1Intoday’srapidlyevolvingandhighlycompetitiveonlinemarketplace,emerginge-commerceplatformsprovideanotheroptionforbusinessestomarketandselltheirproducts.FungBusinessIntelligencehasidentifiedsomeofthesefast-growingplayers,eachfocusingonaspecificareasuchasgroup-buying,O2Olifestyleservices,socialcommerce,verticalonlineplatformsandshortvideos.Inthisseriesofarticles,weprovideanoverviewofthekeybusinessanddevelopmentsoftheseemergingplayer;wealsoidentifytheirstrengths,weakness,opportunitiesandthreats.Inthisissue,welookatthebusinessmodelandlatestdevelopmentsofYunji–amembership-basedsociale-commerceplatforminChina.ItadoptsaS2B2Cmodeltosourcesproductsdirectlyfromsuppliers(S)andsellstomicro-storeowners(B)onitsplatform;micro-storeownersthendistributetheproductstotheirsocialcontacts,i.e.finalconsumers(C).YunjihasbeengrowingfastandwaslistedontheNasdaqStockExchangeinMay2019.In2018,Yunji’sGMVamountedto22.7billionyuan.AsiaDistributionandRetailMay2019Socialcommerceplatform-YunjiInc.UncoveringtheemergingplayersinChina’se-commerce-Issue62CompanybackgroundFoundedinMay2015byXiaoShanglue,YunjiInc.(“Yunji”)isamembership-basedsociale-commerceplatforminChina.Yunjisourcesproductsdirectlyfromsuppliersorbrands,andsellsviamicro-storeownersonYunjiplatform;micro-storeownersthenshareproductswiththeirsocialcontactsandlurethemtomakepurchase.Asof31December,2018,Yunjihadaccumulated7.4millionmicro-storeowners.ThecustomerbaseofYunjihasbeenincreasingfastsinceitstartedoperationin2015.Thenumberofcustomersincreasedfrom2.5millionfortheyearended31December,2016to23.2millionfortheyearended31December,2018.GMVin2018was22.7billionyuan,up134.4%year-on-year(yoy).Duringthe201811.11GlobalShoppingFestival,Yunjirecorded2.59billionyuanofGMVduringtheseven-daypromotionperiodfrom5-11November,2018.YunjiwaslistedontheNasdaqStockExchangeon3May,2019,raisingUS$121millioninitsinitialpublicoffering.3Exhibit1:BusinessmodelofYunjiSource:FungBusinessIntelligenceThebusinessBusinessModel–asnapshotYunjiisamembership-basedsociale-...
