#Laogao E-commerce Newsletter# [E-commerce Evening News on January 4]

E-commerce News: Douyin Goods New Year Festival launches a national anchor event; Meituan flash sale: instant retail channel shopping has become a holiday habit for users; JD Logistics and Guangdong Foshan Municipal Supervision Bureau signed a strategic collaboration agreement; Amazon responds: Consumers can purchase Kindle through third-party online and offline retailers; Egypt's B2B fashion e-commerce company Gahez received a seed round of financing of US$2 million...

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E-commerce newsletter

1. Douyin Goods New Year Festival launches a national anchor event

On January 4th, recently, the Douyin Goods New Year’s Festival’s National Anchor Event was officially launched, and participants can share tens of millions of traffic coupons. It is reported that the gameplay of this event includes the National Mission Competition and the Peak Mission Competition. The registration time is from December 10, 2021 to January 16, 2022, and the event time is from January 1, 2022 to January 16, 2022. Among them, the National Mission Competition is aimed at authors with a level of L0-L3, and the Peak Mission Competition is aimed at authors with a level of L4-L6. The content of the event tasks includes sales of goods in the live broadcast room, etc. (E-commerce News)

2. JD.com's acquisition of controlling stake in China's logistics assets has entered its final stage

According to the news on January 4, information disclosed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed that matters related to the China Assets of the Smart Industry Development Group were officially accepted by the anti-monopoly agency on October 19, 2021; on December 31, 2021, the offeror received a notice from the anti-monopoly agency that the transaction would not be banned. After the acquisition is completed, JD.com and its joint actors will hold a total of 1.286 billion shares of China Logistics Assets, accounting for approximately 37.02% of the issued share capital of China Logistics Assets. Data shows that as of June 30, 2021, China's logistics assets have 179 operating logistics facilities in 38 logistics parks in 19 provinces or municipal logistics hubs. (Yibang Power)

3. Meituan flash sales: instant retail channel shopping has become a holiday habit for users

According to the flash sale, during the New Year's Day 2022, Meituan's flash sale orders in small and medium-sized cities increased by nearly double year-on-year. Among them, the order volume in Langfang, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Qingyuan and other cities ranked among the top three in small and medium-sized cities. It is understood that among the orders in small and medium-sized cities of Meituan flash sale, the orders for 3C products increased by nearly 1.5 times, the orders for beauty products increased by nearly 1.7 times, the orders for strawberry products increased by nearly 1.4 times, the orders for cherry orders increased by 1 times, and the orders for dairy gift boxes increased by 1.1 times year-on-year. According to the relevant person in charge of Meituan flash sale, more and more consumers choose to purchase festivals and gifts through instant retail channels such as online ordering and 30-minute home delivery during the festival. (Yibang Power)

4. JD Logistics and Guangdong Foshan Municipal Supervision Bureau signed a strategic cooperation agreement

On January 4th, recently, we reached a consensus on cooperation with the Foshan Market Supervision Administration and signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will jointly create the "JD-Foshan Standard Product Pavilion" to promote the high-quality development of "Foshan Manufacturing". Relying on the Foshan Standard Product Library, JD Logistics provides "Foshan Standard" merchants with a package of services in front and behind the scenes, covering multiple fields and aspects of the production and sales chain. At present, 56 Foshan standard products from 23 Foshan key enterprises have been entered. (Yibang Power)

Internet news

5. Where to go: The number of air ticket searches during the Spring Festival travel season during the 2022 New Year's Day period increased by 4 times month-on-month

According to January 4, on January 3, the railway department began to issue train tickets for the 2022 Spring Festival travel rush. This year's popular destinations are Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Shanghai. At the same time, Qunar data shows that during the New Year's Day 2022, the number of air ticket searches during the Spring Festival travel season increased by 4 times month-on-month compared with the previous week. From January 17 to February 2, the air ticket booking volume on Qunar platform has exceeded the 2020 Spring Festival travel rush. (E-commerce News)

