While Amazon closed part of its ecommerce operations in China this year, it hasn’t entirely abandoned the market. The US ecommerce giant still sells overseas goods in China, and now it’s set to open a store on Pinduoduo. The site helped pioneer social ecommerce in China and saw its market cap surpass China's second biggest ecommerce company, JD.com, at one point last month.
The partnership will see Amazon offer a curated selection of overseas products to Pinduoduo users for Black Friday. But the shop will only operate until the end of this year, the South China Morning Post reported.
The partnership comes as Pinduoduo is seeking to shake its reputation as a destination for cheap goods and knockoffs, expanding its presence in China’s first-tier cities.
Amazon has previously offered Chinese consumers Black Friday discounts on cross-border goods on its own website, but Pinduoduo gives the company an opportunity to expand its reach. Amazon also operates official stores selling the Kindle on Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com.
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)