"Your insistence on this minor issue cannot persuade me!" Rob Walton, despite understanding the intricacies of e-commerce, did not immediately show remorse or agree to cooperate. Instead, he stated frankly, "I admit that perhaps Walmart doesn't truly understand how to operate an e-commerce business, but for us, this is merely a matter of time."
"In the beginning, my father was just a soldier with a gun. He had never sold a single item, yet he ultimately built the Walmart of today."
"Therefore, I believe these issues are not problems for us. Time can solve everything. At most, it will take a year or two, and Walmart will become the most outstanding e-commerce entity in the world!" Rob Walton declared with great confidence.
"But hasn't Walmart been in e-commerce for 10 years already?" Liu Qiangdong couldn't help but retort, causing Rob Walton's expression to turn extremely unpleasant.
Indeed, Walmart had established its e-commerce department back in '95, yet there had been no significant changes over the decade.
"That's perfectly normal, due to differences in prioritization. In the future, Walmart's e-commerce department will be personally managed by me. Everything will soon become vastly different!" Rob Walton still replied confidently.
"Alright, I don't wish to argue with you further on this matter. We are indeed unwilling to bear the cost of express delivery, so we are willing to hand over the logistics portion to your Oriental Amazon. We are also willing to have the QR code remain on your website, but all related matters within the stores must be personally managed by Walmart. This is a non-negotiable condition!" Rob Walton stated unequivocally.
"Since that is the case!" Hearing Rob Walton's final verdict, Liu Qiangdong stood up and said, "Then I must also state that Walmart only needs to provide us with the source of goods and inventory data. All other matters must be handled by our Oriental Amazon website. This too is a non-negotiable condition!"
With that, the two of them directly clashed. The previously harmonious conversation instantly became tense and awkward. Liu Xiangjiang had to step forward to smooth things over, saying, "Gentlemen, I don't think these are matters that absolutely cannot be negotiated. We can continue to discuss them!"
"No, this is not up for discussion!" Liu Qiangdong was unexpectedly assertive. Facing the head of this Fortune Global 500 company, Liu Qiangdong acted as if he himself were among the top ten of the Fortune Global 500.
"Mr. Rob, I will now tell you my most heartfelt thoughts. Oriental Amazon's situation is currently very dire. Our sellers have all been taken away by Wanxian Pavilion. That's why I am attempting to reach a groundbreaking cooperation with you today, to jointly create a field that e-commerce has never ventured into!"
"But the significance of this cooperation for our two companies is entirely different. If this cooperation fails, Walmart will still be the world's strongest retailer, still the top Fortune Global 500 company. Your situation will remain unchanged."
"But I am different. If our cooperation fails, and Walmart's stores, due to their inability to properly operate e-commerce, cause users to leave, then Oriental Amazon as a whole will be utterly finished, and the career I've painstakingly built for a lifetime will also vanish."
"Those competitors, Wanxian Pavilion, Federal Express, United Express, and Goldman Sachs, they will all laugh heartily at my expense, and I will become a cockroach in the gutter. Even if I survive, I would no longer wish to live!"
"Therefore, I absolutely cannot afford to fail this time. I will exhaust myself completely, pouring all my strength into this cooperation with Walmart, using all my might to manage Walmart's online stores. I must ensure the success rate of this venture reaches 100%. I can accept failure due to my own incompetence, as I could then repay my mistakes with my life."
"But I will absolutely not accept failure due to a 'pig teammate.' That would be more painful than death. Therefore, Walmart's stores must be managed by Oriental Amazon. We can even offer Walmart more benefits, even operating at a loss is fine, but the control of the stores must remain in our hands. This, I will not negotiate!"
"..." Perhaps stunned by Liu Qiangdong's shocking confession, Rob Walton didn't know how to respond. He simply sat there, lost in silent contemplation.
"Mr. Rob, how about this: give me three years. If after three years, you feel it's necessary, then all the operating rights for Walmart's online stores will return to Walmart's hands, and Oriental Amazon will not interfere any further!" Liu Qiangdong proposed.
"Oh, so you think that after three years, your Oriental Amazon will no longer need Walmart for survival and development?" Rob Walton found this rather amusing upon hearing it.
"Yes, if a company must always rely on another company to survive, then that company might as well be merged outright. It has no need to exist!" Liu Qiangdong stated very matter-of-factly.
"I..." Rob Walton was about to say something more, when Liu Qiangdong suddenly bent his knees and knelt directly before Rob Walton.
