A business in China with an online presence is an effective tool for increasing your own capital and a relatively easy way to start a company in a ready-made Chinese ecosystem. There are quite economical options for setting up online businesses (with or without the organization of retail outlets), including virtually free ways to open online sales. Needless to say, China’s online space with an existing marketing strategy is a minimum of effort to start an effective business? Considering the topic of how to enter the Chinese online market, Russian investors and businessmen should study certain subtleties of the local mentality and popular applications among consumers. To start a profitable business you should know that? contact with the Chinese diaspora – natives of the country who live outside the country – is especially important. Here particular importance is attached to the recommendations of relatives and friends, and the Chinese demographic itself has about 50 million people.
Almost every entrepreneur who implements a presence in the Chinese online market may face a question – is it worth using Taobao’s C2C platform? For serious companies, the platform is of no interest, just like TMall. However, for startups of medium and small businesses that want to get maximum benefits at minimum cost, the way out is quite practical – here almost all processes are automatic, and goods are shipped three times a day. Also, planning to enter the Chinese online market, online businesses need to remember that the local people are very suspicious of companies, information on which can not be found in the public domain. Of course, at the initial entry the enterprise is unlikely to get on the first lines of a search engine, so it is important to invest in the promotion of your brand. Investments in Baidu and Soso (Chinese search engines) as well as contextual advertising can help.
Entering the Chinese online market also involves live communication with the potential client – local consumers almost always use chat rooms (unlike, for example, the mentality of the U.S., where the customer is more prone to telephone communication). All materials should be translated into Chinese, you will need the help of professional translators, and in some cases, Chinese developers to adapt your site to local conditions. You should also research the needs and priorities of different social strata of consumers and maintain your own microblogging. Almost all foreign-owned companies in China exchange information with each other in this way and provide insider information. It is easy enough to enter the Chinese online market with minimal costs if people build a development strategy taking into account the local mentality and studying the market. In fact, the Chinese often use goods from the U.S., Europe and other countries, even if they cost many times more than in their home country. Again, the first priority here is image, quality service, and positive feedback, only after which the end consumer pays attention to cost.
References
Choi, D., Chung, C. Y., & Young, J. (2019). Sustainable online shopping logistics for customer satisfaction and repeat purchasing behavior: Evidence from China. Sustainability, 11(20), 5626.
Dai, W., Arnulf, J. K., Iao, L., Wan, P., & Dai, H. (2019). Like or want? Gender differences in attitudes toward online shopping in China. Psychology & Marketing, 36(4), 354-362.
Zuo, L., Wang, C., & Sun, Q. (2020). Sustaining WEEE collection business in China: The case of online to offline (O2O) development strategies. Waste Management, 101, 222-230.