New Consumer Daily reported on July 16 that the main contents include: Unilever responds to the suspected appearance of rat heads in the instant noodle sour cabbage flavor; Douyin Local Life tests the 'Convenient Price' function; Secoo was forced to delist from Nasdaq.

Industry News.

Douyin's local life is testing the "Shunshou Price" feature.

Douyin's local life is testing the "Shunshou Price" feature. The official calls it "convenient consumption, exclusive discounts." After users complete the payment for the group-buying order on Douyin, they can see other group-buying items within 1 kilometers, and the price of the product is lower than the regular group purchase price. At present, the launch time of this function has not been determined.

Sallya responds to price increases.

Recently, some consumers online expressed that some of Salya's dishes have raised prices. The chicken, porcini and cheese rice，which was previously priced at 18 yuan per serving, rose slightly to 20 yuan; The tuna salad, which was previously priced at 11 yuan per serving, has risen to 12 yuan. In addition, fruit salad and chicken breast salad have also seen a rise of 1 yuan in price. Shanghai Salya Catering Co., Ltd. said: "some dishes are subject to price increases and some dishes have been upgraded." At present, Salya has more than 1500 stores globally, and over 400 stores in China.

Huawei and Jianghuai cooperated to determine the brand name "Junjie".

Yu Chengdong, Chairman of Huawei's Terminal BG and Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solution BU, revealed during a live discussion with Dong Yuhui, Partner of Eastern Selection on the evening of the 15th that the car brand launched by Huawei's cooperation with Jianghuai Auto is "Junjie". Therefore, all four automotive brands under the Huawei Hongmeng Intelligent Connected Vehicle Solution Alliance have official names. In addition, "Sanjie" respectively refer to Wenjie, Zhijie, and Xiangjie.

OPPO responds to "national agencies heavily cutting Huawei employees in large numbers": false information.

Recently, there have been reports that OPPO's "Huawei-channelized channel reforms" have gradually ended since the second half of last year. Regarding this, OPPO responded that "OPPO has cut a large number of Huawei-based employees in various agencies across the country. At the end of last year, all Huawei employees in the factory system were already laid off." This is false information involving companies and unsubstantiated news reports based on this assumption.

Heytea's salmon price drops by 30%.

Heytea has revealed that the price of its salmon has hit a new low in July this year: the price of 290g Norwegian sliced salmon fell by 30% YoY, and the price of 200g Norwegian salmon belly has dropped by about 20 yuan over the same period last year. It is reported that Heytea has provided full guarantees for stable supply throughout the year, the best cost throughout the entire chain, and the fastest turnover efficiency through cooperation with its upstream sources and large-scale purchasing models. Heytea's procurement scale for Norwegian salmon is expected to reach 700,000 pieces this year.

Public data shows that China will surpass Japan and South Korea in 2023 to become the largest market for Norwegian fresh salmon in Asia. Heytea's data shows that the number of users consuming salmon in the first half of 2024 has increased by 60% YoY and sales have increased by more than 70% YoY.

Nongfu Spring sent a lawyer's letter to the Hong Kong Consumer Council.

On July 15th, the Hong Kong Consumer Council announced that bottled water samples from Nongfu Spring and Baishuishan both tested positive for 3 micrograms of bromate per liter, reaching the maximum limit of bromate in natural mineral water and spring water after ozone treatment in the EU. On the morning of the 16th, Nongfu Spring issued a lawyer's letter pointing out that the Hong Kong Consumer Council's article contained errors in the applicable standards, errors in standard judgments, and significant subjective misguidance, requiring the Hong Kong Consumer Council to apologize to Nongfu Spring and its consumers. The Hong Kong Consumer Council responded that it has received a letter from Nongfu Spring's representative lawyer and is currently researching and following up. The Consumer Council reiterated that all 30 test samples did not find harmful substances exceeding the relevant WHO guidelines, and all samples are safe to drink.

The Hong Kong Consumer Council responded that it has received a letter from Nongfu Spring's representative lawyer and is currently researching and following up. The Consumer Council reiterated that all 30 test samples did not find harmful substances exceeding the relevant WHO guidelines, and all samples are safe to drink.

