China’s e-commerce company Pinduoduo announced Friday that it will start a six-day promotion during Black Friday from 00:00 am on Nov 28, offering more than 20,000 import goods under nearly 500 global brands, according to a press release of the company.
Products such as Nintendo’s game consoles Switch, and Estee Launder skincare, in addition to other goods from brands like Sony, Philips, Calvin Klein, and Shiseido, will be offered to Pinduoduo’s 536.3 million annual active buyers, added the company.
This is the first time that Pinduoduo, which is still mostly known for its bargains, leverages the Black Friday, which this year falls on Nov 29, to increase user engagement and to reframe itself as a marketplace for branded merchandise.
Pinduoduo also announced in the press release that it has set up outlets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan to directly cooperate with suppliers based there. The move comes about ten months after the platform launched its cross-border import business called Quanqiugou in April, where as an incentive to overseas merchants has been charging zero commission fees.
Gross merchandise volume on Quanqiugou increased 100% month-on-month, said Pinduoduo, without revealing detailed data, adding that GMV on imported mother-and-baby products, and cosmetics even witnessed 200% month-on-month growth rates.
In the next three years, Pinduoduo will introduce more than 10,000 international brands into its platform, said the company, which also expects its cross-border import business to generate RMB 200 billion (USD 28.4 billion) in annual sales, according to the press release.
Black Friday is the name of a major e-commerce shopping event that takes place the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. During 2018, the day generated USD 6.22 billion in online sales, up 23.6% from 2017. Black Friday is not very widespread in China, although some e-commerce platforms are also leveraging on this date to increase sales, just a few days after China’s major shopping fest, Singles’ Day.
