Five Reasons You Should Sell Online in China and How to Do It

Expanding to the Chinese market can offer your company access to potentially 1.4 billion new consumers. However, the best way to access the greatest number of consumers is to sell to China online, and here are five reasons why.

Massive Market and Potential

Over the last decade the online e-commerce segment of the Chinese market has been booming. While online retail sales in china totaled $581 billion just in 2015, in 2020 it is expected to surpass $2 trillion USD, giving you a huge reason to become part of the Chinese online market and sell to China online. Gaining access to China’s 1.4 billion potential consumers gives you a lot of opportunities to make sales and earn profits.

Chinese Consumers Love of Western Brands

Over the years, China has gone from being mainly a “factory nation,” only exporting a massive number of products, to now importing a large number as more Chinese people have increased disposable income. For most consumers in China, western brands are often considered high quality, safer, and most importantly, trendier, meaning almost everybody wants them. A majority of Chinese consumers would prefer to buy foreign luxury goods, and pay more for them over Chinese luxury items, giving a huge reason to sell to China online.

Protecting Your Image from Fakes

China often has the issue with fakes of known brands. People always talk about those slightly off-brand named products being sold in corner markets all throughout China, and if the consumers don’t have easy access to the legit product, they’ll often purchase the fake version instead. By making your products available and selling to China online, you can better compete against knock-offs, and thereby protect your image.

Online Shopping Always Trending Upwards

As mobile devices become more and more common in China, so does online shopping through those mobile devices. With sites such as TMall and apps like Wechat, it becomes increasingly easy to just purchase items through e-commerce, which gives you a lot of potential consumers if you sell to China online.

Better Product Reach

Most people, when they think of China, only know the big city names (Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Hong Kong), but there are over 200 small cities in China with more than a million people, and getting brick and mortar stores into all of them would be a massive expense. When you sell to China online, you get access to a vastly larger population than with a physical presence.

How to Reach the Chinese Public with Online Sales

So, how do you best reach the Chinese consumers and sell to China online?

E-commerce platforms: Your best starting point is getting a presence on any number of ecommerce platforms, such as TMall.

Social media platforms: Social media is huge in China, with a vast majority of Chinese consumers being on some form of social media, such as Wechat.

Customer service: Many consumers in China may want to call or chat about a product before they purchase, so by having local customer service agents available 24/7, you’ll greatly improve your sales potential.

Local payment methods: While credit cards may be increasing in popularity in China, they are not as widespread as in other parts of the world, so it’s best to have local payment integrations, such as those available in WeChat

Local website: A localised Chinese website will greatly increase your brand awareness potential amongst Chinese consumers. To sell to China online, having a Chinese website is almost a must.

If you are looking to expand your product reach and want to sell to China Online, contact Westwin today for their china e-commerce solutions.