Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP-Chapter 704: Draft Supervision Opinion for Third-Party Platforms

"The General Administration of Supervision and Management has decided to issue a 'Regulatory Compliance for Third-Party Platform Providers and Network Catering Service Providers to Implement Main Responsibilities of Food Safety Management', and an opinion draft is expected to be released soon."

In Ugly Group's meeting room, Xue Shui and others were having a meeting.

"This regulation primarily requires third-party platforms to add a label indicating whether the merchants on their platform offer dine-in or takeaway services."

"That's quite difficult to implement." After Xue Shui finished speaking, a junior manager spoke up, "Those takeaway merchants not offering dine-in are skilled at deception. They disguise someone else's store as their own or use residential properties to masquerade as shops; these can be uncovered with detailed investigation.

But some merchants co-rent one shop with four or five others, then list on different takeaway platforms. We can't share data with other platforms or conduct joint supervision.

Thus, it's practically impossible to track them down. If they mark themselves as having dine-in but customers find out there's none, would we end up being held accountable?"

Xue Shui knew this junior manager was speaking the truth.

If possible, Ugly Group hoped these merchants would honestly label themselves as offering dine-in if they do, or not if they don't.

But when multiple merchants co-rent a physical store pretending to offer dine-in services, it's genuinely hard to detect with just one platform.

"Actually, it isn't impossible to solve, right?" Xue Shui hadn't yet responded.

Another recently recruited junior manager started speaking, "For example, we could require all merchants to keep at least ten days' worth of dine-in video recordings.

Then reward delivery personnel, encouraging them to report those masquerading as dine-in without offering it, paying a bounty per report.

If there are suspected fraudulent merchants, we could also dispatch staff for surveillance, spending three to four days to verify the existence of dine-in services."

"Your method is useful, but don't bring it up anymore." Xue Shui glanced at this new junior manager without further comment.

At this point, the other members understood Xue Shui's meaning and quickly said, "Implementing your suggested method would add unnecessary expenses and costs for us.

Currently, major takeaway platforms are already suffering income drops due to subsidies. Adding unnecessary expenses could disadvantage us in the competition with other platforms."

Hearing their colleague speak, the new junior manager was left bewildered.

What's meant by unnecessary expenses?

Isn't the opinion draft already issued above?

This means the regulation will be implemented soon.

If a platform fails in its verification duty and gets found out, wouldn't that be even worse for the platform?

Moreover, as a third-party platform, Ugly Group inherently has a duty to supervise all merchants on the platform.

How are these expenses unnecessary?

They're quite necessary.

If Ugly Group were merely a platform for intermediary services, charging merchants advertisement fees for ranking improvement, perhaps they wouldn't bear this responsibility.

But Ugly Group has various revenue streams.

Not only do they charge customers delivery fees, but they also double-charge merchants for delivery fees, similar to companies like Jindong Ah Li charging both parties postage, then leveraging size to cut postal fees, taking most of the money and leaving courier companies with just a fraction.

This is why Ugly Group can earn so much money and have abundant cash at hand.

Yet when the platform must bear responsibility, you say these are unnecessary expenses.

The new junior manager reluctantly glanced around at colleagues and the leaders above, ultimately staying silent to protect their livelihood.

However, everyone's focus wasn't on this junior manager at this moment.

As the meeting proceeded, everyone knew Xue Shui must have a better plan.

What everyone should do now is wait for Xue Shui to propose a plan and then praise it.

"Individually monitoring all merchants on platforms is not only cumbersome but yields less benefit compared to the cost.

But this regulation targets all takeaway platforms, not just us at Ugly Group.

So, in this scenario, as long as Ugly Group has fewer issues exposed in the public domain compared to the other two platforms, we're okay. Hence, we just need to spend some money to guide negative opinions and scandals away from Ugly Group, focusing them on the other two takeaway services instead."

A round of applause ensued before Xue Shui finished speaking, with nearby people already loudly praising the leader's brilliance.

Xue Shui indulged in the admiration briefly and then continued, "However, we also need a primary focus. Do you think we should initially tarnish Taobao or Yiyang Flash Sale?"

Ugly Group previously formed a clandestine alliance with Yiyang Flash Sale, maintaining coordinated actions to counteract Taobao's aggressive subsidies; everyone knows this.

Thus, most suggested dealing with Taobao first, then Yiyang Flash Sale.

But after everyone had spoken, Xue Shui said, "I think we should prioritize dealing with Yiyang Flash Sale."

Ah?!

The meeting room's occupants were shocked that Xue Shui gave such a response.

Logically, Yiyang Flash Sale is currently considered half an ally.

Why strike an ally first?

"Our affiliation with Yiyang Flash Sale is a reactionary alliance formed under pressure to counter Taobao.

If not for this regulation, we could maintain this relationship with them.

But this regulation from the Supervision and Management Bureau has garnered massive public attention.

This represents an opportunity, a chance to possibly topple an entire platform.

Yiyang Flash Sale claims all merchants on their platform offer dine-in services. It's their trademark and their vulnerability.

If we can find evidence of non-dine-in merchants on Yiyang Flash Sale's platform and release it online to stir public opinion, we might topple Yiyang Flash Sale in one go.

If Yiyang Flash Sale falls, there would be only two platforms left in the market, reducing the intensity of our competition with Taobao.

We wouldn't need to collaborate with other platforms then."

Xue Shui's words made sense to other Ugly Group managers.

Although Taobao is currently their primary adversary, Yiyang Flash Sale would be easiest to topple.

The higher the claims, the higher the expectations; once scandals break, abandonment comes swiftly.

If Yiyang Flash Sale claims every platform merchant offers dine-in, any related news exposure, fueled by Ugly Group's financial guidance.

Yiyang Flash Sale may collapse quickly.

Then the market segments previously captured by Yiyang Flash Sale will open, allowing Ugly Group to seize them for a much-needed breather.