6. Meituan Made in Grabs: Pre-made vegetables sales increased by 4 times in 2021 compared with the previous year

According to the news on January 4, the person in charge of the Meituan Maize Pre-made Vegetables Project said that the sales of Meituan Maize's pre-made vegetables in 2021 increased by 4 times month-on-month compared with 2020. It is understood that Meituan Maicai, as Meituan’s self-operated retail business, has continued to deepen the research and development of self-operated products in the past year. As the Spring Festival approaches, Meituan Maijiao’s “Elephant Chef” X “Must Eat List” area has been officially launched recently. The area is jointly launched by Meituan Maijiao’s self-operated brand “Elephant Chef” and Dianping’s “Must Eat List”. It will gather catering brands such as must-eat list and time-honored brands to provide users with food shared by relatives and friends during the holidays. (E-commerce News)

Cross-border newsletter

7. Due to the impact of the epidemic, Walmart temporarily closed nearly 60 US stores last month

According to Reuters, in December 2021, Walmart temporarily closed nearly 60 U.S. stores in areas with severe epidemics and disinfected them to reduce the risk of virus transmission. A Walmart spokesman said in a statement that Walmart stores in places such as Texas and New Jersey have been closed for two days for disinfection, however, the company has not commented on the potential impact of the closure. In addition, a Walmart spokesman declined to confirm whether employees of the closed stores were infected with the new coronavirus, nor did he comment on whether the number of employees who tested positive for the new coronavirus had increased. (E-commerce News)

8. Egypt's B2B fashion e-commerce company Gahez receives $2 million seed round financing

According to foreign media reports, Egypt-based B2B fashion e-commerce company Gahez recently received a seed round of $2 million led by Disrupttech Ventures, with Egypt Ventures, Tanmeyah and other angel investors participating. It is understood that Gahez was founded at the end of 2021. Since its launch, its business has quickly spread to 16 regions in Egypt. Currently, the Gahez platform has more than 15,000 retailers, 142 manufacturers and more than 4,000 SKUs. Gahez is committed to streamlining management processes for retailers and manufacturers and facilitating their product selection and procurement, such as providing credit services, simplifying collection procedures, while handling their cash settlements with suppliers through third-party aggregators. (E-commerce News)

9. Amazon responds: Consumers can purchase Kindle through third-party online and offline retailers

On January 4, in response to the rumors that Kindle is out of stock and may withdraw from the Chinese market, Amazon officially responded that Kindle e-book readers are very popular among consumers, and some models are currently sold out in the Chinese market. Consumers can purchase Kindle devices through third-party online and offline retailers. The high-quality customer service and warranty service provided by Amazon will not change. (E-commerce News)

10. South Korea plans to introduce new e-commerce regulations Coupang is undergoing antitrust investigation

According to Yonhap News Agency, recently, South Korea's antitrust regulator John Sung-wook said that the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will take severe actions on unfair business activities on major online platforms to protect small merchants and consumers.

South Korea's antitrust regulator said online retailers such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. abuse their market dominance and unfair business practices against contractors would pose a threat to the survival of small merchants.

John Sung-wook said the government should speed up legislation on new bills that regulate unfair business activities on online platforms, thus constraining them to make legitimate sales. According to the relevant bills submitted by the FTC, online platforms will be subject to huge fines if they crack down on sellers or other illegal commercial activities.

South Korean regulators are investigating whether e-commerce giant Coupang and taxi company Kakao Mobility Corp. have had unfair business practices. format-jpg It is understood that Kakao will face the allegations of "favoring private brands and allowing private brands to be placed on the top of the website and mobile platforms" and "prioritizing their own taxis when hiking a taxi".

And the FTC is investigating allegations that Coupang abuses its search algorithm, so its own branded products are placed on top of its website and mobile platforms. (E-commerce News)