Week #27: POP MART's Overseas Revenue Soars 260% in 2024 H1 | Pinduoduo Reports 86% Surge in H1 2024 Revenue to $13.63B
Latest news and analysis on China’s global e-sellers
Here’s our pick for last week’s news:
TEMU Expands Semi-Managed Service to Japan, South Korea & Mexico
TikTok UK Revenue Surges 25% Following Olympics Opening
J&T Express Reports $4.86B Revenue, Returns to Profit in Mid-2024
TEMU Hits 680M Downloads Since Fall 2022 Launch
POP MART's Overseas Revenue Soars 260% in 2024 H1, Nearly 30% of Total
TikTok EU Monthly Users Reach 150M
Ziel's North America Revenue Rises 41% in 2024 H1
Alibaba.com Sees 30% Surge in Overseas Buyers in H1 2024
Sailvan Times Tops $11.84M on TEMU and TikTok in H1 2024
Pinduoduo Reports 86% Surge in H1 2024 Revenue to $13.63B
TEMU Expands Semi-Managed Service to Japan, South Korea & Mexico
TEMU is set to expand its semi-managed service to Japan, South Korea, and Mexico by the end of this month. This move builds on TEMU's existing presence in major markets across North America, Australia, and Western Europe. With this expansion, the platform aims to boost its influence in East Asia and Latin America.
The semi-managed model allows sellers to focus on product offerings and innovation, with flexible logistics options like overseas or their own warehouses that speed up order fulfillment. Additionally, sellers can rely on the platform for support in listing products, marketing, and customer service.
TikTok UK Revenue Surges 25% Following Olympics Opening
TikTok announced that its UK revenue shot up by 25% a week after the Olympics' opening ceremony. The athletes' popular videos from the Olympic Village on TikTok fueled interest in the Games and attracted more advertisers to the platform. Big brands like Aldi, Coca-Cola, Visa, and NatWest have created Olympic-themed ads on TikTok.
This year, TikTok is partnering with Team GB and ParalympicsGB to help athletes share their unique journeys, connect with new fans, and grow their following. Since the opening ceremony, there have been around 1.3 million Olympic-related posts on TikTok, with the number of creators increasing by 1200%.
J&T Express Reports $4.86B Revenue, Returns to Profit in Mid-2024
The global logistics provider J&T Express has reported its mid-2024 financial results. In the first half of the year, the company made $4.86 billion in revenue, up 20.6% from last year, with a net profit of $31.03 million, compared to a $670 million loss in the same period last year. The core express delivery business contributed $4.74 billion, growing 33.7% year-on-year.
Plus, J&T handled 11.01 billion parcels in the first half of this year, a 38.3% increase from last year. The company continues to expand across all markets, with Southeast Asia alone seeing a 42% increase to 2.04 billion parcels, boosting their market share to 27.4%. In China, parcel volume increased by 37% to 8.84 billion, while new markets like Saudi Arabia and Mexico saw a 64% jump to 140 million parcels.
Founded in 2015, J&T Express now operates in 13 countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and China. As of June 2024, the company had about 8,000 network partners and 19,900 service outlets globally. It operates 237 sorting centers, 254 automated sorting lines, 4,100 trunk routes, and over 9,900 vehicles, of which 5,700 are owned by the company.
TEMU Hits 680M Downloads Since Fall 2022 Launch
Since its debut in fall 2022, China's e-commerce platform Temu has become a hit. Statista reports that from September 2022 to July 2024, Temu was downloaded 680.57 million times. In July 2024 alone, it got nearly 58 million downloads worldwide.
In the first five months of 2023, Temu's total sales hit over $1.5 billion. By April 2023, Temu reached a major milestone with over 100 million active users in the U.S. In May 2024, Temu topped the download charts in the Middle East's App Store and ranked fourth in Japan among all e-commerce platforms for monthly active users.
In July 2024, Temu was the most downloaded shopping app in Brazil. In August 2024, a new survey from the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) revealed that Temu's popularity in Denmark has overtaken Amazon and eBay. The survey indicated that Temu is now the third most well-known online shopping platform in Denmark, right behind Zalando from Germany and Boozt from Sweden.
POP MART's Overseas Revenue Soars 260% in 2024 H1, Nearly 30% of Total
POP MART, the collectible toy producer based in Beijing, released its 2024 half-year report. The company pulled in $640.28 million in the first half, up 62.0% from last year, with adjusted net profit rising by 90.1% to $143.22 million. In mainland China, POP MART made $450.72 million, a 31.5% increase; while in overseas markets, they earned $189.56 million, a 259.6% growth, now making up almost 30% of the total.
Southeast Asia led the overseas markets with $78.63 million in revenue, 41.1% of the total, with a huge 478.3% growth. East Asia, including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, followed with $67.40 million, making up 35.4% of overseas revenue with a 153.7% increase. North America contributed $25.27 million, 13.2% of the overseas earnings, growing by 377.7%. Europe, Australia, and other regions added $19.66 million, 10.3% of overseas revenue, with a 158.8% growth.
