Pinduoduo’s exponential success has inspired the whole e-commerce sector, which has resulted in several clones of it by many competitors. Following Alibaba’s budget-buy application Taobao Special Offer, another omnichannel retailer Suning, which also runs online service, is said to be launching a standalone shopping app dubbed ‘Yizhimai’, targeting bargain-seeking consumers. Suning owns 80% equity interest of Carrefour China, and has been selling its shares in Alibaba to cover the heavy costs associated with omnichannel expansions.
