Pinduoduo, a leading e-commerce platform in China, recently announced that the sales volume of Chilean cherries on its platform exceeded 500,000 units in the first week of December. With its promotional initiative of “Ten-Billion Subsidies”, the platform has helped consumers save nearly 10 million yuan.
The company said that with the arrival of the peak of Chilean cherries at the end of the year, the platform will continue to increase their subsidies, carry out offline promotion, give out coupons in live-streaming sales events and other promotional activities to meet the growing demand for cherries. It is reported that with a discount coupon that the company offers, customers can get Chilean cherries for 65 yuan per half a kilo in live streaming events. The person in charge of this promotional initiative said that the platform will pay close attention to the development of the cherries market and adjust the value subsidised to ensure that the price offered on the platform is the lowest on the Internet.
Chilean cherries currently marketed in China are mainly shipped in by air, and prices are high due to the small volume. It is expected that by mid-December, products will arrive by sea in large volumes, and the market supply will become more abundant. By then, the sales price is expected to fall.
It is reported that the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) has reached strategic cooperation with Pinduoduo. By connecting companies in the two countries, expanding the market, and optimising the supply chain, the two parties hope to further reduce intermediate links and create a model of shipping produce directly from the origin, in order to jointly promote the sales of Chilean cherries. According to data released by the ASOEX Cherry Committee, the production of Chilean cherries this season is estimated to reach about 310,000 tons, or 62.07 million boxes (5kg), which is an increase of about 35.8% from the previous season.
Ronald Bown, President of the association stated that China is still the main export market for Chilean cherries, accounting for about 90% of its total exports. Especially, as the coming Spring Festival is later than usual (February 12), it will provide a longer shipping window for exporters. However, given that the development of the Covid-19 pandemic is still a big uncertainty, this sales season will still be full challenges.
