On March 20th, Pinduoduo Group released its performance reports for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023 as of December 31st. In the quarter, Pinduoduo Group's revenue was 88.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 123%; The operating profit under US GAAP is 22.4 billion yuan. Last year, the annual revenue was 247.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 90%.
Last year was the beginning year for Pinduoduo to actively embrace high-quality development. The series of measures to assist businesses and benefit the people around this strategy have continuously received positive feedback and widespread support from users and businesses. Against the backdrop of steady recovery in overall consumption, the platform's overall consumption performance continued to improve in the fourth quarter, and the demand for consumer upgrading has driven the supply and sales of domestic trendy products and high-quality agricultural products to flourish.
"2024 will be an important year for Pinduoduo to deepen its high-quality development strategy," said Zhao Jiazhen, Executive Director and Co CEO of Pinduoduo Group. "This performance also motivates us to actively and firmly invest in high-quality development in the long term, continue to increase investment in 'more affordable' and 'good service', and help consumers achieve high-quality consumption upgrades."
High quality development cannot be achieved without the drive of new productive forces. The financial report shows that Pinduoduo Group's R&D expenses in the fourth quarter of last year were 2.9 billion yuan, and the annual R&D expenses reached 11 billion yuan. Chen Lei, Chairman and Co CEO of Pinduoduo Group, said, "This year, we will maintain our investment to explore and cultivate new quality productivity for high-quality development, and enhance the support capacity of cutting-edge technologies in agriculture and manufacturing."
Helping Business and Benefiting the People, Achieving Effective Results
Last year, Pinduoduo made high-quality development its core work for the whole year, effectively helping consumers benefit and high-quality merchants sell more, consolidating the positive cycle of the platform ecosystem.
"The revenue growth of the platform is the result of our effective measures to promote consumption and the overall rebound in consumption, as well as the result of creating more value for consumers and businesses," said Zhao Jiazhen.
2023 is a year of boosting consumption, and various regions across the country are actively implementing policies to restore and expand consumption. The Pinduoduo team has found through their interactions with platform users that the demand for consumer upgrades is not only widespread but also increasingly strong. However, at the same time, consumers are also concerned about how to obtain higher quality of life in more economical and convenient ways.
In view of this, Pinduoduo pays special attention to a richer supply of high-quality products and a more matching subsidy resource tilt, promoting the two-way flow of high-quality goods and consumer upgrading. In the fourth quarter, through activities such as November 11th and December 12th, the platform focuses on people's well-being, lowers the threshold for consumption upgrading, helps unleash consumption potential, and makes it easier for more people to live a better life.
In addition to helping users save costs, Pinduoduo actively creates more opportunities for businesses to be seen and recognized by consumers. Taking 11.11 as an example, during the event, the flash sale channel provided an incremental engine for over 100000 small and medium-sized businesses, and more than 40 sub categories such as agricultural products, domestic products, and global good products doubled in growth. The number of agricultural and domestic merchants receiving subsidies worth billions of yuan has increased by more than twice compared to the same period last year; In the global purchasing business, 21 out of the top 100 brands achieved a year-on-year growth of over 300%, with 59 products having daily sales exceeding one million.
In addition to the domestic market, the group also accelerated the push for Chinese manufacturing to enter the global market last year. At present, Duoduo Cross border has entered 50 countries and regions. "Our business is still very new, and we always have a sincere attitude of learning from consumers and the market, exploring more technological and model innovations," said Chen Lei.
This year will be an important year for Pinduoduo to deepen its high-quality development strategy. In addition to continuing to enhance the platform's capabilities of "multiple benefits and good services", Chen Lei also stated, "We will improve our supply chain insights and technical capabilities, help manufacturing factories reduce costs and increase efficiency, and create more popular products. We will vigorously support new farmers and merchants who understand both agriculture and e-commerce, driving local employment and increasing farmers' income. We will fully leverage the positive incentive effect of the" Billion Ecological "special project to support and assist high-quality merchants, brands, and small and medium-sized enterprises."
Guided by high-quality development strategies, Pinduoduo's key investment last year focused on technological innovation and agricultural strategies.
Technology enterprises prioritize research and development. After the R&D expenses exceeded 10 billion in 2022, Pinduoduo Group's R&D investment in 2023 once again exceeded 10 billion, setting a new historical high. This year, Pinduoduo will continue to focus on research and development, exploring technological innovation for high-quality development.
Agriculture is the foundation of Pinduoduo and a key sector that it continued to invest in last year. In the fourth quarter, Pinduoduo deeply supports the holding of the second Science and Technology Academy Competition, and provides flow and subsidy support to key scientific and technological agricultural products developed by agricultural universities and research units, improving the transformation of agricultural scientific and technological achievements, and accelerating the development of new agricultural productivity.
Last year, Pinduoduo also launched the Agricultural Cloud Action, delving into agricultural production belts in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Shanxi, Yunnan, Hubei, Fujian, Shandong, Jiangsu, and other regions, providing local merchants with specialized e-commerce operation training and one-on-one operation guidance, helping to revitalize rural industries and increase employment. This action was rated as a "typical case of national county revitalization" by the China Urban and Small Town Reform and Development Center of the National Development and Reform Commission at the end of last year.
"This year, we will increase investment in key agricultural projects such as the Agricultural Cloud Action and Agricultural Research Competitions, continue to promote the construction of more resilient digital agricultural belts in various regions, and help rural revitalization and increase farmers' income," said Zhao Jiazhen.
High quality domestic products have been another key focus of Pinduoduo's support in recent years. Since the fourth quarter of last year, Pinduoduo has invested a large amount of traffic and real money subsidies to help manufacturing brands expand their influence through multiple "National Product Team Building" themed live streaming sales, National Product Festival and other major promotional activities. For example, during the National Products Festival, the daily sales of a branded laundry soap product increased by more than ten times, the factory's production capacity increased from 4 tons per day to 40 tons, and the number of workshop workers also doubled.
Zhao Jiazhen said, "This year, we will continue to broaden the new track for new and old domestic products, grow together with Chinese brands, and jointly provide consumers with better products and high-quality consumption experiences."
In addition to platform construction, Pinduoduo has also actively invested in social relief. In December last year, after the 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Jishishan County, Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province, Pinduoduo made an emergency donation of 20 million yuan to the Gansu Charity Federation for the purchase of cold insulation, disaster relief materials, and post disaster reconstruction work.
"Since its establishment eight years ago, we have been focusing on e-commerce and daring to try innovative business forms to meet diverse consumer needs. During this period, our team has grown rapidly, and young and daring leaders have emerged, gradually taking on greater responsibilities." Chen Lei said, "Our organization is thriving due to the creativity and vitality of young people, and we are confident in continuing to create unique value for the widest range of consumers."