding of the nature of e-commerce from the perspective of C2B model innovation. electronic prototype development
For consumers, vertical B2C is still provided by the standardization of the product, the basic lack of any personal satisfaction of the demand. For brands, vertical B2C did not bring any changes to their supply chain system, with no efficiency improvement. It merely changed the retail terminal from the offline store to a website.
Therefore, vertical B2C in this model, the final one can only get the traditional wholesale difference, which is far from enough to support the high marketing costs and logistics system construction costs. This business model will inevitably bring the business into trouble.
For now, the most capable to deal with the massive individual needs, and therefore the most promising future e-commerce businesses, one is gradually evolving from the retail platform to the supply chain platform business, such as Taobao, the other is to C2B model evolution of the new brand. electronic prototype development
Features of C2B mode
Corresponding to the whole system of “big production + big retail + big brand + big logistics” in the industrial era, based on the rapid development of personalized marketing, mega-network retail platform, flexible production and socialized supply chain, the C2B model has more The more solid support, the shape, characteristics, mechanisms are also more and more mature.
It is not our imagination to define the C2B model as the business model in the information age. Numerous pioneers, with imaginative innovation, have drawn the blueprint for the future:
At the front end, they either provide relatively standardized modules for consumers or engage consumers in the design and production phases; internally, they enhance the organization’s ability to personalize customized ways to serve the masses of consumers At the back end, they aggressively adjust their supply chains to make them more flexible. electronic prototype development
★ modular custom
Evo, suitable treasure, plant language and Oaks air conditioning brands, is the forerunner in the field of modular customization. He Guanbin, the founder of Evo Men’s Wear, noticed that most Chinese white-collar workers do not need complicated personalization. To this end, they split a shirt into a neckline, sleeves, version of the body, after the swing and other parts, according to the popular style in each part of the introduction of different styles for selection and combination. In addition, Evo also simplifies the complex information required for customization.
Such as custom shirt, consumers just fill in height and a few other questions about body size, and body shape in the picture to choose, IT system will be based on stored membership data, automatically generate matching accuracy of 90% of the data, This pre-order is basically completed. When the back end is connected with the supplier, Evo’s IT system will send the size and material information of each part to the supplier. After the supplier receives the order information, it can produce with the corresponding raw materials. It is now only a week to customize a shirt in Evo.
Pro suitable way and Ewo similar. Initially, the founder of the appropriate treasure Zhang Jing found a chance of personalized pillow, but did not recognize the difficulties of custom business. There was a dealer in Shaanxi who wanted to print children’s pictures onto the pillow. Now Bao immediately bought the cotton textile thermal transfer printing equipment and jet printing equipment, but the sales are not satisfactory. Suitable treasure once had more than 2000 varieties, but many varieties are actually produced only once. Workers complain about customization is too trivial, dealers are complaining that the error rate is too high. Through reflection, suitable treasure into a number of personalized filler material into a lot of standardized treatment kit accessories, for the production provided a great convenience. electronic prototype development
Today, its factory processes only a wide variety of standard parts, and workers are only responsible for raw material deployment and assembly. Compared to the previous, the workflow saved nearly 2/3 of the time. Since 2010, we have also opened the “3S quantitative measuring pillow system” for consumers to freely test the height of pillows suitable for them and the pillow products are also being sold online.
Plant language “N + 1” skin care mode is somewhat similar, it divides the skin care products into two kinds, one is the main ingredient (“1”), the other is the ingredients (“N”). There are more than 40 kinds of ingredients, the effectiveness of which are whitening, moisturizing, oil control, consumers can independently deploy the main ingredients and accessories as needed.
Air conditioning can also be customized online. With the Taobao buy platform “cost-effective”, the United Oaks launched a “custom air-conditioning to play, million people buy” activities, tens of thousands of users in 6 days, the form of votes determine the appearance of air conditioning, function, power and other characteristics . Opened the Mission 10 minutes later, it sold 1223 air conditioners, 38 hours after the opening group, a total of 10,407 units sold. electronic prototype development
★ consumer design
Still others try to attract consumers to design. By holding “Fashion T-shirt Design Competition”, the network clothing brand seven grid has attracted about 2,000 consumers, nearly 10,000 entries. In the crowd, both professional fashion designers, but also graffiti enthusiasts, more or brand of ordinary fans. The final winning works, seven princess put it into production, sales of good works in two months, sales of up to a thousand pieces. Similarly, in the United States, Threadless provides global grassroots designers with T-shirts to design patterns, and later invites consumers to rate different patterns for those high-scoring t-shirts to have an opportunity to produce.
On Taobao’s D2C platform, we are trying to make the individual needs directly interface with personalized design. Designer Wu Haiyan a price of 688 yuan clothes, higher than the average price of Taobao women 2.5 times the case, a short period of time on the sale of 2,267. Taobao in the front-end marketing platform driven, based on the back-end lightweight, highly scalable supply chain within 7 days to complete the single cut, the design and production and logistics delivery. The United States Zazzle website goes one step further. Based in Zazzle’s stock library, this home-to-retail company allows users to easily design their favorite T-shirts, cups, stamps, and then help Zazzle customize the product. electronic prototype development
Big businesses have also acted. Haier allows boutiques around the consumer demand in accordance with local orders to Haier orders custom home appliances. In Shanghai Volkswagen, dealers can be based on consumer demand, at any time to submit orders or modify existing orders. In the future, Shanghai Volkswagen hopes to achieve consumers’ online self-selected vehicles: all the components together can provide over one million choices. These two large companies, although indirectly replaced by direct consumer insights, have taken consumers a significant step toward C2B.
