Deep grilling takeaway platform ＂kill routine＂, these operations are too ruthless…

Source: Operations Research Society (ID: U_quan) Author: Zheng Yuxuan, Wu Jingwen

One Friday night, I was going to treat myself to something nice.

As soon as I opened Meituan, I found that the price of my Meituan membership has dropped from the previous 15 yuan/month to 4.9 yuan/month.

I thought I had picked up a big bargain, but my colleague told me that sheIt has been a member who bought in single digits for a while., and also showed me a screenshot of the order:　

Why do I need 15 yuan to buy a member, but my colleagues can always buy a Meituan member for about 5 yuan?　

After comparison, I found that my colleagues rarely order takeout because they bring food every day; while I order takeout twice a day because I can’t cook…　

When I got here, I suddenly realized,I should have encountered Meituan’s "killing".　

To be honest, it will not take a day or two for various platforms to use big data to become familiar.

After 2 weeks of "battling wits" with food delivery platforms, we found themThe 3 most commonly used killing routines, and even summed up 4 tips to avoid "being killed"…

List of platform killing methods　

On Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Zhihu and other social platforms, searching with "xx (platform name) " as a keyword can find many people complaining about the platform’s killing routine. After reading too much, you will find that takeaway platforms often choose whether to "kill" you according to the following dimensions…

1) According to whether the member is purchased or not　

The first trick of the takeaway platform is to "start" with the members. Students who have bought "Meituan Takeaway Member" may know that membersThere are six "membership coupons" worth 5 yuan every month.

If you run out of coupons for this month, return itYou can purchase an additional "Member Plus Pack":　

This 5 yuan coupon is generallyYou can exchange it for a larger denomination in the store.The "store red envelope" of 6 yuan, 8 yuan or even 10 yuan.　

However, according to Xiaohongshu user @discount 90,000, it is revealed that she is inAfter buying the "Member Stack Pack", the coupons that can be redeemed have "shrunk"　- – Originally, it could be exchanged for an 8 yuan coupon, but now it can only be exchanged for 6 yuan.　

Image source @90,000 off　

Why does the price not drop but rise after purchasing a member? This is likely to be Meituan’s "user operation" routine.　

We guess that users who order takeout frequently and have purchased the "Member Overlay Pack",It is likely to be determined by Meituan’s algorithm as a "highly loyal mature user" –　

This kind of user has developed the habit of spending on the platform, which has a certain stickiness and a relatively high cumulative consumption amount.　

Like the above picture of netizens @90 thousand, not only frequently in the same store to place an order, but also to buy the package, presumably the number and amount of takeaway are not small, very consistent with the above user portrait.　

Therefore, the platform will try to secretly reduce the benefits offered to them in order to save costs.

2) Kill according to consumption records　

The second trick of the takeaway platform is to "peep" the user’s usage habits, and then "kill" after "fat".　

Xiaohongshu user @small sweet potato 5D4336AC broke the news,If you order the same takeaway for a long time, the price will not drop but rise.And using someone else’s account (who has never ordered this takeaway) to order food is much cheaper than your own.　

The picture source @Little Sweet Potato 5D4336AC shows the price ordered by the user before one month, the picture in the middle shows the price ordered now, and the picture on the right shows the price ordered by others.

Not only Meituan, but also on Ele.me. The picture below is my Ele.me order.The more you click, the less the "Ten Billion Subsidy" discount:　

There is also Xiaohongshu user @taro, which broke the news that even if you keep ordering discounted products in the same store, the platform may also passSet more expensive delivery fees for regular users.Come to "kill".　

Image source @taro, new user on the left, old user on the right　

The price difference alone is enough for me to eat 2 cones at Mixue Bingcheng…

3) Kill according to the mobile phone model　

The third trick of the takeaway platform is to kill according to the mobile phone model, and the price of the "high-priced machine" is higher.　

Under the notes of @Xiaoyang koyo, many users broke the news.Apple and Android machines place an order together, and the price of Apple machines is significantly more expensive.; The two Android machines place an order together, and the final price is also different:　

Image source @Xiaoyang koyo　

In addition to takeaway platforms, it is said that booking hotels, playing Didi, and buying video website members are all more expensive for Apple.　

For example, Xiaohongshu user @Wangdecadent broke the news that he used different models of mobile phones when booking hotels, and found that Apple mobile phones were more expensive than Xiaomi hotels.　

Image source @Wang Zhuanxue　

There is also Zhihu user @No Spicy Little Woman, who personally experimented and found that the price of using an Apple phone to buy a video membership is higher:　

Picture source @No spicy little girl　

As for the reason why Apple users are subject to "price discrimination", some people believe that it may be that the platform judges that the people who buy Apple phones have higher spending power, so they will silently increase prices.　

However, objectively speaking, thisIt may also have something to do with Apple’s own "commission system".　

Apple’s App Store charges developers a 30% commission, which is often passed on to consumers.

