(Source: https://pltfrm.com.cn)
Introduction
In just 15 years, China went from cash-only wet markets to a nation where 70 % of retail happens online and 50 % of urban consumers expect delivery within one hour. This timeline isn’t just history — it’s the roadmap every overseas brand must study before launching in China today.
1. 2010–2015: The Pure E-commerce Explosion
1.1 Tmall and JD.com Era
- Double 11 (Singles’ Day) grew from ¥50 million in 2009 to ¥571 billion in 2021, training an entire generation to shop online.
1.2 Mobile Payment Leap - Alipay and WeChat Pay reached 90 % penetration by 2016, removing the biggest friction point for online purchases.
2. 2016–2020: New Retail and O2O Fusion
2.1 Alibaba’s “New Retail” Manifesto
- Jack Ma’s 2016 announcement forced every retailer to connect online data with offline inventory.
2.2 Suning, Walmart, and Carrefour Digital Makeovers - Traditional giants invested billions to survive against pure-play platforms.
3. 2021–2023: Live-Streaming and Social Commerce Boom
3.1 Pandemic Acceleration
- Locked-down consumers turned live-streaming into a ¥2+ trillion channel overnight. 3.2 Rise of Interest-Based E-commerce (Xiaohongshu, Dewu)
- Gen-Z moved spending from Tmall/JD to content-driven platforms.
4. 2024–2025: Hyper-Local and Instant Commerce
4.1 One-Hour Delivery Wars
- Douyin, Meituan, and JD now guarantee 30–60 minute delivery in 300+ cities using dark stores and crowd-sourced riders.
4.2 Private Traffic Becomes King - Brands paying 20–30 % platform commission realized owning WeChat communities is far more profitable.
Case Study: Australian Health Supplement Brand
A leading Australian vitamin brand entered China in 2022 with only a Tmall. After partnering with PLTFRM, we shifted 65 % of budget to Douyin + WeChat private domain in 2024. Result: cost per acquisition dropped 52 %, repeat purchase rate hit 74 %, and 2025 GMV target was achieved in September.
PLTFRM is an international brand consulting agency that works with companies such as Red, TikTok, Tmall, Baidu, and other well-known Chinese internet e-commerce platforms. We have been working with Chile Cherries for many years, reaching Chinese consumers in depth through different platforms and realizing that Chile Cherries’ exports in China account for 97% of the total exports in Asia. Contact us, and we will help you find the best China e-commerce platform for you. Search PLTFRM for a free consultation!
