Company to Support the Sales and Marketing of
OPKO's Products on Additional E-Commerce Platforms and on Social
Media Channels in China and into
the Large Japanese Health and Wellness Market
COCONUT
GROVE, Fla. and MIAMI, Oct. 7, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- NextPlat Corp (NASDAQ: NXPL, NXPLW) ("NextPlat" or
the "Company"), a global e-commerce provider, today announced
a significant expansion of its exclusive e-commerce distribution
agreement with OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) ("OPKO") for the
online sales of its OPKO Health Europe products in China including securing a new four-year
extension and approval to exclusively market its products in
Japan.
Under terms of the original exclusive e-commerce development
program with OPKO, NextPlat launched a OPKO Health branded online
storefront on Alibaba Group Holding Limited's (NYSE: BABA)
("Alibaba") Tmall Global e-commerce platform in China featuring an assortment of nutraceutical
and veterinary products sold and distributed by OPKO Europe. The
original one-year exclusive contract has been extended for four
years and expanded to include additional e-commerce platforms and
digital and social media marketing across China. Additionally, the e-commerce
development program was expanded to include the exclusive rights
for the sales and marketing of OPKO products to potentially
millions of consumers in Japan.
According to Statista, Japan was
the third largest e-commerce market with revenue exceeding
$151 billion in 2023 (source:
Ecommerce Market Size by Country, July
2024 Update, Oberlo).
"The significant extension and expansion of our agreement with
OPKO is evidence of the trust and confidence they have in our
ability to penetrate the Chinese market, creating valuable new
revenue streams for their business. Since we first launched our
program in China through our
exclusive relationships with Alibaba, we have successfully expanded
our capabilities to provide unmatched turnkey access to millions of
Chinese consumers through both online on offline channels. We
believe our ability to tap into the broad reach of the most popular
online and digital channels in China combined with highly targeted, on the
ground experiential marketing capabilities, makes our e-commerce
development program a compelling solution for any brand that wishes
to reach the Chinese consumer and well enter other large regional
markets such as Japan," said
Charles M. Fernandez, Executive
Chairman and CEO of NextPlat.
As announced previously, the Company has begun the sales of OPKO
products in China and has recently
engaged Chinese social media influencers and conducted experiential
marketing programs targeting sports enthusiasts including trail
runners and cyclists as part of its brand-building efforts. The
Company is currently in the process of launching new online OPKO
storefronts on leading digital sites in China including WeChat which has over 1.3
billion monthly users via the Youzan e-commerce platform, and on
Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform with more than 350
million active users on which it will collaborate with influencers
and amateurs to increase product exposure and create positive buzz.
The launch of a new OPKO storefront on JD.com, China's second largest e-commerce platform in
China and a TikTok live stream
event are planned during the fourth quarter of 2024. Additionally,
the Company is seeking to secure physical distribution of OPKO
products into major retail chains, pharmacies and grocery stores in
the second half of 2025.
David Phipps, President of
NextPlat and CEO of Global Operations, added, "We are encouraged by
the early consumer interest we have generated for OPKO's products
since our initial launch earlier this year. In the months ahead, we
intend to build upon this interest by launching additional
storefronts and further tapping into the power of digital marketing
and social media engagement to help us reach a greater percentage
of Chinese consumers, especially those interested in pursuing an
active lifestyle and seeking new options for health and wellness.
We look forward to leveraging the broad reach of our e-commerce
development model to expand OPKO's presence into the large and
valuable Japanese marketplace, the world's third largest e-commerce
market in terms of revenue spent online."
OPKO is a global diversified diagnostic and pharmaceutical
healthcare company with over 5,500 employees spanning nine
countries. The distribution agreement with OPKO's European
division represents the first relationship resulting from the
Company's Florida E-commerce Development program which includes a
merchant sourcing agreement with Alibaba's Tmall Global designed to
provide American businesses with easy access to the Chinese
consumer market.
About NextPlat Corp
NextPlat is a global
e-commerce platform company created to capitalize on multiple
high-growth sectors and markets including technology and
healthcare. Through acquisitions, joint ventures and
collaborations, the Company intends to assist businesses in selling
their goods online, domestically, and internationally, allowing
customers and partners to optimize their e-commerce presence and
revenue. NextPlat currently operates an e-commerce communications
division offering voice, data, tracking, and IoT products and
services worldwide as well as pharmacy and healthcare data
management services in the United
States through its subsidiary, Progressive Care Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this
release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements
include the capabilities and success of the Company's business and
any of its products, services, or solutions. The words "believe,"
"forecast," "project," "intend," "expect," "plan," "should,"
"would," and similar expressions and all statements, which are not
historical facts, are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements involve and are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors, including the Company's ability to launch new data-driven
tools and services and its ability to grow and expand as intended,
any of which could cause the Company to not achieve some or all of
its goals or the Company's previously reported actual results,
performance (finance or operating), including those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. More detailed
information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect
the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC"), copies of which may be obtained from the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no, and hereby disclaims any,
obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in
this press release.
Media and Investor Contact for NextPlat Corp:
Michael Glickman
MWGCO, Inc.
917-397-2272
mike@mwgco.net
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SOURCE NextPlat Corp.