In summary, the courier services in the United States were absolutely something countless Americans went to great lengths to avoid. Unless it was for mailing letters, documents, or other items that were not easily damaged and didn't require timely delivery, Americans would absolutely not choose courier services.
However, looking at it from another angle, Americans had long grown accustomed to this level of courier service, so when they saw the advertised courier services on the Oriental Express delivery slips, everyone was stunned.
Especially since the prices for these courier services were at the same level as Federal Express's prices. Shipping a package from New York to any location in California, as long as the package's weight was kept within one kilogram, only cost a mere $12 for postage.
That wasn't all; if it was a letter or other very light item, the price was only a paltry $1, almost the same as the post office's prices, but the speed was several times faster.
Of course, this was just advertising. Whether Oriental Express could live up to its advertised level would have to be verified by actual use.
Soon, users who had received advertisements actually experienced Oriental Express's service level. One user sent a package from New York State and then called their recipient, asking them to check if they could receive the package within three days.
They also asked them to check the integrity of the package, as it contained a large bag of glass handicrafts. The sender had insured it for $1,000 according to the courier's requirements and additionally paid $10 for the insurance fee to guarantee transportation safety.
The recipient, however, did not wait until the third day. On the second day, they were startled by a knock on the door. Upon opening it, they were shocked to see a black man. Their first reaction was that the person was there to rob them.
However, they then noticed the person was wearing a red uniform with the words "Oriental" written on it. The person politely stated that they were an Oriental Express courier and were there to deliver a package.
Only then did the recipient open the door and take the package from him. At the same time, the courier asked him to inspect the package on the spot, as it was an insured item and needed to be verified for its intactness.
So, they opened and inspected it on the spot, and were surprised to find that the glass handicrafts inside were tightly wrapped with four or five layers of bubble wrap, so there was no damage to the items.
Afterward, the black courier politely said thank you and drove off in a small van. The recipient remained somewhat stunned after the courier left; this was absolutely the most unprecedented courier experience they had ever had.
The speed of this delivery was even faster than Federal Express's VIP air express, which made it hard for the recipient to believe their experience.
Oriental Express not only delivered to the doorstep but also to offices in office buildings, shops, or factory gates, and so on. As long as the address was clearly written, Oriental Express would personally deliver it and try to contact the recipient through contact methods.
Even if the recipient couldn't personally receive the package, Oriental Express employees would kindly and detailedly inform them where the package was stored, or even temporarily store it at a nearby courier point. The perfection of these services left all users who had experienced them in disbelief.
When people experience how bad a service is, and then experience a perfect courier service, they will feel a strong sense of comfort and affection.
So, naturally, all users who used Oriental Express once immediately became loyal customers. For any courier service on the New York to California route, they would unhesitatingly abandon their previous Federal Express or UPS, choosing Oriental Express as their only option.
Moreover, more importantly, many people who had previously hated courier services and refused to use them changed their minds after experiencing Oriental Express, believing that using couriers was the most convenient option. After all, a distance of 1,500 kilometers was covered in just two days, which was even faster than delivering something by flying themselves!
Well, many Americans' most common choice when needing to transport something important was to fly themselves to deliver it. After all, American air services were indeed very cheap, and the entire trip might only cost less than $100, and they didn't have to worry about any damage to their important items.
This was truly the norm for many Americans, and now, these people had to admit that if they used Oriental Express, they would indeed have a more perfect experience.
Therefore, in just less than three months, Oriental Express completely monopolized all courier transportation business on the New York to California route, pushing Federal Express and UPS down to second and third place, to the point where many Federal Express and UPS couriers found themselves with no courier tasks for an entire day.
Of course, some people might think this was nothing. After all, it was just one route connecting two cities. Even if this route was operated very successfully, what could it possibly achieve? It couldn't affect the overall industry landscape at all.
Well, if it were any other route, that would be correct. But if it were the New York to California route, then it would be completely different.
New York was the economic center of the United States, roughly equivalent to Shanghai in China.
