#Laogao E-commerce Newsletter# [February 18 E-commerce Evening News]

E-commerce Evening News: Taobao and Tmall upgrade the instant refund rules to reduce the after-sales operation costs of merchants; Huitongda, the "first stock of rural e-commerce", officially landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; Quark App: Gu Ailing's related search volume has increased by 20 times since the opening of the Winter Olympics; Walmart China's net e-commerce sales in Q4 of 2022 fiscal year increased by 93%; Amazon will open its first logistics center in Belgium...

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E-commerce newsletter

1. Taobao and Tmall upgrade the instant refund rules to reduce the after-sales operation costs of merchants

According to the report on February 18, according to the World Online Business, from 0:00 on February 15, Taobao has upgraded the "no shipment but only refund" rule. In the latest rules, after the consumer pays and before the merchant ships, orders (sub-orders) of Taobao stores with orders less than or equal to 500 yuan, and orders for any amount of Tmall stores will be automatically processed with "refunds in seconds without shipping", without the merchant having to do additional operations. Before the rules change, if the orders for Taobao and Tmall are less than or equal to 200 yuan and within 2 hours of payment, the system supports instant refunds, and other orders need to be manually operated by the merchant one by one. (E-commerce News)

2. Alibaba donated HK$10 million in the first phase to support Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic

In addition to funding donations, Tmall Hong Kong also provides logistics subsidies to urgently mobilize merchants to make every effort to ensure the stability of the supply and prices of anti-epidemic supplies, food, daily necessities and disinfectants. At the same time, Cainiao's delivery in Hong Kong maintains normal services, and ensures safety and smooth logistics delivery while strictly complying with epidemic prevention requirements. It is reported that as the epidemic situation in Hong Kong becomes increasingly severe, more companies have extended a helping hand to Hong Kong. Among them, Ant Group donated HK$10 million to support Hong Kong's fight against the epidemic; Tencent announced that it would increase its donation to HK$50 million to rush to Hong Kong; Xiaomi Foundation announced that it would donate HK$5 million to Hong Kong. (E-commerce News)

3. Huitongda, the "first stock of rural e-commerce", officially landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

According to February 18, today, Huitongda Network, known as the "first stock of rural e-commerce", was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and opened slightly higher by 1.28% to HK$43.55, with an issue price of HK$43. As of midday trading, the stock rose 1.51% to HK$43.65, with a market value of HK$24.456 billion. According to the prospectus, Huitongda Network has received nine financings since 2015, and its investment institutions include Alibaba, central enterprise funds, national adjustment funds, etc. Currently, Alibaba is its second largest shareholder. (E-commerce News)

4. Zhongtong’s instant express logistics platform “Quidi is here” is officially launched

According to the news on February 18, according to the "Zhongtong Star", after three months of testing and operation, on February 17, the global cross-domain instant express logistics sharing platform under ZTO Express, "Quick Di is Coming", was officially launched. According to reports, "Quidi is here" is an instant express logistics sharing platform open to social logistics resources. It focuses on the mid-to-high-end time-limited parcel market and is committed to providing the society with the ultimate time-limited express logistics services. At present, the service of "Quick Brother is Coming" has covered 37 cities across the country. (E-commerce News)

Internet news

5. The 226 scenic spots in Henan have limited free tickets, Mafengwo has seen a huge popularity in "Henan Tourism"

According to February 18, starting from February 16, 226 scenic spots in Henan Province have begun to exempt tourists from tickets across the country. The free ticket period is until March 31, covering the entire spring outing season. Famous scenic spots such as Laojun Mountain, which was selected as the "2021 China New Secret Land" in Mafengwo, and Longmen Grottoes, which are popular among young people, are all among the free tickets. It is worth mentioning that on February 9, the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism issued a notice that, given that the province's medium- and high-risk areas for the epidemic have been cleared, the province will orderly resume cross-provincial group tourism and "air ticket + hotel" business of travel agencies and online travel companies. (E-commerce News)

6. Quark App: Gu Ailing's search volume has increased by 20 times since the opening of the Winter Olympics

On February 18, data released by Quark, a smart search app under Alibaba, showed that the number of relevant searches for the new Winter Olympics gold medalist Gu Ailing has increased by 20 times since the opening of the Winter Olympics. Netizens in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Beijing pay the most attention to Gu Ailing, among which more female users than men. Netizens of different age groups have different focus on Gu Ailing. In the Quark App, the most searched question among netizens born in the 2000s is "Why is Gu Ailing called the Frog Princess?", while the 1980s, who are parents, like to ask "How to cultivate the next Gu Ailing?" The Olympic champion who works hard and optimistic and positive has become the "child of others" in their eyes. (E-commerce News)

Cross-border newsletter

7. Walmart China's net e-commerce sales increased by 93% in Q4 fiscal year 2022

According to February 18, Walmart recently released its fourth quarter financial report for fiscal year 2022. Walmart's total revenue in Q4 was US$152.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%; Q4 operating profit was US$5.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. Walmart China's net sales in Q4 increased by 26.7%, and comparable sales increased by 19.8%; among them, Sam's member store and e-commerce business performed well, Walmart China's net sales in Q4 increased by 93%, with a two-year combined growth rate of 158%. (E-commerce News)

8. Amazon will open its first logistics center in Belgium

According to foreign media reports, e-commerce giant Amazon is building its first logistics center in Belgium, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year to meet growing business needs and expand its logistics network capacity. It is reported that the logistics center will be located in the Blue Gate Commercial Park in Antwerp, Belgium, and will be managed by Amazon. It will sort parcels from large distribution centers in France and Germany and ship them to Belgian customers. The facility will be operational by the end of 2022 and plans to create 50 jobs. (E-commerce News)

9. Content social e-commerce platform "Voilà" completed a US$6 million Series A financing

On February 18, recently, the overseas content social e-commerce platform "Voilà" focusing on the fashion industry in Europe and the United States announced that it had completed a US$6 million Series A financing, led by Innovation Works and followed by Fosun Ruizheng Capital. So far, Voilà's total financing amount has reached US$7.5 million. It is understood that Voilà is a platform for building infrastructure for social e-commerce. Currently, more than 10,000 creators have entered Voilà. (E-commerce News)

10. Fast fashion e-commerce platform SHEIN denies the rumor of "transfer of the founder" and IPO

According to February 18, it was reported that the global fast fashion e-commerce brand platform SHEIN may change its holding entity to a Singaporean company and is increasing its recruitment efforts in Singapore. A document also shows that its founder and CEO Xu Yangtian has become a permanent resident of Singapore. Subsequently, a spokesperson for SHEIN responded to the changes in the headquarters address. In order to better promote local business development and meet local government regulatory requirements, SHEIN is a multi-center operation setting, and the positioning and functions of each center have not changed. At the same time, a company spokesperson also denied the listing plan, saying that founder Xu Yangtian and other SHEIN executives have not applied for Singapore citizenship. (Sina Technology)