In addition to the features of C2B mode shown in the above example, there are other features of C2B mode, such as:
★ consumer-driven
The business model of the industrial age was B2C – vendor-centric, and the business model of the information age was C2B – consumer-centric.
★ To create unique values such as customization
Customization means that consumers in varying degrees, different aspects of the participation in the era of oversupply will create a unique experience value.
★ network of large-scale collaboration
The linear supply chain that has developed over the past two or three decades must today be able to achieve large-scale, real-time and social networking.
★ based on the Internet and cloud computing platform
Similar to the utility power plant in the industrial age, cloud computing is the most representative business infrastructure in the information age. electronic prototype development
If the large-scale production in the industrial age embodies the concept of “economies of scale” in economics more – fewer varieties and larger quantities, then the C2B model in the information age will more embody the concept of “scope economy” – More varieties, small quantities. Managers today must learn how to embrace a new world that is about to dominate such a sphere of economy.
Back to the C2B model In the current stage of development, in terms of e-commerce, we think it will go through three phases. Initially dealing with inventory and stocktaking, we understand this as a remedy for the inevitable inventory of industrial civilization. Second, e-commerce has become the normal channel, the stage of conventional business, the symbol of the proportion of large enterprises to launch new products through e-commerce rising. The third stage is the business model of a wide range of deep reform stage, more business innovation with C2B properties, will come more in this stage. electronic prototype development
Where do you come from today?
What kind of major changes in the C2B model, in what context can be the most accurate understanding?
Everything must be back to the grand occasion of the changing times. Since the 1970s, mass production has been exhausted in developed countries, as has China in the 21st century. Consumers are struggling to find out the vast quantities of goods, while producers worry about the backlog of stocks. Inventory, bullwhip effect, over-marketing, consumer complaints … The vicious circle is becoming a norm in many industries day after day.
The limitations of mass customization In the 1990s, mass customization emerged in developed countries. However, it also faces many problems. Whether it’s identifying and identifying the individual needs of consumers, engaging with consumers in the customization process, or balancing costs, quality and speed, managers are deeply frustrated. However, consumers are limited to the lack of professional knowledge and the inconvenience of interacting with enterprises. It is equally difficult for consumers to quickly, conveniently and deeply participate in the customization process. Think about it, between manufacturers and consumers, the intricacies of wholesalers, retailers, the signal is constantly being twisted and decayed in layers. Then with the help of market research again what will happen? electronic prototype development
In the 1980s, Coca-Cola launched its new product after about 200,000 mouthfeel tests and was eventually rejected by consumers. Therefore, market research is only a very abstract and indirect way to eliminate and interact. Consumer demand, research data, corporate decision-making gap between the three tend to be very large.
Star enterprises, whether it is fast fashion represented by ZARA, or Dell Computer as the representative of mass customization, even if they are closer to consumers than mass production, but also not the ultimate consumer-centric model . Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computer, was once considered to be the closest person to Henry Ford in nearly a hundred years, but Dell actually offered consumers a limited, modular, menu-based option and still preferred Consumers adapt to the existing supply chain – in other words, if Hong Kong Li & Fung did provide a customized supply chain for enterprise customers, Dell can not organize a personality for every consumer customer The supply chain. In a highly decentralized personal market, this is very difficult to do, so it’s just a finale. This slightly harsh evaluation just wanted to make it clear: Before the popularity of the Internet, it is difficult for any business to truly meet the individual needs of mass consumers. electronic prototype development
C2B to meet individual needs
It was not until the 21st century that the booming Internet and cloud computing finally created a huge commercial platform for individualized presentation, aggregation and fulfillment. Very dissatisfied with each other for a long time, and even opposed to each other, finally began to try to appreciate each other. This is the basic background of the birth of C2B mode!
Today, in the micro realm, Taobao and many new start-ups born on the Internet represent the most dynamic enterprises in China that are rapidly evolving into the C2B model. This process is full of challenges. But when this model is truly shaped and its energy is fully released, the traditional B2C companies that are still hesitant to try e-commerce today, or just trying to move the retail segment to the internet, may be Completely subversive. From a macro point of view, the economic models that make use of Internet technology have higher competitiveness relative to the traditional economy and their proportion in the overall economy will gradually increase. This is a process of expanding the C2B model. It is a process in which the information economy gradually takes root and grows. It is also the biggest opportunity in the coming decades. electronic prototype development
This is a big sailing era for business. Entrepreneurs and dreamers from all over the world wave after wave out to sea and try to explore the unknown new business world. During this period, those once-solid plates that constituted the commercial old continent slowly melted apart and then split. Some new commercial elements, according to the new rules began to put together, and gradually form the prototype of the new business of the continent. C2B model practitioners, no doubt, is the first explorer in the New World. If today’s managers lack a deep understanding of this historic commercial revolution, they will not only make the mistake of a single moment, but will cause the enterprise to lose its future. The depth of understanding, reaction speed and intensity of this round of business transformation will ultimately determine the fate of all enterprises in the information age. electronic prototype development