A lot is happening behind the scenes at Tael and it’s easy to lose track of everything! We developed this post in order to make the impact of the various B2B partnerships in the Tael ecosystem clear. Communicating why we create the different types of relationships is important to help you understand the future of the Tael ecosystem.

This article guides you through types of partnerships we’ve developed and how they aid the ecosystem’s growth.

Please note: the Tael Ecosystem is made up of the Tael token, the Techrock marketplace, and a broad range of partners. In the ecosystem, all products are protected with Tael anti-counterfeit technology.

1. Product Portfolio Partnerships

Product portfolio partnerships expand the number of products available on the Techrock marketplace by reaching sourcing agreements directly with the brands themselves or their distributors.

Examples of existing Product Portfolio Partnership companies include:

Nestlé NAN A2

Nutricia

Hipp

a2 Milk

Bellamy’s

Blackmores

Nature’s Care

Swisse

SmileMakers

And over 80 (yes, 80!) others...

What they mean for Tael:

These partnerships directly activate the positive growth spiral of the Tael Ecosystem. A more expansive product portfolio makes us attractive to a growing number of users. This growth, and second-stage growth from new users referring their friends (P2P referrals), translates into more *Tael* locked in user wallets as these users become lifetime holders.

User growth leads to more products joining the ecosystem - thanks to both the growing number of customers our partners are able to access, and the consumer insight data that we offer. In turn, this leads to a more expansive product assortment, more effective marketing and, as a result, more users. It’s a virtuous cycle.

2. Logistics Partnerships

The Tael Ecosystem utilizes international infrastructure to import products into China swiftly, safely protected by our anti-counterfeiting technology. In the case of Infrastructure partnerships, we can rapidly expand our reach and our ability to be the exclusive source for verifiable safe imported goods.

Examples of existing Infrastructure Partnership companies include:

Send2China

PCA Express



What they mean for Tael:

Real-world usage of the Tael token has spread to almost 500 regions within China, covering tens of thousands of users. Our ability to provide users with our cross-border products in a safe and timely manner hinges on access to effective logistics infrastructure. Our ecosystem partners also operate Enterprise nodes.

Products within the Tael Ecosystem are high-demand imported goods sourced from Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and more. Infrastructure covers all international and domestic logistics for products within the Tael Ecosystem. These are vital elements to get right to provide the foundation for exponential expansion.

More brands & merchants mean more products, more products mean more consumers, more consumers mean more locked Tael.

3. Brand Ecosystem Partnerships

Brand Ecosystem Partnerships are distinct because:

Engaging with brands in this way allows us to make use of their existing distribution networks, often spanning 1000s of online and offline locations. Brands add the Tael labels to their products at the start of the supply chain and distribute the products through all their usual sales channels, protected from counterfeiting or adulteration.



Tael becomes a logo quickly seen on the shelves of 1000s of physical and online stores, which helps us to convert large number of new customers into the ecosystem via scanning the labels to earn shijifen and join Techrock.

Examples of existing Expanded Ecosystem Partnerships include:

New Zealand Cherry Corp.

Wakatsuru



What they mean for Tael:

Growth of the Tael Ecosystem occurs with every brand & product we onboard and every partnership we develop. However, Brand Ecosystem Partnerships are a more extensive type of partnership. They incorporates the elements of the other partnership types as well as generating additional business development leads, integration opportunities, and more, due to the fact that Tael labels will be added to products in all channels that the brand sells in - not just via Techrock.

These partnerships are steroids for the Tael Ecosystem, as they stimulate explosive Tael user growth and ecosystem expansion.

While the growth you’ve seen at adoption.taelpay.com is pretty steep, the growth we expect from brand partnerships will be almost vertical - the expected effect of appearing in 1000s of stores and having Tael labels on millions of Brand Partners’ products.

It also opens doors to further collaborations with major players in the industry.

4. Merchant Ecosystem Partnerships

Merchant Partnerships are another key tool to driving significant ecosystem growth. This type of partnership is one that we are focused heavily on. They are distinct for two reasons:

Tael ecosystem acts like a “trusted extension” of the merchant partner. Consumers who shop with a Merchant Partner in one country can safely shop from the same retailer when they are in a different country, through the Tael protected channel. Here we use merchants’ sales channels to drive the Tael payment use case. For example, the merchant rewards customers making purchases with Tael tokens and, in turn, accepts Tael as payment. Using surplus Tael (or by buying more) they can fund marketing activity in the Tael ecosystem. This marketing activity will be informed by our customer insights platform and therefore much more efficiently spent.

Examples of existing Merchant Partnerships:

Rakuten

Shopping malls

What they mean for Tael:

Like Brand Ecosystem Partnerships, Merchant Partnerships like this allow us to rapidly grow the consumer base we serve by making use of the existing user base of some of the largest retailers in the world.

Think of a big shopping mall that receives a lot of Chinese tourists whilst they are on holiday. These consumers buy large amounts of products and take them home to China. The mall partners with Tael for two reasons: firstly for our anti-counterfeiting solution and secondly for data-driven insights into the Chinese consumers that make up a significant percentage of their revenue.

In their stores, they begin to accept Tael tokens as a form of payment, which they can then reinvest as marketing spend in the Tael ecosystem. Customers are rewarded with Tael for purchasing, just as they are when they use Techrock. Scanning the labelled products also rewards them with Tael as it normally does. They are excited about having offline channels where they can spend Tael whilst on holiday!



We hope this article helps to explain the different partnership strategies that we develop, and continue to build on.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via the form below, or join our Telegram group where you can chat with Tael team members.