#Laogao E-commerce Newsletter# [E-commerce Morning News on December 15]

E-commerce News: Debang Express announced normal business during the Spring Festival; Uber Eats sent food into space for the first time; Apple's US retail stores require entrants to wear masks; Henan's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume increased by 38.7% year-on-year in the first 11 months...

Lao Gao provides everyone with the latest and most valuable Internet and e-commerce information every day.

E-commerce newsletter

1. News says ByteDance’s internal testing of “soda music” app

It is understood that "soda music" is a music listening platform for young people who love music trends. Its overall style is close to the overseas music product "Resso", and the playback interface is the homepage. Soda music adopts a music switching mode that slides up and down, and will use video dynamics as the background in the playback interface. It is worth noting that Resso has a podcast function in the new version, and it is not ruled out that the official version of Soda Music will add a podcast function. (E-commerce News)

2. Henan's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume increased by 38.7% year-on-year in the first 11 months

According to the Henan Business Daily, at the 2021 "First Central Cross-border E-commerce Seller Brand Overseas Summit" recently directed by the Henan Provincial Department of Commerce and hosted by Yien.com and Facebook, Sun Qi, director of the E-commerce Department of the Henan Provincial Department of Commerce, said that from January to November 2021, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in Henan increased by 38.7% year-on-year. According to Sun Qi, Henan has achieved full coverage of cross-border e-commerce model supervision and has been approved as the world's only cross-border e-commerce retail imported drugs pilot, becoming the first national cross-border e-commerce B2B export supervision pilot. (E-commerce News)

3. Alibaba co-founder Cai Chongxin was selected for Forbes 2021 Asia-Pacific Charity Heroes List

On December 14, Forbes Asia released the 2021 Asia-Pacific Charity Heroes List, and Alibaba co-founder Cai Chongxin, 57, and his 55-year-old wife Wu Minghua were both selected. In July this year, through its charitable foundation, Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, the two promised to invest $220 million to establish the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance foundation to promote the integration of technology and movement. It is understood that in April 2021, Forbes Global Rich List was released, and Tsai Chongxin ranked 189th on the list with a wealth of US$11.6 billion; on February 25 of the same year, Tsai Chongxin ranked 10th on the "2021 Forbes China Hong Kong Rich List" with a wealth of US$12.5 billion. (E-commerce News)

4. JD.com and iQOO sign a strategic cooperation agreement

This time, the strategic cooperation agreement was signed, and the two parties will adhere to the concept of "resource sharing, complementary advantages, and win-win cooperation". JD.com will help iQOO further expand the mobile phone market and obtain new increments based on its omni-channel coverage advantages, hourly fulfillment capabilities, and high-quality services. Relying on JD's supply chain, omni-channel service performance and other capabilities, the two parties will gradually implement C2M customization and IoT full ecological products to meet the needs of specific consumer groups. (E-commerce News)

Cross-border newsletter

5. Apple's US retail stores require entrants to wear masks

According to the news on December 15, Apple's U.S. stores require customers to wear masks when entering due to the rising coronavirus pandemic. Previously, Apple's requirements were not so strict. Only when local orders were issued, Apple would require entrants to wear masks. The latest statement shows that even if some states in the United States do not have such orders, shoppers must wear them when entering Apple stores. An Apple spokesperson said in a statement that Apple will regularly monitor the status quo and adjust the health regulations in the store in a timely manner, which is to take care of the health of customers and employees. It is understood that Apple closed all its stores in 2020 and reopened at the beginning of this year. (E-commerce News)

6. Cross-border e-commerce SaaS service provider "Lingxing" completed a C round of financing of 280 million yuan

On December 15, cross-border e-commerce SaaS service provider "Lingxing" announced that it had completed a C round of financing of RMB 280 million. This round of financing was led by Xianghe Capital, followed by Hillhouse Venture Capital, Source Code Capital, Shunwei Capital and Zhongding Capital, and Taihe Capital serves as the exclusive financial advisor. It is reported that Lingxing was established in 2017 and is committed to providing cross-border e-commerce sellers with refined operations and integrated business and finance solutions. At present, Lingxing has served more than 100,000 cross-border e-commerce companies, among which the number of cross-border e-commerce listed companies and sellers of billions of scale are both ahead of the industry, and its business growth in 2021 is more than 200%. (E-commerce News)

7. The largest taxi platform in Europe, G7, suspends Tesla Model 3 services

According to multiple media reports, the largest taxi platform in Europe, G7, said on Tuesday that the rest of the Model 3 taxis in the fleet of the company will temporarily suspend the remaining Model 3 taxis in the fleet after a major accident in the 13th district of Paris over the weekend. In an official statement, the G7 said that as a preventive measure, the company decided to suspend services of 37 drivers equipped with the same model and wait for the police's investigation conclusions in the future. (E-commerce News)

Internet Information

8. Uber Eats sends food into space for the first time

According to news on December 14, Uber Eats recently announced that it would send food into space for the first time. Uber Eats cooperated with Japanese entrepreneur Tomosato Maezawa to deliver instant Japanese cans to astronauts on the International Space Station. According to reports, the delivery time of this "takeout" is 9:40 am Eastern Time on December 11. Since Maezawa left Earth, it has traveled 248 miles, taking 8 hours and 34 minutes. To celebrate this space trip, Uber Eats offers $10 discounts to the top 24,800 orders over $20 with the promo code SPACEFOOD, with the promotion from December 13-19, 2021. (E-commerce News)

9. Grab acquires Jaya Grocer, a Malaysian grocery chain

On December 14, according to Reuters, SEC documents show that Southeast Asian online ride-hailing giant Grab is acquiring Malaysia's high-end grocery chain Jaya Grocer Holdings Sdn. Grab has reportedly signed an agreement with shareholders of Jaya Grocer to purchase all common shares and 75% of preferred shares of the grocery chain for an undisclosed amount. According to the latest documents released on December 13, Grab has the right to purchase the remaining preferred shares after the transaction is completed. In addition, for local regulatory considerations, Grab will work with local investors, who will have 50% of the voting rights of Jaya Grocer. (E-commerce News)

10. Debang Express announced normal business during the Spring Festival

ZTO will announce the specific implementation measures for "no closing during the Spring Festival". At the same time, other express delivery companies such as Shentong and YTO also stated that they will officially announce service arrangements during the Spring Festival in the near future. (E-commerce News)