Chianti wine sales skyrocketed on Pinduoduo, #1 Chinese e-commerce platform in agro-food sector

The demand for Chianti wine on the Chinese market is definitely growing. According to the numbers on Pinduoduo, the largest e-commerce platform of the agro-food industry in China, as well as the only platform in the world exclusively on smartphones, Chianti is one of the topmost requested Italian brands, in the ever increasing consumer demands for Italian products. “This is very important news for us”, commented Giovanni Busi, president of the Chianti Wine Consortium, “because we have been working to establish ourselves more and more as main players in China. It is an absolutely fundamental challenge. Today, China represents about 5% of the Chianti wine market globally, but in light of the enormous size of this market, and the incredible growth Chianti has been experiencing in China for the past several years, we believe it can become one of the most important markets for us worldwide, if not the most important of all in a few years”.
The enthusiasm of Chinese consumers for Italy and its products, especially wine, was revealed during the last minute live streaming Pinduoduo broadcast to promote Italian wines last November, which was part of the Wine to Shenzhen Asia event. Pinduoduo invited representatives of the Italian Trade Agency to get totally involved and share Italian culinary and wine traditions during a live broadcast that attracted over 470.000 spectators, who therefore had also a great opportunity to get to know Chianti and other Italian wines, like Asti, up close.
“Wine is part of the Italian life and culture and it represents joy and sharing”, Cecilia Costantino, representative of the Italian Trade Agency in Guangzhou told the followers on Pinduoduo's live streaming. “Drinking a bottle of good wine nourishes your health and your soul”. Her message, apparently, was well received by Pinduoduo customers, who purchased more than 20.000 items from the “Italian Pavilion”, including products from Ferrero Rocher, Caffè Illy, Theramed toothpaste and SMEG blenders, and greatly helped to increase overall Italian wine sales on the platform, up to 160% on the day of the livecast. One of the interesting facts about the Pinduoduo platform is that it was also a pioneer in consumer purchasing groups; that is, consumers who join together to buy a particular product at a lower price. This purchasing model allows you to reach a large volume of orders in a very short time. Furthermore, during the week of celebrations for the National Day of the People's Republic of China (October 1st), Pinduoduo registered more than 100 million orders per day, driven by the enormous demand for agro-food products, especially from the youngest consumers, which are the most important share on the platform. “We want our consumers to discover the best the world has to offer, regardless of their budget”, explained Andre Zhu, vice president of Pinduoduo. “That is the reason why we are looking for good quality products around the world to offer to our large and active consumer base. We are offering the international brands access to a group of consumers who will drive spending and set trends in the years to come”.