Amazon to open pop-up store on Pinduoduo until year-end
Everyone wants a piece of Chinese eCommerce. Amazon is no different! The giant is trying really hard with some successes and some failures. Although it is still expanding significantly in other markets such as India, the US eCommerce company has struggled to gain a foothold in the world’s second-largest economy. In the first half of 2018, Amazon accounted for just 1.2% of China’s business-to-consumer ecommerce market, while Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com together took 83.8% of the market share, according to data from iiMedia Research.
Facing local competition and laws it is tough nut to crack. However, Amazon is not giving up. This time the world’s largest online retailer, is set to open a pop-up store on Chinese eCommerce platform Pinduoduo after withdrawing its own Chinese domestic marketplace business in July.
“The Amazon Global Store pop-up store on Pinduoduo provides customers with a curated selection of about 1,000 overseas products with competitive prices, authenticity guarantee, and convenient shipping,”
Amazon said in a statement.
“We look forward to enabling customers to enjoy cross-border shopping through this store,”
the company said, adding that the store will be available until end of December 2019.
Amazon has been operating in China for about 15 years – it bought local Chinese online shopping website Joyo.com in 2004 and rebranded it as Amazon China in 2011.
The US company has been shifting its strategy in the country amid fierce competition from domestic operators. About four months ago, it closed part of its eCommerce operations in China to move its focus to cross-border sales and cloud services as part of
“operational adjustments.”
In a statement on last Monday, Amazon said its commitment to China remains strong.
“We will continue to invest and grow Amazon Global Store business in China,”
it said, adding that it will focus efforts in China on cross-border sales and
“to keep improving the experience for Chinese customers.”
Since July 18, Amazon users in China have not been allowed to purchase goods from third-party merchants in the country but have still been able to order goods from the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan through the eCommerce platform, according to previous reports by Reuters.