How to use the platform rules skillfully to avoid being killed?

In order to prevent everyone from being continuously "cut leeks" by big data, I have summarized the following four "anti-ripe" methods for everyone based on the wisdom of netizens and my own practical experience.

1) Do not buy members regularly

Xiaohongshu user @MIMI Ya, exposure, membership expires and then renews after a week, almost 100% can get coupons, which can be purchased as low as 3 yuan/month.　

Image source @MIMI Ya　

Even, someone can get it at a lower price, as long as 99 cents:　

Image source @MIMI Ya　

Why renew the membership after a while, and the price is cheaper?　

Most likely because,You have been judged as a "lapsed user" by Meituan’s background.At this time, the platform will often use "recall means", that is, to reduce the price of your membership fee, to attract you to come back and open a membership.　

In addition, why can someone get a "loss period" member for 3 yuan, but someone wants 5 yuan?

We compared the frequency of buying members and ordering takeout among three colleagues and found thattakeaway platform(Here, in order to control the variables, Meituan is chosen according to the habits of colleagues.)Pay particular attention to "potential churn users" and "new users".

Colleague A: Buy Meituan members regularly every month, buy extra bags, and order takeaway at least 3 times a week;

Colleague B: The member will buy again after half a month of expiration, and order takeaway at least once a week;

Colleague C: I have only bought a member once and only order takeaway once a week;

We can use the RFM user value model in "user operation" to analyze the users of the above three food delivery platforms:

R represents the last consumption time, and the lower the R value, the higher the user’s reach probability.

F represents the most recent consumption frequency, and the higher the F value, the higher the user’s loyalty.

M represents the consumption amount, and the higher the M value, the greater the user value.

According to this model, we can know that "important retention users" are the users who "contribute" the most to the platform, and the consumption amount and frequency are relatively high.　

A who buys members every month and orders takeout 4 or more times a week is obviously in this category.　

forLet them contribute more value to the platform during the life cycle, the platform will reduce the discounts given to them. Therefore, the price for A to buy a member is often 15 yuan.

Screenshot of colleague A’s order to buy a member　

At the same time, the platform hopes that "important development users" will become "important retention users", increase the purchase frequency, and often give more discounts, hoping that users will form consumption habits.　

Therefore, colleague B, as an "important development user", can get a monthly membership for 4.9 yuan.　

Colleague C belongs to the "general development user", and the frequency of ordering and purchasing members is average. Therefore,Although both B and C received discounts, the price of C was significantly higher.　

In short, as long as we don’t buy on a monthly basis and don’t automatically renew, it may make the platform feel that we are likely to lose money, and therefore judge us as an "important development user", providing more benefits.

2) Alternate between platform and account　

When ordering takeout, it is recommended that you do not use the same platform for a long time. It is best to place orders alternately.　

When placing an order, it’s ok.Compared with the price differences of different platforms, the difference may be very large.

The real screenshot of my takeaway order last night shows that the same product in the same store can be different by 17 yuan.

At the same time, there will be differences in the price of takeout ordered by different accounts – the price will be more expensive for users who order takeout for a long time.　

On the left are users who often order takeout, and on the right are users who rarely order takeout.

3) Cancel after ordering, feint a shot　

When I was writing the article, my friend told me that she cancelled her order on the takeaway platform last time because of something; she ordered again 15 minutes later and found that the price had actually dropped by 10 yuan.　

If you don’t believe in evil, I tried it myself. In order to fully let Meituan feel my "sincerity", I speciallyThe order was placed more than an hour apart.　

As a result, Meituan actually gave it to me directlyI gave a 9 yuan large voucher…

I checked it carefully, and this voucher comes from the "Tiantian God Voucher" distributed by Meituan; generally speaking, people can also get it by searching for "Tiantian God Voucher" directly.　

4) Big discounts for newcomers

Generally speaking, in order to attract new users, the platform will give "novice" users a special discount, in order to quickly complete the first order. Therefore, if you have a different mobile phone number to register a new account, you can get a discount for newcomers.　Users who buy Meituan members for the first time only need to spend 0.01 yuan.(Shed tears of envy)

Conclusion

Although I have summed up so many "anti-cutting chives" Tips, I am not excited, but feel a little tired -　

Since when did it become necessary to fight for wits and courage to eat and shop?　

Logically speaking,The "right to know" is one of the most fundamental rights of consumersHowever, big data has blatantly engaged in "price discrimination" and violated consumers’ right to know.　

Now here’s the good news.The state has begun to introduce relevant laws and regulations against the phenomenon of "big data killing":

The draft personal information protection law will be held at the 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress from August 17 to 20. Zang Tiewei, spokesperson of the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, introduced today that the third review draft of the draft intends to further improve the rules for handling personal information, especially the application (App) excessive collection of personal information, "big data killing" and so on. (Source @China Youth Daily)

I hope that the state’s control can improve this deformed phenomenon, so that everyone can live a "normal" life in the future…