Pinduoduo's team purchase model is often compared to group buying sites because both allow groups of people to join together to buy goods and services at a discount. But the two are actually very different, as is explained in this podcast episode.

Learn about how:

1. PDD's team purchase model benefits from economies of scale but traditional group-buying does not

2. The act of social interaction on PDD helps personalize your individual recommendations feed

3. PDD's team purchase model rewards high-quality merchants while traditional group-buying sites actually disincentivizes merchants

This is a roundup of recent developments at Pinduoduo, the world's largest interactive e-commerce platform.

You will hear in this podcast episode:

- PDD's push into offering value-for-money apartments

- An update on the finals of the Smart Agriculture Competition organized by PDD to find the best strawberry grower

- How consumers rated PDD as being more adventurous, more fun than online peers including Amazon and Alibaba

It may take years before social commerce and interactivity becomes a norm in the U.S. Michael Zakkour, digital strategy expert, highlights the differences in digital commerce between two sides of the ocean.

1:45 - Super consumers in China

4:45 - US consumers and ecommerce

7:00 - Underserved digital consumers in US

12:04 - Pinduoduo started the foundation of social commerce

17:24 - Younger US consumers want socialization and experience

19.05 - Impact of COVID

In this episode, Pinduoduo interviews Elena Gatti, managing director at Azoya, a cross-border e-commerce consultancy that helps foreign businesses sell to Chinese consumers via the various e-commerce platforms.

Gatti shares her insights on:

-The common pitfalls that foreign businesses face when entering China's ecommerce market

-What lessons they can learn from Chinese e-commerce platforms

-Livestreaming and other interactive features pioneered in China, will they take off in other markets?

Blame it on Covid and livestreaming, says Kapil Tuli, professor of digital marketing at Singapore Management University.

China has a dental problem, with most of its people suffering problems with their teeth once they hit middle age. Pinduoduo, China's largest social commerce platform, has taken to promoting dental care packages to its more than 600 million users as of its broader efforts to ensure accessibility to affordable preventive care.

The e-commerce company also promoted HPV vaccination packages to fight cervical cancer and coronavirus tests to aid in the reopening of the economy.

Visit us at www.pinduoduo.com and follow us on Twitter at @pinduoduoinc for the latest updates. Or sign up for our newsletter at http://tinyurl.com/yx5ugt58

China is seeing a renaissance of sorts in ancient traditional costumes, chiefly among young people looking for a means of self-expression and selfie post. Each year, tens of thousands of "hanfu" - literally clothing of the Han people - descend on a canal town in Zhejiang province in eastern China to parade and socialize with each other in their retro threads. E-commerce platform Pinduoduo has made it possible for these enthusiasts to get their look, tying up with a county famous for producing the costumes for a line inspired by the wall paintings at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Visit us at www.pinduoduo.com and follow us on Twitter at @pinduoduoinc for the latest updates. Or sign up for our newsletter at http://tinyurl.com/yx5ugt58.

Interview with INSEAD digital expert and professor Chengyi Lin about technological adaption, competition and investment among different regions.

Interview date: May 20, 2020

Interview with Matthew Gamser, CEO of SME Finance Forum, about what lies ahead for Small & Medium Enterprises during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interview date: May 13, 2020

Livestreaming, online sales helps China’s farmers build trust with consumers. Interview with researchers who surveyed farmers in 13 Chinese provinces.