WPIC Marketing + Technologies is a full-stack technology and e-commerce services company that helps international brands enter and expand across China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia through market intelligence, digital marketing, and operational infrastructure. Pulse 2.0 interviewed WPIC Marketing + Technologies Co-Founder and CEO Jacob Cooke to learn more about his background, opportunities in China’s consumer market, cross-border commerce, AI-driven retail innovation, and strategies for international brands expanding throughout Asia.
Jacob Cooke’s Background
When asked about his background and what led him to establish WPIC Marketing + Technologies, Cooke shared:
I arrived in Beijing in 2003, when China was undergoing an extraordinary economic and technological transformation. I was studying computer science at Beijing Jiaotong University, and it was fascinating to see firsthand how rapidly businesses and consumers were adopting new technologies.
I also saw a gap between the opportunity international companies recognized in China and their ability to operate effectively in the market. Strong products and consumer demand were not always enough. Companies had to navigate unfamiliar digital platforms, distribution models, payments, logistics, and consumer expectations.
That was the opportunity my brother Joseph and I saw when we founded WPIC two decades ago. We believed technology and local operating expertise could help international businesses move beyond simply entering China to building sustainable businesses there.
My technical background shaped how we approached the problem. Rather than treating market entry as a marketing challenge alone, we focused on the systems and capabilities required to execute: the technology, data, and operational infrastructure behind the customer experience.
WPIC has since expanded across China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, but that principle remains central to our business. Companies need to understand each market on its own terms and have the capabilities to turn that understanding into action.
What Differentiates WPIC’s Approach To China’s E-Commerce Market
Discussing what international brands need to succeed in China, Cooke highlighted WPIC’s combination of market intelligence and operational expertise:
China requires more than a market-entry strategy. Brands need to understand how consumers discover products, which channels influence purchasing decisions, and how to operate within a complex digital commerce ecosystem.
WPIC combines proprietary market intelligence with the infrastructure and operational expertise to put those insights into practice. We help brands assess category demand and competition, identify products and channels with potential, and manage the practical requirements of selling through local platforms, from store operations and marketing to payments and fulfillment.
Sports Research illustrates this approach. We helped the U.S. health and wellness brand develop its China strategy around products with potential among local consumers, including fish oil, and connect social commerce platforms such as Douyin and RedNote with major marketplaces including Tmall and JD.com. The brand received Tmall Global’s Emerging Brand Award in 2025 for being a category leader.
The distinction is the ability to connect market insight with execution. Understanding where an opportunity exists is one thing; building the operating capabilities to pursue it is another.
The Commercial Opportunity For Western Companies In China
When asked why he remains optimistic about China’s commercial opportunities despite geopolitical tensions, Cooke emphasized the importance of evaluating individual industries and business fundamentals:
I describe myself as a China bull, but that does not mean ignoring the risks. It means evaluating the commercial opportunity on its merits rather than allowing the geopolitical narrative to make the decision for you.
China faces economic challenges, and geopolitical tensions create real uncertainty. At the same time, demand varies considerably by category. WPIC’s research found that China’s online nutraceuticals market grew 27.3% in 2025, while pet products grew 20.4%. Those figures illustrate why broad assessments of the Chinese consumer can miss important differences in market performance.
For a CEO evaluating China, I would start with four questions: Is demand in your category growing? Can your brand differentiate itself from competitors? Do the economics work across the available channels? And can you manage the regulatory, operational and geopolitical risks?
Cross-border commerce can offer a route to market through platforms such as Tmall Global without requiring a company to build every element of a traditional domestic operation at the outset. The right approach, however, depends on the brand, category, and business objectives.
The case for China is not that every company should enter. It is that companies should make informed decisions based on the opportunity in their category and their ability to compete.
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Overcoming Counterfeit Products And Unauthorized Resellers
Addressing a particularly difficult challenge, WPIC has helped international brands navigate it. Cooke described its work protecting intellectual property and brand integrity:
One challenge we have helped address is the risk posed by counterfeit products and unauthorized resellers in China’s digital marketplace. For a premium brand such as Arc’teryx, for example, protecting intellectual property and brand integrity is important to maintaining consumer trust.
The scale and complexity of China’s e-commerce ecosystem make this difficult. Sellers can reappear under different names or move between platforms, so a single enforcement action is unlikely to resolve the issue.
However, WPIC used its proprietary technology to monitor the digital marketplace and identify hundreds of unauthorized products and storefronts. We then developed an enforcement approach involving platforms including Tmall, Taobao, and Baidu.
The lesson is that protecting a brand online requires an ongoing operating capability, not just a one-time intervention. Technology can help identify potential violations at scale, but effective action also depends on local knowledge, platform relationships, and a process for responding as the market changes.
That combination of technology and on-the-ground execution is central to how WPIC helps brands manage the operational realities of selling in Asia.