Douyin's e-commerce invests hundreds of millions yuan in commission subsidy reduction and margin adjustment.

According to new rules, Douyin e-commerce has lowered the base technical service fee policy for daily department stores and categories (commonly known as "commission") in stages, covering four primary categories: "household/personal cleaning tools," "home decoration," "daily necessities," and "storage and finishing." From July 1, 2024, all merchants that have opened their Douyin store and that their store is in normal business can participate without having to meet task restrictions.

Snack Very Busy and Zhao Yiming Snack officially announced that Zhou Jielun (Jay Chou) as its new spokesperson.

Heytea answers claims of rat head found in its sour cabbage noodles.

Mingming Group's brand "Busy Snacks" and "Zhao Yiming Snacks" announced that Jay Chou is their new spokesperson.

Uni responded to the suspected appearance of rat head in the instant noodle sour cabbage flavor pack.

Recently, a netizen posted a video claiming to have found foreign objects in the Uni President Old Pot Sour Vegetable Beef Noodles, "This is a rat head, inside the pickled vegetables，I bit it too." This incident has caused heated discussions. The reporter dialed the customer hotline of Kunshan Uni-President Enterprise Food Co., Ltd., and the staff said that a specialist has been arranged to contact the consumer, and the specific situation needs to be confirmed and verified. The sour cabbage in the instant noodles has a cooperative supplier, and the packaging has a two-dimensional code, which can be scanned to find out which factory it comes from.

JD.com added a new promotion called "Super 18".

According to reports, JD.com's open platform has launched a new activity called "Super 18". JD.com internally rates it as a monthly large-scale S-class marketing activity. The key activity of this JD.com "Super 18" is "18 yuan, N pieces". It is reported that JD.com wants to provide more opportunities for merchants to display low-priced products.

Pinduoduo revised the flagship store merchant assessment criteria.

Recently, Pinduoduo has formulated more stringent flagship store assessment standards, and a new requirement has been added to the assessment requirements - "The store has opened the 'Pinduoduo Consumer Experience Improvement Plan', and the flagship store must continue to meet this requirement during platform operations. This means that stores that have not opened the above plan cannot pass the latest assessment, nor can they obtain the logo of the flagship store or enjoy the related benefits of the flagship store.

After the merchant store opens the "Pinduoduo Consumer Experience Enhancement Program", it needs to meet the requirements of "return shipping included", "some orders quickly refunded", "lightning returns", etc., and the platform will charge a certain service fee.

Jiajiayue Group's baking brand 18 stores opened simultaneously.

Jiajiayue's baking brand "Jiayue Baking" first batch of 18 stores opened on July 13th. It is understood that Jiayue Baking's signature products include fresh milk butter toast, butter croissants, butter sea salt rolls, as well as grape egg tarts, original flavor sesame balls, rock burning cheese cakes and other series of delicious food. The first 18 stores to open this time are Wendeng Renhe International Store, Wendeng Jiulongcheng Store, Chengshan 5 Store, Naxianghai Store, Gangxi 3 Store, Rongcheng Jiulongcheng Store, Rongcheng Government Plaza Store, Gaoqu Technology Road Store, Chucun 2 Store, Sunjiatian Store, Laoji Store, Weihai Gaoqu Jiulonghui Store, Qilu Shopping Mall Store, Central Store, IKEA Store, SPAR Tongcheng Store, Weigao Time City Store and Jinian Road Store.

Nestle cultivates a new high-yield Arabica coffee bean.

Nestle recently announced that its plant scientists and agronomists have bred a new high-yield Arabica coffee bean variety called Star 4 using traditional breeding methods. The new variety was selected in Brazil because of its resistance and unique Brazilian coffee flavor. The latest climate change models indicate that the land suitable for growing Arabica coffee may decrease by more than 50% by 2050. Nestle aims to strengthen its coffee supply chain through this new high-yield coffee variety.

Zhongbai Holdings Group is expected to lose CNY 118 million to CNY 168 million in the first half of this year.

