From Taobao intern to the father of Pinduoduo

Chapter 17 Test

Textile Street.

The streets were deserted, and a few white plastic bags were blown by the cold wind, swirling and drifting by.

Grandma Mao gazed sadly at the desolate street—ten years ago, this textile street was a completely different story. She had bought the factory from the former factory manager at a bargain price and implemented reforms. Thinking that the country was becoming increasingly wealthy and people's lives were getting better, and that women were naturally drawn to beauty, she chose the stocking industry.

She made the right gamble, and the factory enjoyed several years of prosperity. But karma is a double-edged sword, and ten years later, she found herself in the same predicament as the former factory director.

I wonder if someone is secretly watching her factory, hoping to take advantage of the situation and buy it at a low price?

While they were thinking, the group arrived at Grandma Mao's factory.

Aunt Mao pushed open the factory gate. Inside, the lights were dim, and a bunch of machines were arranged haphazardly in a somber manner. There wasn't a single worker in the factory.

As she turned on the light, she explained, "Mr. Lin, because we pay by piecework here, when there's no work in the factory, I let the workers go home early to rest. As soon as there's work, I can immediately gather everyone back. If we're operating at full capacity, recruiting 100 skilled workers wouldn't be a problem."

Lin Mu examined the machines; most of them looked old and worn, not new at all. He wasn't a professional in the hosiery industry and didn't understand the specific functions and value of these machines, but just by looking at the signs of use, he could tell that this was an old factory, definitely not a small workshop that had only been open for a few months.

Lin Mu looked at Li Zhi, who immediately explained, "Sister Mao opened this hosiery factory in 1998, and it's been 10 years now. At its peak, the factory had about 50 workers, and the annual turnover was over ten million. In the past, when her family held banquets, the district head would come and offer his greetings."

Hearing about her glorious past, Grandma Mao proudly puffed out her chest.

Lin Mu nodded—since she's a factory manager with 10 years of experience, her basic execution ability is definitely not a problem; the next step is to see if she'll listen to him.

"Director Mao, let me see your e-commerce store," Lin Mu said.

Aunt Mao led Lin Mu to the office, turned on the computer, and brought up her Taobao shop page.

Lin Mu frowned as he looked at the product's main image and details page. The main image showed a pile of stockings neatly stacked together; while the product details page featured several models walking the runway in stockings.

He asked, "Director Mao, why are your product's main image and product details page so disjointed?"

Aunt Mao said, "I thought that since we own a factory, customers need to know at first glance that these are factory goods and reasonably priced. As for the pictures on the product details page, I specifically hired models to take them, just to show everyone that although our goods are cheap, they look good when worn, and the quality is absolutely reliable."

Lin Mu rubbed his forehead and said, "Director Mao, have you considered this possibility? Users might not feel comfortable wearing stockings that are too cheap. Besides, with your main image, no one even wants to click to see the details. Isn't this like throwing a charm at a blind person?"

"Ah, I understand now, I understand," Aunt Mao replied quickly.

Lin Mu thought to himself: if he were to handle it, and properly refine the main image, title, and details page, creating a small hit product wouldn't be a problem.

However, a typical Taobao bestseller store doesn't mean much to a factory like Factory Director Mao's.

She should leverage the advantages of a medium-sized factory to ship goods in large quantities. The most suitable approach would be to have Alibaba act as the source manufacturer, while also providing drop shipping services, allowing Taobao sellers to develop their own markets.

However, stockings are just a large category, and even in 2008, the early days of e-commerce, large manufacturers had already dominated the main market. For a manufacturer like Factory Director Mao, lacking technology and capital, it was extremely difficult to compete head-on.

Therefore, it is necessary to choose a good niche market and engage in differentiated competition.

As he pondered, Lin Mu had a sudden inspiration—he actually thought of a niche product, namely the pantyhose subcategory that became a hit in the e-commerce market around 2021: pearlescent pantyhose.

The industry prefers to call them club stockings or disco stockings, as the name suggests, their core application is in nightclubs. Specifically, there are three main categories: stockings printed with English letters, stockings with a pearlescent effect, and stockings inlaid with faux rhinestones.

This product category was developed by a medium-sized manufacturer in 2021. As the market continued to expand, by 2025, before Lin Mu's time travel, nightclub stockings had already occupied 2.5% to 3% of the entire stocking market, with an annual output value of 4 to 5 million yuan.

Of course, the hosiery market in 2008 is not as big as it will be in 2025, but as long as you can be the first to develop this product category, as the pioneer of the industry, capturing half, or 20% or 30% of the market share, and making 20 to 30 million yuan in annual revenue is more than enough.

However, although this idea was nothing to Lin Mu, why should he give it to Factory Director Mao for no reason? He had to first see Factory Director Mao's execution ability and sincerity.

Lin Mu slowly said, "Director Mao, you should also know that the first step in doing business is to discover the demand and then find a suitable entry point."

Director Mao nodded repeatedly, expressing his strong approval.

Lin Mu continued, "The 'ordinary stockings' track is too crowded for you. I have a suggestion—have you ever been to a nightclub?"

Director Mao was taken aback, then shook his head: "People my age have only ever been to nightclubs. Oh dear, it was a chaotic place back then."

Lin Mu thought to himself: It wasn't just then, it's not much better now.

He said, "With the national economy developing, the number of bars and nightclubs is increasing daily. Have you ever thought about developing stockings specifically for nightclubs? For example, embedding fake rhinestones into the stockings; or combining fluorescent technology with stockings to create fluorescent stockings. Nightclubs are dimly lit, and girls wearing ordinary stockings don't stand out. If you could develop these two types of stockings, fashion-conscious girls would instantly become the most dazzling girls in the room. People who frequent nightclubs crave attention and love to compare themselves to others. Think about it, how could this business not be good?"

Lin Mu offered two "bait" offers, sharing his idea with Factory Director Mao for free. Firstly, it was to test her execution skills and her trust in him; secondly, it was to gauge her sincerity through this small incentive.

Actually, he had a trump card up his sleeve—Balenciaga letter socks. This idea later became incredibly popular, taking the top spot in nightclub stockings and even being exported overseas.

Lin Mu observed Director Mao's expression and saw that she looked hesitant and conflicted. She didn't know much about nightclubs and wasn't sure if Lin Mu's idea was reliable; moreover, their cash flow was already tight, and developing a new product category meant investing in research and development, which was quite risky.

Seeing this, Lin Mu said, "Think it over carefully. Once you've developed it, I'll help you with the marketing for the online store."