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Brothers, my youth is really back this time.

Who still remembers that in early July, we announced that the Xianyu web version would be launched soon.

After finishing the work, these two days at the end of the month,The Xianyu web version has finally officially announced its return.

Shichao took a look at it as soon as possible and found that the basic search, category navigation, product details and chat functions were already available.You can search even if you are not logged in.

However, the transaction function is not open yet. Whether you want to sell your idle items or buy something, you have to go to the App to operate.

There is also order management and other things, which are not online yet.

To put it bluntly, the current Xianyu web version is still "Just look"stage.

However, after trying it out, Shichao felt that the web version was quite smooth to use, and the pages were clean without too many fancy things.

Let's just say that I originally went there to select topics for operation, but ended up browsing it for almost an hour. This thing is reallyA tool for workers to slack off。

Many netizens, like Shichao, share the same feeling about slacking off.

Anyway, from our observations, most people are quite welcoming to the return of the Xianyu web version.

Even as soon as the website was launched, some people started to think about how to make money using the Xianyu web version.

For example, crawling the data of the website and analyzing which products are in high demand.

Someone also pointed out a way and said that this was a great opportunity to make a browser plug-in.

Logically speaking, the world is dominated by mobile Internet now, and web pages cannot compete with apps. But if you have used the Xianyu web version before, you may be more sympathetic.

I don't know how many of you still remember that year.The Xianyu web version has died once？

In the early years, Xianyu also had a web version, and with the traffic from Taobao, it was one of the top players in the second-hand trading market.

But after about 2016, the web version has become more functional.Slowly being castrated.

Because there is no clear time point for removing a function, Shichao roughly sorted out a timeline based on netizens' complaints and some bound volumes from that year.

It is clear that Xianyu is The idle publishing feature was turned off in 2016.

Then in 2017, the search box on the website was gone, and the comment and reply functions were also turned off.

Around 2019,The web version is completely GG.

There is only a QR code left on the page, which is equivalent to forcing users to switch to the mobile app without giving them any choice.

Anyway, because of this incident, Xianyu aroused public anger that year.

Just look at the reposts on Weibo about JD.com's acquisition of PaiPai.com in 2017, and you'll know how angry netizens are. They all hope that PaiPai.com can "kill Xianyu."

We don’t know what made Xianyu shut down its web version. But Shichao thinks,Growth of the smartphone marketIt played a big role in it.

According to StatCounter, in October 2016, traffic from mobile phones and tablets accounted for 51.2%, higher than desktop devices at 48.7%. For the first time, mobile Internet traffic exceeded that from PCs. Apps became traffic portals, early web forums declined, and PC games turned to mobile games. I believe that everyone has experienced the changes over the past decade.

Considering that Xianyu launched its App in 2014, it is not hard to understand why Xianyu was eager to divert traffic to the App. Xianyu was not the only one doing this, as it was a common phenomenon at the time.

Moreover, Xianyu's main app at the time also attempted many new businesses, such as circle social networking (Fishpond) and so on.

Let's not talk about whether the function is good or bad.But people are generally disgusted with the increasingly bloated apps.On the contrary, the web version with simple functions is more popular among users.

As a result, the Xianyu web version naturally became a threat to the App.

I also noticed that since Xianyu closed its web version, many people on the Internet have had their own speculations that in the relatively closed environment of the APP, users' behavioral preferences can be better analyzed.

I don't know if it's accurate, but Shichao thought of a metaphor. When we open a web page on a computer, it's like going to a night market. If we come across a stall we don't like, we just turn around and leave, and never see it again. But it's different with apps. The stall owner may ask you to fill out some questionnaires before letting you go.

Another point is that Xianyu shut down its web version, probably becauseProtect the trading experience of individual sellers on the platform.

The early Xianyu platform attracted many professional sellers disguised as individuals because of its low entry threshold and no handling fees. The influx of a large number of professional sellers undoubtedly squeezed the living space of individual sellers.

If the web version is turned off, the “one person, one device, one number” policy will have almost no impact on individual sellers, but professional sellers will have to reconsider the rising transaction costs.

So, looking back now, the reason why Xianyu shut down its web version is reasonable.

And choosing to restart the web version after so many years is even more reasonable.

Let’s talk about the users first. Since the shutdown of the web version, Xianyu probably knows that there are some users who are looking forward to the return of the web version every day.

Take Taobao’s recent relaunch as an example. It has been 7 years and has hardly been updated, but there are still tens of millions of users browsing it every day.

At that time, in the "Letter to Taobao.com Users", it was mentioned thatMoving towards user experiencethe meaning of.

As a product of Alibaba, Shichao speculates that Xianyu may also have similar purposes. Of course, it is not ruled out that it is also for the purpose of seeking some user growth.

On the other hand, the web version is restartedIt may also have a certain impact on sellers.

As you all know, Xianyu is no longer a simple C2C second-hand trading platform. There are many professional sellers on it. If the web version is restarted, it will be much more convenient for professional sellers than doing business with mobile phones.

So, putting the restart of the web version together with Xianyu’s plan to charge service fees to all sellers a few days ago, could it be that Xianyu is also trying to promote the standardization of professional sellers?

Anyway, no matter what, it’s a good thing that the Xianyu web version is now restarted.

At least, I will have something to do when I'm slacking off at work.

Written by: Xixi

edit: Jiang Jiang & Noodles

Art editor: Huan Yan

Image, source：

Weibo, Xianyu web version, Jike

IT Home, Xianyu PC web version officially returns, and functions such as search, view details and chat are now available

Sanyi Life, the web version is about to be restarted, but how will Xianyu deal with professional sellers

Some pictures are from the Internet