Food delivery platform Meituan announced a big hiring plan, planning to almost double its headcount to gear up for expansion into areas like community group buy. E-commerce giant Alibaba wants to help international merchants set up their own livestream platforms. Cross-border logistics firm Kuajing Haoyun secured series A funding.
Meituan is hiring
Retail
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China’s e-commerce and retail market offers a fire hose of products, choices, business models, rapidly changing content, and more. Here’s what you need to know about China’s online retail market for the week of June 10 to June 16.
Chinese food delivery giant Meituan plans to hire 60,000 new employees this year as it expands into new business areas such as community group buying. The planned expansion will almost double the company’s current headcount. Meituan said in a statement on Wednesday that it intends to recruit engineers, customer managers, and logistics professionals. (Reuters)
New initiatives from Alibaba
- Alibaba Cloud launched a new service to help international merchants build their own livestream platforms, seeking to capitalize on the growth of livestreaming outside of China. The unit is having its slowest growth period since 2014 after the reported loss of TikTok as a client. (TechNode)
- Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao collaborates with the Hainan government to provide smart logistics infrastructure for a supply chain pilot zone. The collaboration aims to draw over 1,000 merchants and cut down customer pickup time to under 70 seconds. The move is part of Beijing’s plan to develop the southern island province into China’s largest free-trade zone. (SCMP)
Companies raising funds
- Cross-border logistics platform Kuajing Haoyun completed a series A financing round, securing an undisclosed amount in the millions of yuan. Pavilion Capital, the private equity unit of Singapore-based investment company Temasek, led the round, with Mountain View Capital serving as the financial advisor. According to the Shenzhen-based company, Kuajing Haoyun currently has 1,000 logistics partners on its platform and has worked with about 36,000 small and medium cross-border e-commerce sellers worldwide. (Kuajing Haoyun, in Chinese).
- Online pharmacy Dingdang Kuaiyao announced on Tuesday that it had raised $220 million. Hong Kong private equity fund TPG Capital Asia, healthcare investment firm OrbiMed, and private equity fund Redview Capital invested in this round. The company offers on-demand drug delivery services to users through mobile apps. Previous to the latest funding round, 18 institutional investors had withdrawn from the company in May. (Sohu, in Chinese)
- Wine e-commerce platform Lady Penguin (Zui E Niang) completed its series A funding round on June 11, raising an undisclosed amount in the millions of yuan. Hong Kong-based FinTrek Capital was the sole investor. According to 36Kr, Lady Penguin will use the funds for branding and to expand offline channels. The company offers a monthly subscription for wine and free wine-related content online. (36Kr, in Chinese)