Amazon has opened a pop-up store on Chinese social e-commerce platform Pinduoduo that will run until the end of December, the company said on Monday.
Why it matters: The move, which TechNode reported on Sunday, will help Amazon boost its existing cross-border e-commerce business in China after shutting its third-party e-commerce marketplace business in April.
- Partnership with Pinduoduo, which says it has 536 million total users, will facilitate Amazon’s lower-tier market penetration in China.
- As Pinduoduo pushes further into higher-tier cities, the Amazon tie-up brings Pinduoduo much-needed support in repositioning itself as a reliable marketplace for finding high-quality, authentic products.
- Shares for Nasdaq-listed Pinduoduo, which sank more than 20% after it reported a wider-than-expected loss in Q3, is facing an uphill battle in its competition with rivals including Alibaba and JD.com.
Details: The new storefront, which went live on the Chinese social e-commerce platform at midnight on Monday, offers customers a curated selection of about 1,000 products imported from overseas, Amazon said in a statement sent to TechNode.
- Items offered include some of the most popular imported product categories from cosmetics to baby goods. Brand names such as Champion, Waterpik, and Enfagrow are among the offerings coming from countries including Australia, Japan, the US, and Germany.
- In its statement, Amazon reiterated its “strong” commitment to China and pledged to continue to invest and grow the Amazon Global Store business in China.
- “We will focus our efforts on cross-border sales in China and to keep improving the experience for Chinese customers,” the company said.
Context: Amazon’s cross-border e-commerce business in China, which sells “tens of millions products,” is accessible through its Chinese website Amazon.cn, the Amazon mobile app, and its WeChat mini program.
- In April, Amazon announced it would be shutting down its China third-party seller e-commerce marketplace to sharpen focus on its cross-border selling and cloud computing service businesses in the country.
Amazon marketplace resurfaces in China with store on Pinduoduo