Say it ain't so...
I like how Costco is using the TMall to test market its Kirkland lines, and no doubt hey will get massive amounts of information from Alibaba's big data.
At what cost to Alibaba's shareholders is this deal happening. I expect the Costco folks are getting massive benefit for little cost. And for a place where Walmart and others have failed, Costco's wise to measure twice cut once.
Next, is online in China profitable? Is there anyway to know? We know in USA marketing online, overall, is a money loser. It seems to me, Costco is smartly taking advantage of what a mess the various economies are in, and studying what products they should be stocking in brick and mortar stores in China, with shareholders paying the tab. OK, tradable.
Costco has many surprising elements, such as an MOQ FOB export program.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
"The Tmall platform allows foreign brands to reach Chinese consumers without a physical presence, while also allowing them to preserve their unique identity and merchandising strategies. This low capital entry will give (Costco) a good look at the Chinese opportunity with nominal capital investment. (Costco) will initially sell food and healthcare products along with private-label Kirkland Signature products," Strasser wrote in a research note provided to China Daily.I am suspicious of alibaba, and find it curious Costco is not quoted in this article, but a Seattle Times article does.
I like how Costco is using the TMall to test market its Kirkland lines, and no doubt hey will get massive amounts of information from Alibaba's big data.
At what cost to Alibaba's shareholders is this deal happening. I expect the Costco folks are getting massive benefit for little cost. And for a place where Walmart and others have failed, Costco's wise to measure twice cut once.
Next, is online in China profitable? Is there anyway to know? We know in USA marketing online, overall, is a money loser. It seems to me, Costco is smartly taking advantage of what a mess the various economies are in, and studying what products they should be stocking in brick and mortar stores in China, with shareholders paying the tab. OK, tradable.
Costco has many surprising elements, such as an MOQ FOB export program.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
1 comments:
Their FOB MOQ program is exactly what led them to Tmall. Overseas Chinese have been buying up Kirkland products and shipping them to China for sale on Tmall for years. Tmall is already full of every Kirkland product that exists.
It was the small independent traders that discovered the e-commerce opportunity for Costco. Now they step in and get involved directly, learning how to operate in China themselves by wading into the shallow end first.
I suspect Costco will not realize a profit from their Chinese e-commerce play, but it could be a stepping stone toward learning how to do business in China.
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