How to succeed in the Chinese E-commerce market?

All the e-commerce titans have thrown themselves at the Great Wall, looking for a piece of the market: Numerous prominent American companies — including eBay, Expedia, Groupon and Yahoo! — have also struggled to replicate in China their success in other markets. Which brings us back to our opening question: why? After years of effort and millions of dollars spent, armed with the most sophisticated technology and premium brand names, these Internet giants have all failed to claim a leadership role in China’s e-commerce. So what can e-commerce companies do to gain more traction in China?

Behavior adapted designs

Chinese customers want to have the most important information in the shortest time. For example, the product details, the price, the reviews of previous consumers. An easy paying process is also a must have.

Visibility is the key

More than 90% of the 618 million Chinese internet users have an account on the social network platforms. Weibo and Wechat are becoming reliable information resources to most of them. Being visible on these platforms is vital for foreign companies. It can help the brands develop their image and popularity towards the Chinese public.

Online to offline

Keeping themselves tangible online has become a trend in the past few years in China; it is a good way to interact with your online fans on the social networks by creating online competitions with offline rewards.

Building customer loyalty

Chinese customers are willing to try new products and brands, it is really important to make sure that the customer is satisfied with the product he or she bought. Suggesting your customers to leave comments on the product will help the future customers to trust the product more.

Chinese e-commerce platforms

Main e-commerce platforms have already gained most of the customers online, don’t let go the good chance of making your products and brands to be known. Open an online shop on those platforms could be a good idea.

A recent study by Forrester Research, China is expected to top e-Commerce sales up to US$1 Trillion by 2019. The ancient Chinese built a network of transportation canals that in that day were far ahead of anything else in the world.