There are many second-hand goods trading platforms in China. In addition to Alibaba’s comprehensive flea market app, Xianyu, there are also stakes in vertical second-hand goods trading platforms focused on specific categories. “Zhimei Life Technology”, which operates the resale EC application “PLUM”, which handles luxury brands, and “Yipin Wenhui Technology”, which runs “Xinshang” Has completed funding in Series B + and Series C, respectively.
36Kr recently reported on Maimai Jiushi, an e-commerce platform specializing in old sake (long-term ageing). By launching a specialized platform in the world, the company aims to build a new business model that can trade middle and high priced sake.
Andy Liu, the founder of the beer market, loves unrivalled sake. He pointed out that the current state of alcohol trade in China is “disordered.” “Some products are unknown, and even if they are genuine, the price will change several times if the sales channel is different.”
On the other hand, the size of the old sake market has been growing for several years and has become an essential category in the liquor industry. In 2018, the market size of the sake liquor trade was 50 billion yuan (about 800 billion yen), and the annual average growth rate (CAGR) in the last three years is approaching 50%. The leading consumer segment of old sake is over 35 years old, but since this age group does not use the Internet frequently, the e-commerce rate of early sake trading has reached less than 10%. However, as the generational shift in consumption progresses, the e-commerce rate is expected to increase significantly in the future.
Based on this situation, Beer City hopes to unify sales channels, eliminate asymmetry in industry information, and improve transaction efficiency through a trading platform specializing in old sake.
Alcoholic beverages handled at the Beer Market mainly include branded white sake (Chinese distilled liquor) and Western liquor such as whiskey and brandy. According to Andy Liu, middle-aged and older adults born in the 1970s and 80s tend to choose white sake for banquets and gifts, and young people born in the 1990s tend to love new things and study abroad, It is said that Western sake is preferred.
The platform is a C2B2C model. Sellers and buyers each offer the desired price, and if they agree, the seller sends the product to the platform side, which performs appraisal on the platform side. All evaluations are conducted by professional staff who are familiar with liquor and guarantee quality. About price setting, it imitates the rules of “stock trading”, and will take as long as necessary until an agreement is reached on a transparent price system.
Besides, both the seller and the buyer pay a certain amount of deposit after presenting the desired price, thereby guaranteeing the progress of the transaction. In addition, the company plans to launch a consumer community specializing in alcoholic beverages, which will help to keep customers in the market by sharing expertise and creating an atmosphere among lovers.
Individuals and small shop owners mainly sell the beer market, but in the future, it will also consider direct alliances with major liquor manufacturers to eliminate intermediate distributors. The Beer Market app is available for download on ios and Android, and the average customer spend per customer is more than 1,000 yuan (about 16,000 yen).
Founder and CEO Andy Liu graduated from Zhejiang University and earned a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Southern California. He has been involved in big data-related work for over ten years.
He pointed out that consumers in China, which used to be price-sensitive, have become increasingly value-oriented. Due to the nature of alcoholic beverages, the importance of communication value, brand value, and collection value has been increasing. In addition, as consumption and needs are diversifying, the company hopes to differentiate its products through a vertical trading platform and provide more complete services to lead to growth. The company is currently raising funds in the Angel Round.
