Looking to expand India ops with new e-commerce website: Kevin Hou

Q&A with President of Tiens South Asia Region

Chinese conglomerate Tiens goup of companies which has global interests in biotechnology, health management, tourism and investments, is hoping to corner a share of the Indian nutrition and healthcare market. Kevin Hou, President, Tiens South Asia Region tells Subhayan Chakraborty, why a foray into the e-commerce market in India will help it take on global multinationals operating in the country.

What is the current state of the Tien groups business in India?

We sell a wide range of healthcare and personal care products in the country. We have a direct selling model of business with a large distributor network selling products. The country headquarters at Chennai oversee branch offices at eight other places, including Guwahati, Kolkata , Hyderabad and Mumbai. Two more branches will open shortly including one in Chandigarh during this year.

What is next on the cards for the India operations?

We are currently developing an e-commerce website which we expect to go live by the second half of this year. Consumers in India will have the choice to buy more than 3000 products from our group, which are currently available in the country as well as those which are available in other markets. We are focused on India as it is a huge market with a 300 million strong middle class.

How does you hope to battle existing players in the e-commerce segment?

The website will offer a broad range of products from Tiens. We are also planning to introduce products from other sellers as well. We expect traffic to hold steady since our customer retention is high. Also, the pricing will be competitive, which we expect to help us in cementing our position in the Indian market.

How independent is the India business from your global operations?

Currently, we sell our own products as well as those from other players in the healthcare segment owing to our targets of sourcing at least 70 per cent of products locally. However, we are looking at setting up a manufacturing facility in the country. We have around 120 employees in the country and are looking to recruit around 200 people for our global headquarters in China.

How is the company’s global business holding up at a time when consumer demand has fallen worldwide?

 We have a presence in more than 190 countries with a total consumer base of an estimated 40 million people. While global headwinds do affect business, the large consumer base, coupled with high product quality has helped register a significant growth globally for Tiens.

How significant is the recent opening of the South Asian Headquarters in New Delhi?

Globally, we operate across 4 regions including Asia Pacific, Africa and Eurasia. We are now focusing on our South Asia business, which is poised to grow at the fastest pace among these. We have decided to base this expansion from New Delhi to leverage on our strengths in India. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan. The direct selling model will be focused on.