According to the 2024 interim performance forecast released by Zhongbai Holdings Group, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company will be a loss of CNY 118 million to CNY 168 million during the reporting period, a loss of CNY 19.8749 million in the same period in the previous year. After deducting non-recurring gains and losses, the net profit will be a loss of CNY 130 million to CNY 180 million, a loss of CNY 25.8954 million in the same period in the previous year.

Zhongbai Holdings Group stated that the industry competition situation is still fierce in the first half of 2024. The development of e-commerce and proximity retailing has led to a year-on-year reduction in customer flow and customer unit price in offline commercial department stores, and the company's operating income has declined.

Gumman's fresh milk tea enters the 9.9 era.

Recently, the GuMing Tea Drink official Weibo announced that Guming's original leaf fresh milk tea has entered the 9.9 era. From July 15th to 31st, the Small program is provided for drinking at RMB 9.9 per day.

Breaking news on "Going Abroad"

Alibaba International's Zhang Kaifu: Cross-border merchants' AI usage doubles every two months.

In the past year, cross-border e-commerce has been one of the industries that most actively embrace AI. Whether it is precision marketing, intelligent customer service, AI graphics, commodity information optimization, etc., the combination of AI and e-commerce links and the supplement of cross-border language and cultural barriers and talent shortages have been expected by this industry. "In the past six months, our AI usage has begun to increase significantly." Zhang Kaifu, Vice President of Ali International Digital Business Group and head of Ali International AI Business, revealed that since November last year, AI Business's generative AI service has doubled the number of calls every two months in AliExpress, Trendyol, Daraz and other businesses within Ali International. The current daily average exceeds 50 million calls.

Milksha China Macau's first joint venture store is in trial operation.

Milksha China Macau's first store opened for trial business in Block A of Jiafu Commercial Center, about 30 meters away from the Rose Church of Macau and about 350 meters away from the Ruins of St. Paul's. It is reported that the menu of Milksha China Macau's first store has a total of 33 products divided into 5 series, including the genuine fruit tea series, ice cream and tea series. The five classic products include ice fresh lemon water, fresh ice cream, pearl milk tea and other five classic products. The store menu shows that the popular product "Fresh Ice Cream" is priced at MOP 5, "Pearl Milk Tea" is priced at MOP 16, and the most expensive "Yang Zhi Gan Lu" is priced at MOP 20, which is basically the same as the prices of Milksha China Hong Kong stores.

Yang Guofu's first overseas joint venture store landed in Singapore.

Yang Guofu spicy hot pot announced that its first overseas joint venture store officially opened in Bugis Cube, a bustling commercial center in Singapore. It is reported that Yang Guofu spicy hot pot has opened 8 stores in Singapore. As a new operation mode, joint venture store integrates efficient management similar to direct management, full-service management and cooperation concept of sharing risks.

BYD will build its second electric car factory in Cambodia.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on social media that he has met with Liu Xueliang, General Manager of BYD Asia Pacific Automotive Sales Division, and BYD plans to invest in setting up an electric vehicle assembly plant in Cambodia with an annual capacity of 0.02 million electric cars. The Cambodian factory will become BYD's second production base in Southeast Asia.

TikTok promotes the “Lowest Price Guarantee” label.

TikTok Shop announced that customers who purchase products with the “Lowest Price Guarantee” label on the Malaysian site during this year's November 11 shopping festival, but find the same product at a lower price on other e-commerce platforms, will receive up to MYR 75 (Malaysian ringgit) in coupons, which can be used within 30 days. It is reported that customers can see the "Lowest Price Guarantee" label on the product details page, order page and order summary page. After the product is delivered, customers can file compensation claims within 6 days at the most, and can submit up to 3 claims per month, and each claim can only be against one product.

It is reported that customers can see the “Lowest Price Guarantee” label on the product details page, order page and order summary page. After receiving the purchased product, customers have up to 6 days to apply for a compensation claim. A maximum of 3 claims can be submitted per month, and each claim can only apply to one product.

