This week, Alibaba Group management revealed that heavy investment in bargain-hunting platform Taobao Deals and community marketplace Taocaicai is paying off.

What is Taocaicai? Glad you asked. Scroll down to see how this app’s direct-from-factory model lowers costs for both consumers and manufacturers.

In other news, a Hangzhou-based beauty company shared how it uses heritage-inspired designs and ingredients to capture China’s massive cosmetics market, which will be worth an estimated $125 billion by 2025.