Case Study

Thorne China

Thorne is a supplements and wellness brand dedicated to quality ingredient sourcing, clinical research, lab testing, and sustainable business practices. Pattern’s China ecommerce consultants helped Thorne grow their Chinese ecommerce business.

PARTNER SINCE

May 1, 2015

WEBSITE

MARKETPLACES

Amazon U.S., CA, U.K., China; Tmall, Walmart.com, Jet, MercadoLibre

SELLER CATEGORY

Health, Household & Personal Care

ttern Case Study Thorne China

Key Challenges

The vitamins and supplements category is very popular in China, but also highly competitive. Thorne did not have any brand awareness as it had no official stockists in the country. Thorne also wanted to launch on Tmall quickly, ideally before the peak trading period around Double 11; but did not expect to have built enough awareness to be able to participate with a formal Singles’ Day promotion sanctioned by the marketplace.

COMPETITION

  • In China, the vitamins and supplements category is highly competitive.

BRAND AWARENESS

Thorne did not have any brand awareness as it had no official stockists in China.

TIMING

  • Thorne also wanted to launch on Tmall quickly, ideally before the peak trading period around Double 11 (Singles Day).

TMALL APPROVAL

  • Thorne did not expect to have built enough brand awareness to participate with a formal Singles’ Day promotion sanctioned by Tmall.

PATTERN

Our Approach

Pattern’s Greater China ecommerce team worked with Thorne to launch its store on Tmall Global and sell cross-border from Hong Kong, as its products would need to meet local standards and be tested before they could be sold within the market. The store was created to a very high standard, with much time and effort put into the product content, as the content and product descriptions are designed to give Chinese customers peace of mind that they are buying from a highly-regarded Western brand. Customer service agents have also been given particular training so they understand the products and can help advise customers using Tmall’s Live Chat feature.
“ Since Pattern, Thorne has reached thousands of new customers and been able to compete within the cluttered supplement category through advertising. ”
Touria Carson
Thorne Growth and Digital Marketing Manager

Results

Thorne’s Tmall Global store has had sales from its first day of trading, despite the lack of brand awareness, and we have doubled sales projections based on the performance from its first couple of weeks of sales. Thorne has now been invited to officially participate in Double 11, with a promotion agreed by Tmall, as the marketplace was impressed with its initial sales performance.

SUCCESSFUL TMALL LAUNCH

  • Thorne’s Tmall Global store has had sales from its first day of trading.

DOUBLED SALES

  • Pattern’s Greater China ecommerce team has doubled Thorne sales projections based on the performance from its first couple of weeks of sales.

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