From tradition to e-commerce, think deeply about whether the used car industry can be washed white by e-commerce

2003 was the first year of bad news for traditional business. With the rapid development of e-commerce, the rise of various e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, JD.COM, Tmall and Pinduoduo, traditional industries began to decline.

Look at Zhongguancun in the past, from crowded to empty, coupled with high rent, wages are booming. Hey ~ ~ ~, ten thousand words are omitted here.

Merchants have to choose to compromise and plunge into the e-commerce industry. Now, if they do physical business and are not linked to e-commerce, it is really difficult to survive.

Speaking of the second-hand car industry, in recent years, the China market has gradually matured, and the second-hand car industry has been recognized by more and more people. At the same time, various C2C platforms, such as melon seeds, hearts and cars, have mushroomed to seize this piece of fat.

Can the used car platform be washed white by the e-commerce platform? Today, we will dig deep into the nature of the industry and see the trend of the used car industry in the future.

The biggest advantages of e-commerce intervention are the maximization of sales channels, the comprehensiveness of selection and the involvement of third parties. From the traditional business, point-to-point sales, to the current network, point-to-point sales, giving users the most comprehensive choice space. When choosing a used car, many users will ask for a certain car in a certain year by name. In the traditional sales of used cars, many users think that used cars are deep and afraid of falling into puddles. The e-commerce platform can give a set of evaluation reports, so that consumers can have a reassurance and ensure the real condition of used cars. Perfect integration of various advantages, so that consumers have a good experience and trust. I have to admit that the e-commerce platform has a positive purification effect on the used car environment.

However, as a car dealer, don't worry too much. Although traditional business needs to transform the network, it can never get rid of the basic operation of the entity.

Take the trade industry as an example:

Traditional management: manufacturer-agent (agents at all levels)-consumer.

E-commerce intervention: manufacturer-e-commerce-consumer

Or: manufacturer-agent-e-commerce-consumer.

This relationship is well known. The role of e-commerce makes manufacturers and consumers shorten the intermediate links, save the cost of exploitation in many layers, and reach consumers directly at a lower price. The involvement of e-commerce is undoubtedly a money-saving intermediary for consumers.

The used car industry is different:

Traditional management: owner-car dealer-consumer

E-commerce intervention: car owner-car dealer-platform-consumer

Or: owner-platform-consumer

This relationship is different from the above-mentioned trading industry, because car dealers have no fixed supply, and the used cars in their hands need to be collected from the owners at high prices. Manufacturers different from the trading industry can continuously produce supply. So both car owners and car dealers want to sell used cars to consumers at high prices. Moreover, the platform will charge consumers a handling fee. Each platform is different, and the charging standards are different. Generally, it is 4%-7% of the transaction price, and the minimum charge is 2000 yuan. There is only one result, that is, the price that will eventually fall into the hands of consumers will be very high. Because the platform function here does not shorten the distance between buyers and sellers, but increases an exploitative relationship, which can guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of buyers and sellers, provide consumers with more comprehensive and broader choice space and ensure the quality of used cars. What? There is no middleman to earn the difference. Since your intervention, the used car landing frame has been rising.

The second-hand car industry is different from the trading industry, and the supply is unstable, so car dealers also need to collect cars at high prices all the time. If the e-commerce platform can whitewash the traditional used car industry, the only way is to master most of the supply and let most car owners sell their cars to the platform, so that the e-commerce platform has sufficient supply and all car owners sell their cars on the platform instead of in the used car market. When the supply of e-commerce platform is sufficient, the price can be reduced and directly supplied to consumers. At this time, the traditional car dealers were completely annihilated. Obviously, this situation is simply impossible. No matter how rich the e-commerce platform is, it is impossible to annex the used car market. After all, it's only nine Niu Yi points.

So what? It is impossible for the e-commerce platform to receive all car owners' cars at high prices, and it can only be a middleman to earn commissions. Their advertisements are also very real. No middleman earns the difference. What we earn is commission, not price difference.

In fact, the used car e-commerce platform is an out-and-out intermediary. It has no products, but they have customers. The upstream customers are car dealers and the downstream customers are buyers. There are not many individual car owners who actually sell cars on the platform. Friends who often visit the used car market know that every platform will send people to wear their own company's clothes every day, take photos in various used car markets, upload them online, and then sell them to buyers. Most used cars still come from the used car market. What the car dealer earns is the price that the car dealer should earn. It is conceivable that one more middleman earns the difference. Oh, no, it's a commission.

Therefore, traders may be washed away by e-commerce or even squeezed out of the market. But the used car industry will never. They are not so much C2C platforms as B2C platforms. Because the parents of the e-commerce platform are these car dealers, they are just an intermediary. Without car dealers, they have no supply. You know! A clever woman can't cook without rice!

In short, tradition and e-commerce complement each other and complement each other. E-commerce is based on tradition, and tradition takes e-commerce as the channel.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.