And the two major metropolitan areas in California were the high-tech industry and the second largest economic center after New York, equivalent to Hong Kong and Guangzhou in China.
Furthermore, these two regions, one in the east and one in the west, supported the entire US economy. The courier transportation route between these two cities was almost equivalent to the sum of courier transportation routes between hundreds of cities. The business volume of this route even accounted for about 1/20 of the total express delivery business in the United States.
More importantly, almost all people in US commerce and industry had some contact with this transportation route. They would have the opportunity to use Oriental Express at some point and experience this magical service from the East.
Therefore, Oriental Express's reputation quickly spread from California and New York to other cities in the United States. Those who had experienced Oriental Express's service could not help but mention when their cities would have Oriental Express's presence. Many people directly implored Oriental Express on its official Weibo website to set up branches in their cities.
As a result, over 200,000 people went to the White House's news website to petition, demanding that the White House urge Oriental Express to quickly open new outlets to cover many cities, so that everyone could experience this perfect courier service.
In response, Oriental Express responded humbly, stating that due to the high cost of their courier services, only the revenue from the California to New York route could barely maintain a slight profit.
However, they would try their best to reduce operating costs in the future and expand routes to other cities as much as possible.
Oriental Express was not just making empty promises. In March, Oriental Express officially announced that Washington State would be included in its operational scope, and new outlets would be built in Washington State, thus achieving inter-branch courier services among the three points.
By June, Chicago was also included in the operational scope. Everyone could see that Oriental Express was expanding its operations and speed in a very steady manner, first covering major cities with a large volume of orders, which would allow them to achieve a balance of payments in terms of profitability.
And whenever Oriental Express announced that a city had begun operations, many people in that city would fall into celebration. Then, these people would fiercely mock other cities not included by Oriental Express, while people in other cities would be dejected. Everything was like a competition in the imperial harem.
Such a strategy naturally attracted the attention of Wall Street giants. Many investment institutions on Wall Street immediately investigated Oriental Express and learned that Oriental Express was actually an enterprise founded and operated by Chinese people, with Jiangnan Group as the main investor.
This further ignited the fondness of Wall Street. After all, the characteristic of Jiangnan Group's investments never failing had almost become a fixed attribute. If this enterprise could be valued by Jiangnan Group, then it must have a boundless future.
Therefore, in the past few months, countless Wall Street institutions have attempted to cooperate with Oriental Express.
Either they would finance Oriental Express and obtain shares, or they would want to manipulate Oriental Express's listing to gain greater profits in the market, and so on.
Although the value of Oriental Express was certainly not as astonishing as market darlings like Google and Yahoo back then, it was at least a fresh and tender leek. Many people present were aware of Oriental Express, and they never expected that the current president of Oriental Express would become the new president of Amazon.
And what was even more unbelievable was yet to come, because Huang He announced that Amazon would exchange 10% of its shares for all of Oriental Express's shares, and at the same time, the two companies would complete their merger. Oriental Express would become a department under Amazon, and Liu Qiangdong, the president of Oriental Express, would also concurrently become the Vice Chairman and CEO of Amazon. Unless there were very serious issues, Huang He, as the Chairman, would not interfere with Amazon's normal operations, and everything would be decided by Liu Qiangdong.
Of course, this 10% of shares was not contributed by Huang He, but by all the institutions present proportionally. As the absolute controlling majority shareholder, Huang He directly made decisions on behalf of the board, and now he was just informing everyone.
Although Mr. Huang's actions were indeed somewhat domineering, no one present stood up to object. After all, allowing the president of Oriental Express to take over as president of Amazon, and at the same time merging Oriental Express and Amazon, was indeed a way to pull Amazon out of the quagmire at the fastest possible speed.
After all, Oriental Express had a very efficient management team and a vast courier force, all of which could greatly satisfy Amazon's employee shortage.
At this moment, these institutions suddenly felt that what Huang He said was not some illusory future, but had a slight possibility of realization.