In Part 1, I teed up a couple of related digital concepts: Personalization. A good example of this is Shein. They are taking personalization further up the supply chain to product development. This, in theory, can become the “market of one”. Economies of Scope (vs. Scale). Good examples here are Unilever and Sony. Improving the […]
I have been giving you lots of frameworks and concepts. And after a while, it can all get kind of confusing. Is this new software critical for my business? Is this new business model going to seriously impact our industry? Is this like Amazon completely disrupting retail? Is this more like Mobike, which was nice […]
Virality, viral loops, incentives and digital word of mouth all get sort of mixed together. They are all growth mechanisms for digital businesses. And they are all about taking advantage of the connections between digitized users. These growth mechanisms, based on the connections between consumers, have become increasingly important for both digital and traditional businesses. […]
I have one B2C “super chart”. It’s a bit ridiculous but stick with me. I think it is actually a good prediction of the future of B2C. The basic idea is that ecommerce is combining with entertainment. We see that in Taobao Live and TikTok already. And this is also being combined with social media […]
Pinduoduo (PDD) has really stood out in digital – both for its ability to break into a market dominated by Alibaba and JD and for the stunning speed of its growth. Founded in 2015, PDD has grown to +800M users in six years. It grew to +$9B in revenue. Upon reaching a +$100B market cap, […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the short-term tactics that are popular in China, such as community group buying, blind boxes and influencer marketing. He argues that investors should not overvalue these tactics, as they are not sustainable in the long term.
At the suggestion of a subscriber, I looked at Joy Spreader Interactive Technologies. It is a digital marketing company that rose on the back of China’s recent KOL / influencer frenzy. Joy Spreader itself is not that interesting of a company. And, to be blunt, there is very little I like about it from a […]
Ruhnn Holding is a Chinese company that not many people follow. Based in Hangzhou, tied with Alibaba and vaguely described as a talent agency and/or social commerce company, it’s a strange animal. And it is currently being taken private and off the US exchanges (maybe). But the company is fascinating and has some really important […]
This is Part 2 about Pinduoduo and the idea of interactive / engagement-driven ecommerce. In Part 1, I discussed a recent whitepaper with its authors Elliott Zaagman (co-host the China Tech Investor podcast and a research and communications professional focused on China) and Matthew Brennan (Managing Director of the China Channel.) Their whitepaper on […]
This is Part 1 about Pinduoduo and the idea of interactive / engagement-driven ecommerce. Our guests for this podcast were Matthew Brennan and Elliott Zaagman. Elliott Zaagman is co-host the China Tech Investor podcast and a research and communications professional focused on China. Matthew Brennan is Managing Director of the China Channel. We discuss […]