Recently updated on April 15th, 2021 at 03:00 am
China is such a powerful market in the world that its impact can not be ignored. To occupy a large international share, lots of big foreign brands such as Armani, Valentino, Marni, etc. have stepped into China market by running their own B2C E-commerce websites, and have gained great success. However, there are also some foreign companies using eBay and Taobao but the sales fail to meet their expectations. Before we dig into tips on how to do successful ecommerce in China, let’s first analyze about some major mistakes these companies have made.
1. Shipping outside China
For Ecommerce websites with warehouses outside China, they might suffer great loss because customers have to pay the tariff for the packages detained in custom. However, statistics from Beijing Custom show that everyday about 200 customers refuse to sign for international packages detained In the custom for the huge tariff.
2. Use International Payment Methods
Most Chinese customers can not pay for the orders using international credit card since they do not have any. Indeed, most of them only have domestic bank cards and other third party payment accounts.
3. Lack of ICP license
To operate Ecommerce in China, ICP license is necessary. Without it, the Ecommerce website would be shut down by the Chinese government.
Tips for doing successful Ecommerce in China
1. Carry out Market Research in China
Market research is the most fundamental strategies before entering the Chinese market. Hiring some local experts or agencies can help you know more about your target market.
2. Find a Reliable Partner
Getting a professional local partner to cooperate with can help wide out all the hassles including political and legal issues when entering into the local market.
3. Localization Strategy
As a saying goes: Do as the Romans do. For companies operating in China, localizing with Chinese culture, adopting local business practice can help win the fight.
4. Get a Business License
You can get a business license either through establishing a joint venture company with a local partner or running your own company in China.
5. Choose Proper Domain Name
Choose.cn domain name and set your host server in mainland China basing on the policies of Chinese government. Don’t set your domain name, host server, web hosting overseas as some overseas websites are blocked in mainland China.
6. Payment Method
Domestic credit cards, online banks, zhifubao are the three most frequent used methods when it comes to online paying methods in China.
7. Promotion
SEO (Search engine optimization) is of vital importance as it can drive lots of traffic to the Ecommerce website. However, one thing to bear in mind is that Baidu rather than Google is the main search engine in China. Apart from search engine optimization, you can also adopt other promotion techniques such as Baidu PPC, SNS marketing, etc.
Leave a Reply