Investment and financing news

Travelzen has completed a new round of financing.

Travelzen has created industry-level intelligent solutions with sufficient competitiveness, such as flight dynamics data, intelligent customer service, smart airport front and back, etc., to promote the online information, self-service, digitalization, and intelligent operation of the industry. Recently, Travelzen has completed a new round of financing with investments from Meituan, China Merchants Group Capital, and the State-owned Enterprises Reform 100 Enterprises Fund.

Industry perspective express

In the first half of the year, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.7%.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of the year, the total retail sales of consumer goods were CNY 23,596.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles were CNY 21,300.7 billion, an increase of 4.1%. In June, the total retail sales of consumer goods were CNY 4,073.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.0%. Among them, the retail sales of consumer goods other than automobiles were CNY 3,636.4 billion, an increase of 3.0%. In June, the added value of industries above designated size increased by 5.3% year on year (the added value growth rate is the actual growth rate deducted for price factors). From a month-on-month perspective, the added value of industries above designated size in June increased by 0.42% compared with the previous month. From January to June, the added value of industries above designated size increased by 6.0% year on year.

Shanghai is expected to launch a self-driving car public test for citizens within a week, which is completely free of charge.

It has been nearly half a month since the release of the “Driverless Intelligent Connected Vehicle Demonstration Application License” in Shanghai on July 4. During this period, major intelligent driving companies have mainly focused on preparing and fine-tuning the pre-test work. It is expected that the field test of driverless intelligent connected cars for ordinary citizens will be launched within the next week, and the entire test will be free. According to the testing companies, the first batch will have 5 cars for public testing, and more new cars will follow up later, and the model will also be increased. The mobile adjustment test capacity will be based on the actual performance after the test.

The Ministry of Finance subsidizes local projects by CNY 0.967 billion for tourism development in 2024.

The Ministry of Finance released a notice on the 16th, allocating CNY 0.967 billion in funds for subsidizing local tourism development projects in 2024, supporting localities to improve the level of tourist public services, strengthen tourism promotion, promote the transformation and upgrade of the tourism industry, promote cultural and tourism consumption, and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry.

The Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision Bureau interviewed platforms such as Maoyan, Wanda and Moswheel, and the organizers of events such as Beijing Guochao Yuedong Culture Technology Co., Ltd. On the 15th, the Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision Bureau announced 5 major problems in the show service market: unreasonable refund policy for show tickets, "non-refundable" ticket traps with imbalanced implied rights and interests, inadequate implementation of platform's obligations, inconsistency among secondary ticketing platforms on refund policy and opaque merchant information, and many unfair format clauses within agreements.

TikTok's online store announced that customers who purchase products with the “Lowest Price Guarantee” label on the Malaysian website during this year's November 11 shopping festival, but find the same product at a lower price on other e-commerce platforms, can receive coupons up to MYR 75 (Malaysian ringgit). The coupon can be used within 30 days. It is reported that customers can see the “Lowest Price Guarantee” label on the product details page, order page and order summary page. After the product is delivered, customers can file compensation claims within 6 days at most. A maximum of 3 claims can be submitted per month, and each claim can only apply to one product.

It is reported that customers can see the “Lowest Price Guarantee” label on the product details page, order page and order summary page. After receiving the purchased product, customers have up to 6 days to file a compensation claim. Customers can submit up to 3 claims per month, and each claim can only apply to one product.

Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring raised Apple's target price to $273. He said that Apple Intelligence has the potential to drive record numbers of device upgrades, with iPhone shipments approaching 0.5 billion over the next two years, higher than the record upgrade cycle in 2021-2022.

Partial flight tickets have lowered their prices. The average price of entry and exit flight tickets has decreased by 6%.

According to media reporters, when checking several travel apps, the lowest ticket price for a flight from Kunming to Xishuangbanna on August 2 is CNY 250. Data from a certain booking platform shows that during the period from July 11 to August 31, the average tax-free price of domestic air tickets is about CNY 1012, a year-on-year decrease of 8%; and the average tax-free price of international air tickets has decreased by 6% compared with last year.