The newly established subsidiary of Chinese retail giant Suning.com, which is called YunwangWandian, announced that it has raised 6 billion yuan (equivalent to US$915.5 million) in investment, according to a filing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The new financing will give Suning direct access to strategic resources and strong financial support, which can help it to expand client acquisition, increase investment in research and developmental projects.
Suning said it launched Yunwang Wandian during the Singles’ Day shopping festival to complete its online businesses.
Let us see more in-depth what is Suning
Suning Holdings Group, the company that owns Inter Milan, is confirmed as one of the main commercial companies in China. The Suning Group, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary since its founding, has ranked second on the China Federation of Industry and Commerce annual list of the nation’s top 500 non-state enterprises, falling into this special list drawn up by the China Federation of Industry and Commerce for the eleventh consecutive year.
Suning achieved sales of RMB 665.259 billion ($ 97 billion) and was confirmed as #1 in the Internet retail category. In addition, in August 2020, Suning.com, a major subsidiary of Suning Holdings Group, has been included on the Fortune Global 500 List for the fourth consecutive year.
Read: Sell on Suning Global
Suning.com, China’s leading smart retail O2O company, ranked 324th (up from 333rd in 2019) with annual operating revenue of $ 38.97 billion, profits of $ 1.424 billion, assets of 34 billion, and a market value of 13.7 billion.
Zhang Jindong, the president of Suning Holdings Group, said that they will further improve the integration and application of digital innovations across the entire retail chain.
Who is Zhang Jindong?
Zhang Jindong, president and founder of Chinese home appliance giant Suning Commerce Group is one of the richest men in China. He was born in Anhui province in 1963, with a degree in Chinese literature; he worked in a fabric factory for some time. In 1990, he opened an air conditioner dealer with his brother, who soon after moved into real estate.
Then, Zhang decided to work on his own and expanded his business by gradually transforming the store into a company with 1700 stores and 13,000 employees.
Suning has been listed on the stock exchange since 2004, the first foreign company in its sector to operate in Silicon Valley in 2013, and is the leader in the Chinese market for electronic products.
He recently managed to form an alliance with Jack Ma. This allows Alibaba to own 20% of Suning while allowing Jindong to own 1.1% of Alibaba. This marriage aims at expanding the potential of both Chinese e-commerce giants.
Today Jindong has an estimated net worth of $4 billion, is the 28th richest man in China, and, according to Forbes, the 403rd in the world.
Suning eCommerce: which are the main products sold on the platform?
Suning Commerce has both an e-commerce platform and 1,600 stores in many cities between China, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Suning.com is among the top three Chinese B2C platforms.
Suning offers a huge range of products, such as:
- household appliances,
- electronic products,
- food products,
- maternity and childhood products,
- generic products,
- recreational products,
- financial products.
An overview of e-commerce numbers in China
China has now established itself as a world leader in e-commerce and online shopping, with more than 800 million internet users.
In 2019, e-commerce in China recorded € 867 billion in turnover, 19% more than in 2018. 1 billion users purchased a product online; 80% of users searched for a product online; 94% of users visited an online store on a marketplace and 82% of users purchased a product/service online (Statista and Global Web Index, 2019).
The annual growth rate of e-commerce in China from 2020 to 2024 is estimated at 6.9%. The largest segment of the market is dedicated to Fashion (the US $ 348,700m in 2020).
Suning main competitors
Tmall: the no.1 e-commerce platform in China
Tmall is the B2C (Business to Consumer) e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group, one of the leaders in international e-commerce.
It is the main website where foreign and local companies sell their products to Chinese consumers.
Tmall mainly focuses on quality products from Western brands. The most purchased products are:
- clothing and accessories,
- household products,
- luxury cars,
- wine,
- food,
- maternity products.
Through its Tmall Global extension, a cross-border e-commerce platform, foreign companies have the opportunity to sell their products to Chinese consumers, directly from “domestic” stocks without needing a legal identity in China.
Jd.com: the no.3 e-commerce platform in China
Jd.com is an e-commerce platform that boasts an incredibly wide range of products that includes categories such as:
- cosmetics,
- fresh food,
- clothing, and much more.
JD.com is one of the largest online platforms in terms of product quantities. The number of products offered by JD.com has grown dramatically over the years.
JD.com is also very active on promotions through social media, especially with the Chinese social media giant WeChat with which it has entered into a partnership that contrasts the one composed by Alibaba and Weibo.
The products on JD.com are also available through the WeChat app, which accounts for 32% of online e-commerce sales.
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