The Importance Of Relationships And Trust In China
Reflecting on the personal relationships that shape business activity in China, Cooke observed:
One of the things that has always stood out to me is how different the conversation about China can be when you’re on the ground.
From outside China, the conversation often centers on economic indicators, government policy, or geopolitics. Those issues matter, but they can obscure the people making business decisions every day: consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, and local partners.
When my brother and I started WPIC, we were young entrepreneurs building credibility in a market we were still learning. We had to demonstrate that we understood the environment, could deliver on our commitments, and were invested in building something for the long term. That experience shaped how I think about doing business in China.
Relationships are not a substitute for a sound strategy or strong execution. But trust can make a meaningful difference when a company is navigating uncertainty, learning how a market works or trying to solve a complex problem. It takes time to build that trust, and it requires listening to local colleagues and partners rather than assuming that an approach from another market will translate.
For international companies, being present and building relationships beyond individual transactions can reveal context that market reports alone cannot provide.
Consumer Trends During China’s Singles’ Day Shopping Season
Examining consumer behavior during the Singles’ Day shopping season, Cooke pointed to category-level growth and the importance of looking beyond overall sales figures:
One misconception is that Chinese consumers have stopped spending. A more useful way to understand the market is that consumers are selective about where and why they spend. That creates pressure for some brands, while others continue to find demand.
WPIC’s 2025 research showed online nutraceutical sales growing 27.3% and pet products growing 20.4%. Those category-level signals are more informative than a single headline about overall shopping activity because they help show where consumer priorities and demand may be shifting.
During Singles’ Day, I would look beyond gross sales to measures such as average order value, conversion, customer acquisition cost, and repeat purchase. A sales spike matters, but it does not necessarily mean a brand is acquiring customers efficiently or building a durable business.
I’m also watching how platforms change promotional experiences. Alibaba’s move toward a simpler promotional structure on Taobao and Tmall is worth tracking because the way discounts are presented can affect how consumers compare products and make purchasing decisions.
For brands, Singles’ Day is both a major sales event and a concentrated source of market intelligence. The real value is understanding what the results reveal about demand, customer behavior, and the economics of growth beyond the festival itself.
Innovations In Chinese E-Commerce And Social Commerce
Discussing developments in Chinese e-commerce that international business leaders should examine, Cooke identified the integration of digital content and purchasing as a major opportunity:
One of the most significant developments is the integration of content and commerce. In many Western markets, product discovery on social platforms and the purchase itself have traditionally been treated as separate steps. In China, those activities have been integrated for years.
Platforms such as Douyin allow consumers to discover products through short-form video and livestreaming and purchase within the same ecosystem. This changes how brands approach awareness, conversion, and the relationship between content and sales.
The lesson for global businesses is not to copy a Chinese platform model wholesale. It is to examine how reducing friction between discovery and purchase can influence consumer behavior, then adapt that principle to local platforms, regulations, and expectations.
WPIC has also invested in technology to improve e-commerce operations. We began investing more seriously in AI around 2019, developing algorithms and formulas to improve product movement and reduce customer acquisition costs relative to competitors.
The broader opportunity is to connect consumer insight, technology and operations in ways that make the path to purchase more effective.
Growth Opportunities Across Japan, South Korea And Southeast Asia
When asked about emerging opportunities beyond China, Cooke outlined the distinct characteristics of major Asian consumer markets and WPIC’s regional expansion:
There is no single Asia strategy. China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia represent distinct market opportunities, with different consumers, platforms, operating requirements, and routes to growth.
Japan is a large, sophisticated consumer market where product quality, reliability, and reputation matter. South Korea has a highly connected consumer base and an influential digital and cultural ecosystem, including in categories such as beauty and fashion. In Southeast Asia, markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand offer different opportunities shaped by local consumer demand, digital adoption, and platform competition.
The important question for a brand is not simply which market is growing fastest. It is where the company has a credible product proposition, how consumers discover and purchase products, what it will cost to operate, and whether the business can adapt to local requirements.
At WPIC, we’ve expanded our capabilities across Asia to help brands navigate those differences. We combine market intelligence, e-commerce operations, and digital marketing with the infrastructure required to sell effectively in each market. Our regional capabilities span local e-commerce platforms, product requirements, payments, currency exchange, and logistics, allowing international companies to work with one partner rather than build every function independently.
Our Asia Crossborder Summit 2026 in Los Angeles, held with Tmall Global, Rakuten, and Coupang, highlighted the opportunities available to international brands across the region and the importance of understanding the platforms and partners that shape each market.
Our experience across markets also helps us identify where an approach developed in one country may be relevant elsewhere, and where it needs to change. The opportunity is regional, but execution has to be local.
