HANGZHOU, China, June 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc. (NASDAQ CM: CJJD) (the "Company" or "China Jo-Jo"), a leading China-based retail and wholesale distributor that offers pharmaceutical and health care products through its online and retail pharmacies, announced today that Hangzhou Jiuzhou Grand Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd ("Jiuzhou Pharmacy"), one of its subsidiaries in China has become the first Hangzhou based pharmacy to launch stores on Tencent's WeChat platform, China's dominant mobile messaging app and social network with over 500 million active users. This move is another endeavor, after the Company's previously announced partnership with Alipay and Ali-Health, for China Jo-Jo to build its own Online-to-Offline (O2O) ecosystem for its pharmaceutical and healthcare products.
In late 2014, Tencent Holding Ltd. (HKSE: 0700) unveiled its on-line merchant stores for small to medium size businesses based on its popular WeChat platform ("WeChat Merchant Store", or "WMS"), and it has quickly developed into an all-in-one mobile marketing service. WMS allows merchants the opportunities to engage with their customers in real-time and gather data based on consumer profiles and spending behaviors. Merchants can also utilize WMS to update product information and manage inventory and merchandising process. On the other hand, WMS allows customers to pay by WeChat Pay, a convenient payment method similar to Alipay. As a well-known payment method that customers already trust, WeChat Pay can greatly increase online transaction flow for WeChat Merchants. By opening our pharmacy on WMS platform, China Jo-Jo hopes to attract a much larger and loyal client base by implementing better data mining, target marketing and sales promotions such as group-buy, gift certificates, flash sale, coupons and loyalty program. By integrating our in-store IT system with WMS's powerful payment, O2O and service backbone platform, we intend to transform our brick and mortar stores into "Intelligent Pharmacies".
China Jo-Jo President, Li Qi, expressed her excitement regarding the potential of WMS platform in a recent statement, "In a traditional drugstore, there is only one-way interaction between the store and its customers. Now in our O2O drugstores, we and our customers can easily communicate with each other through WeChat platform anytime and anywhere. Clients can now enjoy customized service and received more targeted benefits such as coupons and member discounts. For us, we can now build, track and analyze numerous data on customer spending pattern, which will be used to improve the on-line purchasing experience as a whole. O2O business solutions will remain an integral part of China Jo-Jo's strategy in the future."
About China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc.
China Jo-Jo Drugstores, Inc., through its own retail drugstores, wholesale distributor and online pharmacy, is a leading retailer and wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical and healthcare products in China. As of March 31, 2015, the Company had 59 retail pharmacies in Hangzhou. The Company's wholesale subsidiary not only supplies its retail stores, but also distributes drug and other healthcare products to other drugstores and drug vendors. The Company routinely posts important information on its corporate websites at www.jiuzhou-drugstore.com (Chinese) and www.chinajojodrugstores.com (English).
Forward Looking Statement
Statements in this press release regarding the Company that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. Any such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, financial guidance, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expect," "estimate," "may," "will," "should," "project," "plan," "seek," "intend," "anticipate," the negatives thereof, or comparable terminology. Such statements typically involve risks and uncertainties and may include financial projections or information regarding the progress of new product development. It is routine for the Company's internal projections and expectations to change as the quarter and year progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections and beliefs upon which the Company bases its expectations may change. Although these expectations may change, the Company is under no obligation to inform you if they do. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including the risks associated with the effect of changing economic conditions in the People's Republic of China, variations in cash flow, reliance on collaborative retail partners and on new product development, variations in new product development, risks associated with rapid technological change, and the potential of introduced or undetected flaws and defects in products. Readers are referred to the reports and documents filed from time to time by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of these and other important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in forward-looking statements. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.
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