New Money: Tea blended with e-commerce

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‍When tea meets e-commerce‍

The rise of e-commerce has brought major changes to many industries, and unsurprisingly, the tea industry is no exception. The decade-old marketing strategy is transforming a trade that’s been around for thousands of years.

Tea taster Fang Chengzhe used to travel to different tea shops or tea-producing villages, but now he prefers to get most of his tea online, and Yanxuan is one of his favorite sources.

Yanxuan is an e-commerce platform for consumer products, launched by Netease, a Nasdaq-listed Internet technology company. The platform has gathered more than 20 types of tea from China’s six main tea-producing regions.

Tea-themed experience service

Unlike other tea-selling businesses, Mr. Zhe Ancient Tea does not position itself as a tea seller. Based in the primeval forests of Xishuangbanna in the southwestern Yunnan Province, the tea farm provides experience-based services to high-end business customers.

Its services include tree adoption, visits to tea farms, and experiencing tea cultivation. These activities are attractive to high-end clients, who need such networking events and hope to make friends through tea.

Prospects of tea E-commerce

China’s tea output accounts for 43 percent of the global total, but its tea brands remain less known in the world. The Chinese industry is hoping to ride the tide of e-commerce to boost their global presence.

Yanxuan is planning to enrich its tea offerings by bringing global products to cater to the Chinese market. At the same time, Mr. Zhe Ancient Tea is looking to expand internationally, introducing Chinese tea culture and its experience-based services to the world.

(Story by New Money Program)