Pinduoduo plans to become grocer to the world | WARC | The Feed

23 March 2021

Pinduoduo plans to become grocer to the world

Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo has emerged as the first real challenger to Alibaba and JD.com’s domination of the online space, thanks to a focus on linking farmers with consumers.

Why it matters

Pinduoduo, with its mix of good-value products plus entertainment, epitomizes Chinese consumers’ delight in social e-commerce, which turns shopping into an event, even a game. With 788.4 million active users last year, a 35% increase, Pinduoduo is now the most popular e-commerce platform in China, while revenues of $9.1 billion last year were almost double those of 2019. Some 12 million farmers – more than half of them women – now sell their produce through the platform.

The context

• The platform saw revenue rise by 146% in Q4 last year, driven by rocketing demand for online grocery shopping. Now the company says it aims to become the world’s biggest grocer.
• When food supplies were hit by COVID-19 last year, Pinduoduo ran livestreaming sessions with poorer farming communities allowing them to market their products, and created a dedicated “Help the Farmers” channel. Other initiatives include promoting more efficient approaches to joining up the processes of growing, moving and selling food.
• Its approach has the central government’s stamp of approval – Beijing recognized Pinduoduo last year as one of three tech companies that had provided outstanding contributions to helping alleviate poverty.

Soundbite

“Together we’ve produced a minor miracle. We’ve changed Chinese e-commerce and even the structure of the Chinese internet,” – Colin Huang, Pinduoduo’s founder and an ex-Google engineer, in a speech to staff.

Sourced from IG, AP