Food
China Jo-Jo online sales soared 438 per cent in the last half year as more shoppers chose to buy direct rather than on the company’s Alibaba shop front.
Sales on Alibaba rose 130 per cent year on year.
China Jo-Jo Drugstores, listed on the US Nasdaq exchange, says sales on its site www.dada360.com, set a record consolidated gross profit margin of 25 per cent.
China Jo-Jo’s online sales are principally driven by four categories of products including: medical devices, OTC drugs, toiletries and nutritional supplements through the presence of six ePharmacy platforms online, including the company’s official branded website and marketplaces in Alibaba andJD.com.
The company’s online pharmacy sales for the last four years has been led by Jo-Jo’s flagship store through Alibaba’s marketplace, however for the month of September, 2015, sales from China Jo-Jo’s own B2C website surpassed sales from the flagship store, “which is indicative of the great demand for online pharmacy services in China,” the company said in a statement.
Sales from China Jo-Jo’s eCommerce platforms represent 30 per cent of the overall sales from its physical retail stores, which increased by 10 per cent year on year.
Primary reasons for the rapid growth in China Jo-Jo’s ePharmacy business are the unmet demand for competitively priced shopping alternatives for which the Company carries roughly 8000 products across its retail and online businesses.
“For the half year period, a major contributing factor to adoption of online sales is the web traffic driven to our B2C sites from “private insurance card” member holders. Private insurance cards are a fast growing segment of the company’s business whereby member incentives for card holders include discounts, promotions and prescription reimbursements from large private insurance carriers in China. The number of qualified customers using commercially available private insurance cards in this period was up 20 per cent to roughly 220,000 participants, while the variety of products available online increased 50 per cent year over year,” the company said.
Qi Li, president of China Jo-Jo commented:, “2015 has ushered in a new era in China and the launch of nascent but rapidly growing online pharmacy industry. We expect continued success as the industry matures, creating an evolved ecosystem to service the needs of our customers for many years to come.”
