Launching Digital Commerce in China

A global retailer had established physical warehouse operations in China but did not have an ecommerce platform available to customers in that market.

Because the majority of consumer purchasing behavior in China is digital and mobile-driven, the lack of an ecommerce channel limited the company's ability to compete with established competitors and reach customers digitally. As a result, many customers relied on third-party resellers or livestream sellers to purchase products from warehouses, meaning the company had limited control over the customer experience and brand interaction.

Launching ecommerce in China required adapting a global commerce platform to operate within a highly restricted technical and regulatory environment.

Several key services used globally, including Google Cloud, were unavailable, and strict data residency and privacy laws required infrastructure to operate entirely within mainland China. In addition, traditional mobile app distribution was fragmented across multiple app stores. To create the most frictionless and locally relevant customer experience, the team chose to build the platform as a WeChat Mini Program, allowing customers to engage through one of China's most widely adopted digital ecosystems while standing up new infrastructure on Tencent Cloud and redesigning multiple platform integrations.

Opportunities existed to:

• Establish a direct digital channel for customers in China
• Expand member reach through ecommerce and delivery services
• Improve control over the customer experience and brand interaction
• Reduce reliance on third-party resellers and marketplace sellers
• Create a scalable foundation for long-term digital growth

BASE1 designed and delivered a localized ecommerce experience tailored to the technical and regulatory realities of the Chinese market.

• Implemented a WeChat Mini Program storefront to meet customers where they already spend their time digitally, creating a more seamless and localized commerce experience
• Rebuilt platform infrastructure on Tencent Cloud to comply with Chinese infrastructure and data regulations
• Adapted global commerce capabilities to operate within China-specific technical constraints and networking requirements
• Implemented a headless CMS using Strapi to support content management and remote configuration
• Built networking solutions to securely connect services operating inside and outside of mainland China
• Worked closely with customer teams to launch the platform warehouse-by-warehouse through on-site testing and iterative releases
• Supported ongoing modernization efforts, including UI enhancements, search improvements, and localized customer experience updates

The program successfully launched a new ecommerce capability for the China market where none previously existed.

Customers gained access to a mobile-first shopping experience through the WeChat Mini Program, enabling online ordering and same-day delivery directly from warehouses. The platform has since grown to approximately 3.8 million users and supports more than 60,000 daily active users, while expanded delivery coverage increased member reach across multiple cities.

According to the customer team, the ecommerce channel now contributes more than 5% of total sales, demonstrating the success of the platform as a meaningful and growing part of the business.

The platform also enabled faster experimentation and innovation because the China environment operated independently from other global markets. This led to improvements in search functionality, performance, delivery features, and user experience enhancements that were later adapted for use in other markets.