As a reminder, we wrote about the implication of 5G/AI on global new eCommerce, and PDD's "Consumer-to-Manufacturer" (C2M) business model is expected to disrupt the China manufacturing supply chain over time. Our team attended a PDD investor meeting in Shenzhen that was hosted by its merchant director. Below are several takeaways.

Forced exclusivity from Alibaba

• Alibaba continues to enforce its "forced exclusivity" on merchants. Though the impact on PDD has been less severe in Double 11 compared to 6.18 Event.

• PDD is deploying several alternative strategies to help merchants go around Alibaba's "forced exclusivity."

RMB10 billion subsidiary program

• PDD management remains committed to its "10 billion subsidiary programs", with a focus on top brands such as Apple and Adidas. Didn't disclose how much is left in the subsidiary program.

• While the subsidiary program has attracted a lot of 1st/2nd-tier city customers, the APRU in 1st/2nd-tier city hasn't been rising significantly as the repeated purchases (engagement) remain low.

Business initiatives 

• PDD is deploying vast engineering resources to optimize its recommendation feed, which is free for merchants now.

• PDD recently launched its first live streaming on November 17th. The live streaming is also available through Wechat's mini-program. The featured host is baby products influencer: 小小包麻麻(Chinese)