Comparing AI Innovation In China And The United States
Addressing differences between the American and Chinese artificial intelligence ecosystems, Cooke discussed how businesses can evaluate technologies based on practical commercial applications:
The U.S.-China AI conversation often focuses on which country has the most powerful model. Model capability matters, but it is only one part of how AI creates economic value.
The United States has major strengths in frontier research, advanced computing and foundational AI companies. China’s ecosystem is also advancing, including through increasingly capable models and tools, and has demonstrated an ability to integrate technology into large-scale commercial environments.
For businesses, that raises a practical question: which models and tools can solve a particular problem reliably, at an acceptable cost, and within the company’s technical and regulatory requirements? Open-weight models can create opportunities to customize applications and make AI adoption more accessible, although businesses still need to evaluate performance, security, and implementation costs.
At WPIC, we use Chinese AI models, including Alibaba’s Qwen, in developing applications for our e-commerce operations. That experience gives us a practical perspective on how technology can be applied beyond the model itself.
I also think ecosystems are more interconnected than geopolitical narratives sometimes suggest. Researchers, developers, and open-source communities contribute to progress across borders. Restrictions on talent, model access, and technical collaboration can have consequences for innovation and adoption in both countries.
For business leaders, the most useful question is not simply which country is ahead. It is how developments across both ecosystems can be evaluated and applied to create measurable value.
How AI Is Transforming Singles’ Day And Digital Commerce
Exploring the impact of AI on e-commerce competition and operations, Cooke detailed applications involving product discovery, inventory forecasting, pricing, and customer engagement:
AI is becoming more integrated into both sides of e-commerce: the consumer experience and the tools merchants use to run their businesses. During Singles’ Day, when transaction volumes and competitive pressure are high, those applications can be particularly visible.
On the consumer side, AI-powered tools are beginning to influence product discovery, comparison, and recommendations. As shopping assistants evolve, brands will need to understand how their products are represented and surfaced by these systems, in addition to how they perform in traditional search and advertising.
On the merchant side, AI can support content production, customer service, inventory forecasting, pricing, and advertising optimization. At WPIC, we have incorporated AI into forecasting and pricing strategy for years and have deployed AI-generated livestreaming for clients for approximately two years.
The key is to evaluate these applications based on the business problem they solve. Does a tool improve conversion, reduce operating costs, support better inventory decisions or improve customer experience? Those are more useful questions than whether a company can say it is using AI.
Singles’ Day provides a concentrated opportunity to test and observe these tools, but the longer-term value comes from identifying applications that can improve performance throughout the year.
How Jacob Cooke’s Perspective On Innovation Has Evolved
Reflecting on more than two decades working at the intersection of technology and business in China, Cooke described how his approach to evaluating emerging technologies has changed:
Over time, I have become less interested in how impressive a technology looks and more interested in what it changes in practice.
I arrived in China before mobile payments and social commerce became everyday parts of the consumer economy. Watching those models develop reinforced an important lesson: an innovation’s significance is not determined only by how advanced it is. It also depends on whether it solves a real problem, whether people adopt it and whether it changes the economics of an activity.
That is how I evaluate AI. At WPIC, we look at whether a technology can help us understand consumers, improve forecasting, make better pricing decisions or operate more efficiently. We also have to consider implementation costs, reliability, and how well a tool fits into the systems people already use.
China has provided a valuable vantage point because new consumer and technology models can be adopted at scale. It has taught me to look beyond the announcement and ask what changes for the customer or the business, and whether the effect can be sustained.
Future Growth Opportunities In China’s E-Commerce Market
Looking ahead three to five years, Cooke identified evolving consumer demand, social commerce, and artificial intelligence as major opportunities for WPIC and its international brand partners:
I see three areas with significant implications for international brands: evolving consumer demand, the continued integration of content and commerce, and AI’s growing role in how e-commerce businesses operate.
First, categories such as health and wellness, pet products, and sports and outdoor recreation offer opportunities where consumer demand and product differentiation can matter more than broad assumptions about the market. Brands still need to validate demand at the category and product level and understand the competitive landscape.
Second, social commerce will continue to influence how consumers discover and purchase products. Platforms such as Douyin have already demonstrated how content, creators, and commerce can operate together. Brands will need to understand how those models work locally, and which approaches can translate to other markets.
Third, AI will increasingly affect product discovery, marketing, customer service, and operational decisions. As those capabilities develop, brands will need to assess not only how to use AI internally but also how changes in discovery and recommendation may affect the way consumers find their products.
WPIC is investing in proprietary data, AI and operational capabilities across China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Our role is to help international brands understand where opportunities exist and build the infrastructure and local execution needed to pursue them.
I remain a China bull, but I believe successful companies will be those that pair ambition with evidence: they will understand their customers, evaluate the economics, and adapt their strategy to the market rather than assume that one approach will work everywhere.
