Thanks for the reply, my understanding is that an English label...

Thanks for the reply, my understanding is that an English label product like BUBs can continue to be sold via the manner you described (online-to-offline or O2O) even after the new SAMR guidelines took effect.

It's because the product is still technically an overseas product being purchased from overseas similar to any other CBEC channel. The main difference is that the customer orders the product through a physical mother and baby store in China. The product isn't stocked by the store but rather is supplied by the distributor, such as AZ Global or other corporate resellers, who have warehouses based in China. It is a bit of a workaround but still a fully legitimate channel even now after the changes have taken effect.

It's still more beneficial to have a SAMR compliant i.e. 'China label' product , since these come with Chinese product labelling and must conform to higher standards in terms of ingredient requirements, so they are perceived as safer and higher quality. And you can buy that right off the shelf, talk to the staff about it etc.

It sounds like BUB want to stay in the O2O channel and find new distributors for this, but that's an assumption on my part as they don't address it at all in the strategy review.