Chinese B2B e-commerce platform Huixiadan (惠下单) has secured an undisclosed amount of strategic investment (in Chinese) from Tencent.
Founded in 2015 by a team from world’s top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands, Huixiadan is a mobile app where retailers could order FMCG directly from distributors. The company is now partnered with over 120 retail stores across 24 provinces. Its top partnership brands include Coca-Cola and P&G, Mengniu Dairy and Uni-President. The company aims to improve the efficiency of the distribution process by facilitating the communication between retailers and distributors.
The new tie-up would create synergy effects between Huixiadan, its partners and Tencent’s WeChat-based ecosystem, big data and smart retailing system, according to founder and CEO of Huixiadan Cui Zhen.
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Report from research institute Kantar shows that China has over 6 million traditional offline stores, which boasts an RMB 2 trillion worth of or around half of China’s FMCG market. Investment in Huixiadan marks Tencent’s efforts to digitalize traditional brands and offline retailers.
Tencent’s competitor Alibaba also launched similar initiatives to revamp China’s retailing landscape. Backed by its merchandise channels, ordering, logistics, and marketing capacities, Alibaba is reaching franchise partnerships with offline grocery stores in residential communities across China since last year.