"What are you doing? Even if you beg me on your knees, I won't agree to it because of this! These are two different matters!" Rob Walton quickly said.
"No, this is to apologize for my rash, rude, and thoughtless words and actions just now!" Liu Qiangdong said, then stood up from the ground. "I am very sorry, I was too agitated just now!"
"You fellow..." Rob Walton was utterly speechless. After a moment, he waved his hand, "Forget it, you've ruined my appetite for lunch today. You two can leave."
"Mr. Rob, we can still discuss the cooperation. We can find more common ground..." Liu Xiangjiang quickly said.
"No need. I've made my intentions clear. The remaining matters require serious consideration and investigation before a decision can be made. You may leave. I will give you an answer within a week!" Rob Walton said, then directly left the second floor. He never appeared before the two of them again. Meanwhile, the servants in the room respectfully saw the two men out.
"You, why couldn't you be a bit calmer?" Liu Xiangjiang said reproachfully in the car on the way back. Liu Qiangdong remained silent. After a while, the secretary driving the car was instructed, "Go immediately and collect information on all large supermarket chains in the entire United States. Find the one closest to here, and we will go there this afternoon to begin negotiations directly!"
"Yes!" The secretary nodded.
"You're crazy! You'll offend Walmart by doing this!" Liu Xiangjiang exclaimed.
"I've already offended them, and I even knelt to apologize. Besides, seeking more partners is simply basic business logic. If he considers this behavior an offense to Walmart, then Walmart should have been finished long ago!" Liu Qiangdong said coldly, disregarding Liu Xiangjiang's advice.
Liu Xiangjiang said nothing more. Instead, in front of Liu Qiangdong, he directly called Boss Huang and recounted everything that had happened today.
"Qiangdong did the right thing!" Unexpectedly, Huang He said, "Let Qiangdong handle the rest; you don't need to get involved. Go back to the company; it's more important to help rebuild Oriental Amazon's network system!"
"Yes!" Liu Xiangjiang replied. One of his strengths was that he rarely got angry. So, even though Huang He seemed to disrespect him, he still smiled and bid farewell to Liu Qiangdong, then returned to the company headquarters to diligently complete his tasks. Liu Qiangdong, meanwhile, lost no time in seeking negotiations with the next large supermarket chain.
At this moment, Rob Walton was also caught in a state of indecision.
He had not truly rejected Oriental Amazon; he simply didn't know how to make a decision.
Firstly, Rob Walton confirmed that if cooperation with Oriental Amazon were to commence, it would indeed further expand Walmart's business and, more importantly, help Walmart solidify its market dominance.
However, Rob Walton was genuinely worried about creating a threat for himself in the future. He also believed that it was the most correct decision for Walmart to own its own e-commerce enterprise. Weighing these two considerations, Rob Walton remained unsure of what decision to make.
"Convene a high-level meeting tomorrow and summon everyone to discuss this!" Rob Walton finally decided to leverage collective wisdom. Thus, at the executive meeting the next day, Rob Walton presented the situation regarding the cooperation with Oriental Amazon to all of Walmart's top executives and asked, "What do you think is the correct course of action?"
To Rob Walton's surprise, almost all the executives unanimously agreed that they should not cooperate with any Oriental Amazon but should instead increase investment in their own e-commerce department and have their own e-commerce handle this matter.
Such a united front almost led Rob Walton to decide to reject Oriental Amazon. However, he still asked one more question, "If that's the case, then one of you must take responsibility for the entire operation of the e-commerce department. And I will be upfront: if the e-commerce department's business fails to take off, the person in charge will have to resign in disgrace!"
Rob Walton said this intending to put pressure on his executives. After all, Rob Walton knew very well what kind of people these executives were. Decades-old employees, each more steady than ambitious, they needed an extra push.
What Rob Walton did not expect at all was that after he said this, not a single one of the executives present volunteered for the task. They all fell silent!
Of course, this was not surprising. They were comfortably in their current positions, already accomplished and famous. To then go and manage some new e-commerce department, if successful, their positions would remain secure. But if it failed, they would have to resign in disgrace, which was simply too terrible.
Although Rob Walton offered some promised benefits, they were already in their fifties or sixties, lacking neither wealth nor status. Why expose themselves to danger?
Of course, the most crucial point was that these individuals knew very well that they simply didn't understand e-commerce. It would be a path to their own demise!