Freshippo has launched its largest ever New Zealand Life Experience Week. More than 140 modern retail stores across 20 China cities simultaneously launched the campaign on 23 April.
Freshippo, or HeMa XiangSheng as it is known locally, brings New Zealand fresh and pure seafood, dairy, fruit, honey, and wine to Chinese consumers and in doing so delivers on a promise to “bring families closer” and “bond neighbours together”.
The “New Zealand Life Experience Week” coincides with the arrival of southern hemisphere horticulture season. New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) coordinated with Freshippo and several leading exporters to develop the campaign. Participating brands include Anchor, A2, Zespri, Turners & Growers, Mr Apple, FreshMax, Rockit Apple, Fiordland Lobster, Moana, Kono, Villa Maria, Cloudy Bay, and Comvita.
New Zealand Trade and Export Growth Minister, David Parker, visited the southern city of Guangzhou to support the launch and expressed his optimism about the huge development prospects and growth of New Zealand food and beverage in the Chinese market. Minster Parker expressed his desire for further cooperation with the sales channels such as Freshippo to provide consumers with a richer and more diverse food experience. At the launch, local media and consumers saw a variety of fresh produce native to New Zealand, including shelves full of rich Maori produce, all of which was reported as being particularly mouth-watering for the local market.
Big data defines modern retail
Alibaba Group, which founded Freshippo in 2015, is driven by data and technology. Freshippo provides consumers with an intelligent shopping experience by delivering food, mainly fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables, within 30 minutes, blazing a trail in serving everyday fresh food without selling the “leftovers”. Freshippo is geared towards a community-based one-stop new retail experience centre that allows people to enjoy a “better life” with technology. Specifically, at Freshippo, big data based on consumers drives precise marketing, on-time delivery, digital work flows, computer assisted ordering, retail store site selection, product assortment, supplier management, pricing strategy and in-store shelf management. Depending on the store, up to 60 percent of sales are generated online.
30 days for shipping; 30 minutes for last-mile delivery
Produce may take 30 days for end-to-end shipping from an exporter’s warehouse in New Zealand, across the Pacific and South China Sea, to receipt at one of Freshippo’s 13 nationwide distribution locations. Then it is only a 30-minute time lapse between an end-consumer placing an order online using the Freshippo App and delicious New Zealand produce being received at their apartment door.
The Freshippo consumer
Freshippo proudly boasts that 75 percent of its consumers are aged under 40 years. Approximately 56 percent are female and 58 percent single. Thirty-six percent of married consumers have a child at home. Freshippo stores offer more than 20,000 products to meet consumers’ daily needs. Its customers view New Zealand as a “wonderland full of health” due to the pleasant climate, beautiful natural environment, fresh air, low industrial density and sparse population.
Hou Yi, CEO of Freshippo, says New Zealand Life Experience Week event will let even more consumers know about New Zealand and promote New Zealand’s pure and nutritious food.
Zhou Wei, Alibaba Group’s General Manager, highlighted some of the benefits associated with New Zealand, including tariff free market access, as per the 2008 bilateral Free Trade Agreement, as well as pesticide-free and genetically modified-free produce.
