34 NZBJUNE 2018
So it’s no longer enough just to take a supreme product to
market – you have to bring your total A-game. Think of the
intersection between what the Chinese e-consumer really wants
and what your brand does best. It’s good advice.
Most of all, engaging with China’s e-commerce market
requires a long-term strategy – and should be budgeted for
accordingly.
An experienced Beijing-based digital marketing consultant
NZBusiness is in contact with explains that China is far from
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experienced contacts. Then talk to them and visit the country
at least twice. “China is littered with ‘quick entry corpses’,”
he says.
He also reminds us that the Chinese have always been clever
traders and business people, and today they are also well
educated, knowledgeable and highly demanding consumers.
Remember this when you’re looking to establish your brand in
this market.
And remember, too, that the culture in China is built on
relationships, having friends who can advise or help. Over the
centuries colleagues, peers or superiors have been relied on
for advice.
You could say social media was invented for China, and
WeChat, which has around 3.5 million accounts, has simply
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Chinese consumers use their WeChat circles for shopping
advice. If their friends rate your product highly, they will buy it
too and become loyal supporters. If not, you could be wasting
your time and your money.H
eld in Auckland on March 13th, the NZTE-
organised China Digital Marketing conference
highlighted a number of facts about the China
e-commerce market – primarily that it’s vast in
size and complexity and constantly changing.
What worked last year, may not necessarily work this year.
As one of the keynote speakers remarked: it’s time to rethink
“China made easy”. Often it’s better for brands to target
lower-tier cities where there is more opportunity to disrupt the
market and succeed. First-tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing
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work in. Smaller cities are generally more cost-effective and,
surprisingly, have a greater number of luxury spenders.
Thinking ‘big’ doesn’t always work when choosing social
media platforms either – there are thousands of social media
apps, and one million users is often the starting point on a
single ‘smaller’ platform.
Mobile apps are certainly where the big consumer numbers
are in China. As one speaker at the conference pointed out, in
China more than 95 percent of Internet users go online using
their mobile device; that’s the equivalent of 695 million people- more than twice the population of the US. ‘Big’ just doesn’t
describe it.
At the conference it was also pointed out that the biggest
brand you’re up against in China is the “China brand”. China-
made is promoted everywhere – in the subways, on TV, in
neighbourhood announcements. Young people especially are
incredibly proud of the country’s achievements and supportive
of home brands.
CHINA IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST
E-COMMERCE MARKET – PROJECTED
TO REACH $1.7 TRILLION IN TWO
YEARS. FOR KIWI EXPORT FIRMS
WANTING TO ENGAGE IN THAT
MARKET IT’S A DAUNTING PROSPECT
REQUIRING A LONG-TERM STRATEGY
AND PROFESSIONAL HELP.AN INTRODUCTION TO
CHINA'S
E-COMMERCE MARKET
BYGLENN BAKER