POP MART's Chairman and CEO Wang Ning expressed confidence in reaching 10 billion yuan ($1.40 billion) in annual revenue, forecasting at least 60% overall growth and 200% overseas growth. IP incubation and operation remain central to POP MART's strategy. In the first half of the year, seven IPs, including MOLLY, SKULLPANDA, THE MONSTERS, Hirono, and Zsiga, each made over $14.04 million.
TikTok EU Monthly Users Reach 150 Million
TikTok has released its latest data on monthly active users from February to July, showing that the EU region now has 150 million monthly active users, an increase from the 134 million reported last August and 142 million in February.
With a potential U.S. ban, Europe has become a key focus for TikTok. The platform has been working on new initiatives in the EU, like expanding its livestream shopping and offering more incentives to creators. Although TikTok's growth has slowed, it's still seeing an increase of 8 million users every six months.
As of July, TikTok's top markets included the U.S. with 170 million users, the EU with 150 million, Indonesia with 130 million, Brazil with 100 million, Mexico with 77 million, and Vietnam with 70 million. These six markets make up more than half of TikTok's global users. Meanwhile, TikTok remains banned in India, where other social apps are booming.
Ziel's North America Revenue Rises 41% in 2024 H1
Ziel Home, a top seller in furniture and home goods, has released its mid-year financial report for 2024. From January to June this year, the company earned $522.47 million, a 40% increase from last year, but its net profit dropped 7% to $24.15 million.
The company cites two main reasons for the profit decline: 1) a strategy to boost market share which led to lower product prices and higher marketing costs for new items; 2) increased shipping costs from the Red Sea incident and higher warehousing expenses due to expanding its own and third-party warehouses.
As a big focus for Ziel in 2024, North America saw a 41.12% increase in its revenue. The company is also pushing hard on new platforms like OTTO, TEMU, and SHEIN to drive revenue growth. On Amazon, Ziel has seen stable growth with a 42.68% increase. OTTO continued its strong performance from 2023, with a 97.11% increase in the first half of this year, raising its share to 5.04%.
For over a decade, Ziel has been a major player in the European and American online home goods market with its three brands: SONGMICS, VASAGLE, and Feandrea. As of June 30, 2024, Ziel's products rank in the top 20 of their categories on Amazon's German site with 507 ASINs, French site with 533 ASINs, and U.S. site with 163 ASINs. Marketplace Pulse ranks Ziel first in the home furniture category on Amazon's German, French, British, and Italian sites.
Alibaba.com Sees 30% Surge in Overseas Buyers in H1 2024
Alibaba.com reports a 30% increase in the number of overseas buyers in the first half of 2024. In key Western markets like the U.S., Germany, and France, the app's download rankings have jumped to fourth place.
The B2B platform remains a top choice for downloads, highlighting a strong preference for this more stable and profitable trade model. The shift to online B2B trading has become a key feature of the current global trade boom.
The data also shows that half of the top 10 industries with the fastest online transaction growth on Alibaba.com are related to machinery and construction materials. Products like excavators, loaders, and drilling machines have experienced over 50% growth in online transactions.
Sailvan Times Tops $11.84M on TEMU and TikTok in H1 2024
In the first half of 2024, Sailvan Times reported revenues of $586.50 million, up 50.65% from last year, with a net profit of $33.14 million, a 56.69% increase. Their men's fashion brand Coofandy brought in $133.11 million, up 51.11%, while the homewear brand Ekouaer earned $110.36 million, an increase of 57.93%. The outdoor brand COBIZI saw significant growth with $21.34 million in revenue, up 96.71%.
The company's revenue from Amazon was $490.04 million, making up 84.1% of the total. TEMU contributed $8.51 million, and TikTok generated $3.33 million —up from $30,862.55 last year.
Sailvan Times is a technology-driven e-commerce company based in Shenzhen. It sells unique, high-quality products globally, from clothing accessories to home furnishings, through platforms like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Wish, and its own sites like SHESHOW and Retro Stage. Additionally, Sailvan offers logistics services through its advanced cross-border warehousing and logistics system.
Pinduoduo Reports 86% Surge in H1 2024 Revenue to $13.63 Billion
TEMU's parent company Pinduoduo's Q2 earnings report revealed a massive 86% jump in revenue to $13.63 billion for the first half of 2024. Chairman and Co-CEO Chen Lei mentioned that with the e-commerce race heating up, Pinduoduo is pouring billions into helping new qualified sellers and cutting fees for top ones. The platform aims to enhance supply chain efficiency and strengthen its ecosystem to stay competitive.
During the 618 shopping event, Pinduoduo continued its strategy of offering simple and affordable deals, attracting an influx of new sellers with more offerings, with a 90% increase in subsidized merchants and an 83% rise in agricultural sellers, with other categories like electronics and beauty also booming.