What is Pinduoduo

 

Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo is one of the most popular e-Commerce platforms in China. Known throughout the world along with its sister company, Temu, Pinduoduo is a powerhouse of Chinese e-Commerce. Find out all about this platform and why it matters for your company!

 

 

Introduction to Pinduoduo

Owned by PDD Holdings, Pinduoduo is currently ranked amongst the top 5 Chinese e-Commerce platforms along with Alibaba subsidiaries Tmall and Taobao, JD.com, and Douyin.

 

Pinduoduo’s business model is based on a unique group buying concept. This C2M (consumer to manufacturer) model allows consumers to directly influence what is being manufactured and in what quantities, streamlining production and eliminating waste.

 

 

Screenshot of pinduoduo.com displaying the platform’s homepage

 

 

It’s beneficial for both consumers and manufacturers, as it enables manufacturers to perfectly cover the actual demand for a product, while this on-demand and customized manufacturing lowers the purchase price for consumers.

 

The C2M model means that Pinduoduo works with third-party sellers and relies heavily on social media, including social commerce. Using the popular Chinese WeChat platform, Pinduoduo users are encouraged to spread the word about a specific product and convince their contacts to join the buying group. The more people buy a product, the lower the price becomes.

 

Pinduoduo sells a wide range of products from groceries to fashion and home electronics. Users can enjoy large discounts and fast deliveries, thanks to the company’s cooperation with various courier services and its recently established last-mile delivery stations throughout China.

 

 

Pinduoduo in numbers

With over 10,000 employees and rapid financial growth, the Shanghai-based platform reports an annual sales value of $715,249 million in 2024. This represents a 25-30% growth from the previous year. Analysts expect a growth rate of 10-15% for 2025, which indicates a slowdown in its revenue increase.

 

The platform has around 541 million monthly active users, and its market share in China is estimated to be ca. 19%. In comparison, Tmall and Taobao together hold around 44% of the market, and JD.com has around 24%.

 

 

How to sell and buy on Pinduoduo

Pinduoduo sellers must have a valid Chinese business identity. For international companies, this means that they have to register a WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise), then apply for a Chinese commercial ICP licence.

 

These documents have to be submitted, along with a bank account, copies of IDs, and contact information. Please note that the signup portal is entirely in Chinese, and all documents, marketing materials, product listings, etc. have to be translated into Chinese as well.

 

As the platform caters to an exclusively Chinese audience, brands must be prepared to build their reputation in the country before they can expect significant success on Pinduoduo.

 

Prospective buyers can register with a Chinese cell phone number or via their WeChat account. Pinduoduo only ships to China, and the app is not available in any other language. Users can purchase products individually at the regular price or join a group purchase for access to discounts. In addition, gamified purchases are also available, e.g., product lottery or coupons.

 

Shoppers can access product information via QR codes, including information on how to join a buying group. On the desktop version, these can be accessed by hovering the mouse over the chosen product tile. Alternatively, buying groups are also advertised on social media.

 

 

Screenshot of random product listings on pinduoduo.com, including one with a QR code

 

 

The group buying feature of Pinduoduo is incentivized by heavy discounts for bulk buying, flash sales, gamification and more.

 

 

IP infringements and protection on Pinduoduo

Unfortunately, Pinduoduo is no stranger to counterfeit issues, so much so that the platform is featured in the USTR’s 2024 Annual Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy.

 

The review notes that the platform lacks both proactive screening measures to filter out fraudulent sellers before they access the platform, as well as adequate transparency with enforcement and penalty measures.

 

Rights holders report an unwillingness on Pinduoduo’s part to engage with IP infringement claims, a delay in dealing with takedown requests, and other troubling phenomena. The most important amongst these is Pinduoduo’s practice of labelling sponsored listings as "authorized sellers", and thus creating the illusion of the product listings’ legitimacy, whereas in truth, the owners of these listings have simply paid for a better spot.

 

Newspapers report that the platform has recently updated its anti-counterfeiting rules, promising swifter actions against counterfeit sellers, including permanent bans.

 

 

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Brand protection strategies on Pinduoduo

Registering your trademarks and patents in China provides an excellent legal basis for the protection of your IP assets in the market. In fact, failing to register these will expose you to fraudsters, because China employs a territorial IP protection system, which means that the country doesn’t automatically recognize IP rights registered in other jurisdictions.

 

With that in place, a comprehensive online brand protection strategy is essential for protecting your IP rights on Pinduoduo. For starters, you need marketplace monitoring to weed out infringing listings. However, due to the rapid sales velocity and flash-sales dynamics typical for Pinduoduo, infringing listings pop up with an alarming regularity on the platform. This necessitates continuous monitoring to ensure that eliminated counterfeit listings stay down and don’t crawl back onto the platform.

 

As Pinduoduo doesn’t provide a lot of information about its sellers, test purchases are often necessary to learn more about the identity of the seller, along with the origins of the product.

 

A brand protection program can’t be complete without enforcement. Given Pinduoduo’s reported slow response to takedown requests, we base our enforcement service on daily vigilance and dedicate significant resources to ensure success.

 

In some cases, especially when it comes to repeat offenders and/or high-value losses, it may be worth launching legal proceedings against the fraudsters. We assist these cases by providing court-admissible evidence for you to strengthen your case against the perpetrators.

 

Moreover, our service combines traditional IP enforcement with real-time data analytics, creating a flexible hybrid approach for maximum efficiency.

 

Bear in mind, though, that Pinduoduo is only one segment of the vast e-Commerce market in China. Therefore, it’s important to have a holistic online brand protection program in place that works across multiple online channels, including Alibaba, Xiaohongshu, and JD.com.

 

 

Conclusion

With its unique business model and wide reach, Pinduoduo is a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, fraudsters are well aware of this force and try to make the most of it. Don’t let IP infringing sellers steal your hard-earned revenue and ruin your reputation in the process! Contact us and let’s set up an effective online brand protection strategy to protect your brand on Pinduoduo and everywhere else online!