According to the announcement by BE FRIENDS HLDG, Mr. Lu Zhisen has resigned as the company's CEO and Chairman of the Investment Committee as of December 5, and will continue to serve as an Executive Director. The Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Executive Director Li Liang as CEO and Chairman of the Investment Committee, effective immediately.

It is reported that Mr. Li Liang previously served as vice president of new oriental education technology (group) co., ltd and principal of peking new oriental school. He founded new oriental's K12 training business and has extensive management experience. Since joining be friends hldg in January 2022, he established the "be friends e-commerce academy" and entered the public company system in November of the same year, where he is responsible for the company's daily management and scalable expansion. The day after the news was announced, on December 6, be friends hldg's stock price surged by 24.39%.

(Source: futu)

It can be seen that the market's positive response to the management changes at be friends hldg highlights its recognition of the company's long-term investment value. The roadshow at the GELONGHUI Carnival further clarified the company's growth strategy and market positioning, enhancing investors' confidence in the company's long-term competitiveness and capital appreciation potential.

1. Diversifying to spread operational risk

The live streaming industry has gradually entered a phase of standardized development, with the industry concentration expected to increase. be friends hldg is implementing a diversification strategy to reduce dependence on individual hosts or platforms, thereby spreading risk. The company has achieved comprehensive diversification in categories, hosts, and platforms.

To address the risks associated with top hosts, the company is promoting the 'removal of top IP' strategy, nurturing new hosts, and building a '1+N' account matrix, creating 'be friends' as a widespread retail channel brand through the model of 'company main account + segmented category live streaming rooms'. As of the end of June 2024, the number of the company's live streaming rooms exceeds 50.

In addition, the company has established a presence on platforms such as Douyin, Taobao, and jd.com, and is currently exploring new platforms like video accounts and Tiktok, expecting to continue enhancing growth potential.

In the first half of 2024, the company's GMV reached 5.96 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%; the company's revenue reached 0.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.8%; net income increased by 93.8% year-on-year, reaching 83.81 million yuan.

2. The reproducible business model enhances the scope of imagination.

Be friends hldg has built a standardized and replicable operation model that covers the entire process from product selection to after-sales, ensuring the scalable expansion of the business.

In the product selection phase, the company implements a strict access system, including shortlisting, inventory establishment, review, and continuous evaluation, ensuring that commodities are compliant and meet market standards. The selection process includes initial screening, secondary selection, final selection, and double-blind testing, with special commodities requiring third-party quality certification.

Listed commodities must possess strong brand influence, product advantages, good online sales records, and positive user feedback, and provide preferential pricing mechanisms to attract consumers in live streams.

Through refined product selection and precise marketing, be friends hldg effectively reduces traffic costs and implements an efficient 'goods find people' strategy, providing a solid foundation for company growth.

III. Investment in AI technology to empower live streaming.

The "Be Friends" platform developed by be friends hldg plays a crucial role in the entire retail chain, covering various aspects such as merchant onboarding, hot product recommendations, intelligent product selection, compliance review, goods management, and financial settlement, ensuring the efficient operation of the entire process of live retail and releasing operational leverage in the back-end.

This is also a concrete manifestation of be friends hldg's technology-driven new retail concept, which has potential for replication in overseas markets, especially since current overseas e-commerce mostly follows the "short video with little yellow carts" model, with live e-commerce still in a blue ocean. If be friends hldg can transfer this mature model overseas, the resulting growth will undoubtedly be explosive.

The company established an overseas e-commerce subsidiary in Hengqin in August, marking the official launch of its global strategy, and has currently started exploring business in europe and southeast asia.

Three, Conclusion.

On December 9, the meeting mentioned the qualitative discussion of "vigorously boosting consumption, improving investment efficiency, and expanding domestic demand in all aspects," further indicating the policy's emphasis on stimulating domestic demand. Live e-commerce, as an important channel for releasing consumer potential and smoothing domestic circulation, is expected to further expand its market share with the support of policy.

With its mature business model, be friends hldg can effectively reduce costs and improve efficiency while maintaining high-quality service, making it easier to reap incremental dividends in this new cycle of the industry.