Listed specialty retailer Aumake International (ASX:AU8) has launched the first stage of its new Australian social e-commerce marketplace, which will enable Australian brands to leverage Asian influencer social networks to target local and offshore Chinese consumers.
Aumake’s new online platform has been developed with its strategic technology partner, Jiezhou Technology Co, Ltd, (part-owned by Ant Financial Services Group) and features the latest e-commerce trends initially offered via the WeChat store. Android/IOS apps and website interfaces for the new platform are currently being developed.
Aumake will embed its existing 40,000+ user database into the new platform, enabling analysis of users’ spending behaviour and more effective direct marketing promotion.
In an update to the market, the company said the new online platform will form the basis for its social e-commerce marketplace with contemporary social media marketing tools soon being incorporated, including peer-to-peer review, gamification, short form video and group buying capability – all on one integrated platform – to create a social e-commerce marketplace specifically tailored to the Australian market.
Driven by the emergence of NASDAQ listed Pinduoduo, Douyin (Tiktok) and Xiaohongshu, social e-commerce is one of the fastest growing e-commerce segments in China and is estimated to be valued at 2,419.4 billion yuan in 2022.
Aumake will use its new online platform to grow its member database, Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and market share by initially attracting influencers by providing them with the best possible prices, streamlined logistics and a seamless customer experience.
Asian influencers will independently communicate and endorse the quality and provenance of Australian brand’s products, rather than relying on existing retail and traditional marketing models where a brand story is normally heavily diluted. These Key Opinion Leaders (KOL’s) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOC’s) in the social media context will provide a source of trusted recommendations to build the equity of Australian brands in Asia.
Aumake’s new online platform and forthcoming social e-commerce marketplace is a natural evolution of the company’s business model, leveraging its established trusted relationships with Australian brands and Asian influencer social networks.
Over the past three years, Aumake has sold more than $125m of Australian and New Zealand products to Asian influencers with more than $60m of sales in the last financial year. This history has afforded the Company with deep insights into the products and brands that attract Asian shoppers and influencers.
Aumake will monetise its marketplace through transaction service fees as well as future advertising and marketing revenue.
Aumake Executive Chairman, Mr Keong Chan said: “We are absolutely delighted to provide a new way for Australian brands to meet the demands of the fast-changing Asian consumer market. The launch of our new online platform today as the first stage of the creation of a social e-commerce marketplace has been the result of many months planning, as part of the evolution of the Company’s long-term online strategy.
“Asian consumers are increasingly using integrated platforms to buy products based on opinions within their social network and increasingly less on what the brands, retailers or advertisers are telling them. “In China, it is now about discovering products with friends, sharing that experience and buying on that same platform – the product is part of the journey, not simply the end point.
“The social-ecommerce marketplace we will create in the next stage will be specific to the Australian market, to allow high-quality Australian brands to form a closer connection to Asian influencers who can in turn relay brand stories to their social network and allow them to buy it immediately on the same platform. This has been historically difficult to do via existing traditional retail/marketing networks. Aumake will soon offer the tools and features seen on Chinese social e-commerce platforms to Australian brands and Asian influencers to provide a level of engagement not experienced before.”
Aumake has commenced an extensive marketing campaign to educate potential users and KOL/KOC’s about the benefits of its new online platform and future social e-commerce marketplace to drive individuals, businesses and brands to its online platform. Marketing and PR campaigns will be run on major Chinese electronic and social media across Australia, New Zealand and China, targeting more than 15 million views during October.
The campaign will re-introduce Aumake as a new online platform offering the best possible prices, end-to-end customer service and a comprehensive product range.
As part of its new online strategy, Aumake plans to rationalise its physical store footprint with remaining stores to assist in converting in-store traffic to the new online platform and future marketplace.
The company is rebranding to reflect its new online transformation, changing its name to “Aumake Limited” and ticker code to “AUK”, subject to shareholder approval.