In the age of 2021, it is no longer acceptable for corporations to fly under the radar. They greatly impact our everyday lives. They must establish themselves as active participants in improving our society.
Suning Group sets an example. They place uplifting local and micro businesses at the center of their corporate ideals.
Suning Group is a Chinese conglomerate that serves 700 million customers worldwide. It owns Suning.com, an omnichannel retail giant and a Fortune Global 500 company
Suning is a conglomerate, aka a group of companies that operate under one group name. For example, Alphabet Inc. holds Google, Calico, Fiber and many other companies under its name.
Suning was founded in the 1990s during the e-commerce boom in China. They’ve transformed themselves from a retail store selling air conditioners to one of the biggest omni-retailer online channels in 2020.
They have remained relevant over the last 30 years by riding the wave of innovation. Suning understood the online shift of consumer behavior.
Recently, Suning International kicked off its partnership with Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok, to expand cross-border retail. They are working to create content for a younger, more digital audience.
Suning kicked off the collaboration with Douyin.
"Industry players are seeking innovative ways like live streaming where you can interact with consumers directly," said Jia Meng, General Manager of Suning International.
Suning International General Manager, Jia Meng
The partnership also takes advantage of the growing recovery of the domestic economy post-pandemic.
"What we have seen is that overseas brands have been actively entering the Chinese market. The pandemic might have offered some experience for them in moving forward with a localization strategy," Jia added.
Suning’s Corporate Social Responsibility
The Suning Group works tirelessly to be socially conscious. They advocate for positive change within the corporate community.
Particularly, they work to empower small local businesses, especially rural farming communities. The pandemic hit everyone hard but especially those with small, family-run agricultural businesses.
China’s agricultural market traditionally operates with crops grown in certain areas. They then rely on long, complicated supply chains to deliver goods to major cities.
When summer drew near, the seasonal demand for crawfish grew exponentially. This tender red fish is highly sought after for its fresh taste.
But it can be too expensive for most people to get their hands on. This is on top of the added pressures the pandemic caused.
So Suning Group stepped in to train over 300 crawfish merchants in Xuyi County on how e-commerce could support their businesses.
Suning helps farmers take their crawfish directly from farm to table. They cut out the middle man that made production so expensive.
Suning acts as a bridge, connecting farmers to more consumer channels and consumers to more delicious, locally grown products.
Not only does Suning advocate for local businesses, but it also advocates for social change. They started with the empowerment of female-run businesses.
China has a history of male-centered households and businesses. But Suning's Retail Cloud that helps small businesses thrive in rural China also helps housewives in those areas run their businesses.
Over 2000 stores from all over the rural country have moved to their online platform and grown from it.
Suning has set the trend for modern technology to support agriculture. This rural revitalization has led to massive poverty alleviation. Suning has so many more plans to continue helping local and micro businesses grow.
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