Trading on fresh produce has always been complicated due to the shelf life, logistics, loss rate, customs clearance, etc. Gfresh.com is a new online platform provides solutions for overseas sellers and Chinese buyers, especially for orders of small volumes.
The bi-lingual online seafood marketplace, Gfresh.com, was officially launched in January 2015. It is under Reg’s Group, which is a professional service supplier for trading and logistics supply chain in China with over 20 years of experience. (For details, please visit website)
At this stage, over 400 sellers and 7,000 buyers have registered on the website. 20% of the buyers are active members who place orders at least every two weeks. In 2015, Gfresh generated US$1 billion worth of sales. Top sellers are lobsters, crabs, and salmon. On December 23, 2016, Gfresh generated RMB10 million (US$1.4 million) worth of sales in one day.
Both sellers and buyers can register quickly via Gfresh. Sellers upload product information to the website and get published after approval by Gfresh. Buyers place orders and transfer payment to Gfresh through GPay (a payment channel developed by Gfresh, similar to Alipay). Gfresh then transfer the payment to the overseas accounts of the sellers once products is delivered thus requcing the payment risk. It is considered a practical and efficient trading platform, especially for small buyers.
Gfresh Marketplace is now open for mainland China, Hong Kong, and Korea. It also has offices in Amsterdam, Boston, Vancouver, and Sydney, coordinating with local exporters and distributors.
Online platforms are developing as an efficient method to reach smaller wholesalers and reduce the payment risk in doing business in China. There are also other platforms of a smaller scale than that of Gfresh, such as Ping Mai Wang. These new platforms could be new selling channels for Irish exporters aiming the China market.
For more information please contact Siyi.Chen@BordBia.ie
