National Business Wire (Dec 14) -- Temu owner Pinduoduo reportedly is in secret talks with Nike Inc. to settle in on the condition of the lowest price online.

According to Chinese news and technology information website leiphone.com, A Nike outlet store may settle in Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo in the near future.

Pinduoduo conducted research on top footwear and apparel brands such as Nike, Bosideng and Youngor in the second half of this year, leiphone.com reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Regarding a partnership with Nike, Pinduoduo's current strategy is to refer to the model for footwear brand Sketchers and bring it in as an outlet store first, the report said.

In order to win greater trust from the brands, the e-commerce giant is also pushing to sign a VAM-like underwriting agreement with a strong brand, it said.

In its negotiations, Pinduoduo can promise to offer Nike a guaranteed deal of no less than several hundred million yuan in annual sales, while Nike needs to guarantee that the products it supplies to Pinduoduo are at the lowest prices online.

Pinduoduo is currently expanding strongly at home and abroad with its low pricing strategy, and even saw its market capitalization on the Nasdaq overtake that of rival Alibaba at the end of November.

But as competition intensifies and consumer demand for quality continues to rise, Pinduoduo has also begun to seek cooperation with well-known brands to enhance the platform's brand image and appeal.

The report noted that there has been no low purchase demand for brands among Pinduoduo users, and data suggests that over 50% of Pinduoduo's 900 million monthly active users are brand customers.

Therefore, starting in the second half of 2023, Pinduoduo further promoted the branding of the platform.