China is by a wide margin the largest e-retail market on the planet and surpassed the biggest players like the United States in 2013. Along these lines, in 2018, online retail sales in China totaled over 9.00 trillion yuan (around 1.33 trillion USD). This is an increase of 23,90% from 2017.
Such a performance makes China an unquestionable requirement go market since it represents 55.8% of worldwide online retail sales.
A typical misconception is that Chinese online marketplaces are brimming with low quality and counterfeit merchandise. The reality is quite different: a wide range of consumers purchase items every day on these platforms, from food, care, and cosmetic items, clothing, to vehicles, household appliances, and cutting edge equipment. Any international retailer must be aware of that. According to a recent report by Nielsen in 2018, 39% of Chinese consumers are willing to “purchase results of better quality with relatively higher prices.”
You ought to likewise take into account the hegemony of Mobile Commerce in China (m-commerce). The omnipresence of mobile phones in China is a reoccuring concept in our research. Indeed, in February 2019, about 1.58 billion phone memberships were registered in China. With respect to online shopping, 592 million of the 610 million online shoppers in China make online purchases by means of their phones.
200 million consumers willing to purchase foreign items on online marketplaces in China
In recent years, cross border e-commerce in China has become faster than overall e-commerce, creating enormous opportunities for international retailers. The platform Tmall Worldwide introduced 122% more overseas brands a year ago, over 80% of which entered the Chinese market for the first time.
China cross-border e-commerce grew to a 16.86 billion USD market toward the end of 2018. The number of Chinese consumers who purchase foreign items online is estimated to exceed 200 million by 2020.
In 2018, 55% of online shoppers in China reported buying foreign food in the year, 49% are personal care or beauty items and 48% are style accessories or clothing.
Because this phenomenon is already happening, the nation is currently working towards lowering barriers to facilitate Cross Border e-commerce in China.
Choosing the correct Chinese online marketplace for your image
A marketplace is an online platform whose objective is to connect sellers and buyers to offer consumers a wide choice of items and services. In the West, a dominant part of brands sell their items on their brand.com website however in China, it is less mainstream. Most of brands sell their items through a shop on these Chinese online marketplaces.
China has dozens and dozens of marketplaces however 6 of them dominate the market:
Be that as it may, since the Chinese ecosystem is complicated, how would you choose among all the existing platforms? Which platforms are best for which targets? What is the trendy platform in 2019?
Step by step instructions to distribute your items online among Chinese consumers: The battle of the mammoths
In China, Alibaba, which claims Taobao and Tmall, is continually at war with JD.com, mostly owned by the monster Tencent. Together, they represent more than 70% of the retail e-commerce market in China.
Taobao and Tmall: what are the differences?
Taobao is most likely one of the best known Chinese online marketplaces abroad, especially because it sells pretty much anything and everything.
It incompletely owes its success to the way that it offers free registration for its users. Indeed, independent ventures and entrepreneurs especially like this platform for its ease of use. Sellers can sell their items at closeout or through the fixed price. The platform is additionally in partnership with Chinese informal organizations, for example, Sohu, Sina Weibo, and numerous Chinese television programs, which increases its limited time power.
However, Taobao requires a presence in China; a registration of your image in China, which isn’t the case for Tmall.
Chinese eCommerce platforms in 2021: Which is the most suitable for your brand?
