On September 7, 2025, Qidian Guofeng (01280.HK) entered into an acquisition agreement with the seller to acquire an AI technology company specializing in interest-based e-commerce. The consideration amounted to HK$460 million, to be settled by issuing 94.07 million consideration shares at HK$4.89 per share. These shares represent approximately 5.19% of the existing issued share capital and about 4.94% of the enlarged share capital, issued under the general mandate.

This acquisition marks the company’s first key strategic move since relocating its headquarters to Shenzhen. Its core objective is to integrate technology, channels, and customer resources, driving the deep application of AI within its OMO new consumption platform and achieving a leap from business cooperation to technological internalization.

I. Three Major Business Loops: Laying the Foundation for AI Empowerment

Previously, Qidian Guofeng had built a “Baijiu + Education & Training + Quality Home Appliances” three-in-one business ecosystem, forming strong synergies.

The Baijiu business, as the traditional core engine, with its subsidiary Guizhou Guofeng, won the ‘ISGC 2023 International Spirits Competition Gold Award ’and the title of ‘Top 10 Value-for-Money Sauce-aroma Baijiu Brands’ in China, and was certified by the ‘Huazun Cup’ with a brand value exceeding RMB 8.1 billion, providing stable support for the business.

In the education business, relying on the Nine Dimensions Wealth Curriculum System and the Shengshang Engine SaaS platform, it covered more than 180,000 corporate learners. In the first half of 2025, revenue reached RMB 40.64 million (up 119.3% year-on-year). Through an executive IP matrix on Douyin and WeChat Channels, it precisely reached SME owners. The home appliance business achieved revenue of RMB 124 million in the first half of 2025 (up 5.1% year-on-year), providing stable cash flow.

The three businesses have already formed a growth loop of “Education & Training for customer acquisition — Baijiu conversion — Event repurchase.” The education business has cultivated more than 10,000 high-net-worth entrepreneur learners, who have become a precise target group for Baijiu; these customers, through Baijiu tasting events and community activities, in turn feed back into the education business, enhancing user stickiness.

The acquisition of the AI company specializing in interest-based e-commerce is precisely the key step in injecting AI capabilities into the entire business process.

II. AI Empowerment Across All Domains: Dual Upgrades in Efficiency and Experience for Three Core Businesses

The acquired AI company specializing in interest-based e-commerce has core capabilities in “data analysis + livestream e-commerce services” and “external seller operations management.” Its self-developed AI algorithms (user behavior analysis, automatic generation of short video/livestream scripts, and precise matching) can deeply empower the three major businesses. At the same time, combined with Qidian Guofeng and Market Force’s sauce-aroma baijiu vertical AI model, it enables full-chain intelligentization.

1. Empowering Baijiu Business Sector

In the baijiu business, AI empowerment achieves precise marketing and improved production efficiency. Based on consumption data of high-net-worth customers (tasting preferences, collection habits, and social scenarios), AI assists in developing high-end customized baijiu. Through dynamic content recommendations, it generates personalized tasting short videos, enhancing the conversion efficiency of the “Shengjiu” brand and shortening product development cycles.

The sauce-aroma baijiu vertical AI model covers the entire chain from raw material traceability to intelligent brewing: the AI evaluation system digitizes the experience of master distillers to build a flavor map; the intelligent marketing decision-making system enhances conversion through user profiling.

2. Empowering Education Business Sector

In the education segment, AI helps achieve “personalized marketing at scale” and cross-business synergies. In customer acquisition and services, AI analyzes potential customer characteristics to enable precise targeting (after its introduction in 2024, customer acquisition costs declined while conversion efficiency improved). AI customer service handles over 80% of common inquiries, and can also automatically generate livestream scripts and short videos, as well as optimize livestream pacing in real time.

In terms of content and experience, AI analyzes learning behaviors to build a personalized course recommendation model, and—combined with the OMO data platform—drives the business upgrade from “knowledge output” to “value co-creation.” Finally, AI analyzes the consumption preferences of high-net-worth education trainees and intelligently recommends baijiu products. Offline tasting sessions and course seminars become integrated “education + consumption” scenarios, achieving cross-business collaboration.

3. Empowering Home Appliances Business Sector

In the home appliances segment, the AR home simulation system supports more than 1,000 3D models of appliances, intelligently matching space dimensions and interior styles. This has driven a 50% increase in online conversion rates and a 30% reduction in return rates. Offline, intelligent shopping guide robots (natural language processing + professional recommendations) and gesture-interactive display screens have been deployed in stores, boosting foot traffic by 40% and extending average customer dwell time by 25 minutes. AI heatmaps optimize store layouts, increasing traffic in popular areas by 40% and product exposure by 60%.

Finally, AI also serves as an important assistant in omni-channel operations. By connecting online and offline channels with warehouse inventory, it enables real-time stock checking, online ordering with in-store pickup or delivery, and intelligent inventory allocation to ensure timely response to demand.

III. Strategic Summary: From Business Operator to Leading AI New Consumption Ecosystem

The year 2025 marks the opening year of a new decade for Qidian Guofeng. Chairman Yuan Li has proposed the strategic goal of “fully upgrading the Group into a company driven by AI as its core technology, building an AI-empowered OMO new consumption platform.”

This is reflected in the capital market: from its low point in July last year until now, the company’s share price has quietly increased tenfold.

This acquisition represents an important step in Qidian Guofeng’s “strategic gene rewriting.” By integrating the platform technology of an AI enterprise into Qidian Guofeng through capital means, AI is internalized as the company’s “underlying operating system.” This not only empowers its current three core businesses but also builds a replicable “capital engine.”

While the industry is focusing on the tool attributes of AI, Qidian Guofeng has already seized the dual high ground of “AI + Capital.” Going forward, it will continue to integrate premium resources in AI, sauce-aroma baijiu, and education, evolving from a single business operator into a leading enterprise in the AI new consumption ecosystem.

Article source: Tonghuashun