Sell in China: find your customers on Chinese e-commerce platforms

[Jahangir655]

Most Chinese users will go directly to Alibaba’s properties, Tmall, Tmall Global, and Taobao, in order to buy things. The marketplaces themselves have cross-border offerings for foreign companies. However, these are often costly and foreign companies have to go through a demanding selection process (like acquiring a Chinese phone number, commercial ICP license, Chinese business license, or Chinese bank account).

Companies that are already appealing to Chinese customers will find it easier to get listed on a Chinese online marketplace. For the others, they might be fighting an uphill battle.

Chinese e-commerce platforms
Top 3 e-commerce platforms in China
Pinduoduo now is the second-largest e-commerce platform in China in canada telegram number terms of the number of users and the number of orders. It has pioneered several new trends including social e-commerce, team purchase, and consumer-to-manufacturer (C2M) that have revolutionized the online shopping in China. JD in China is popular and has a good reputation for its efficient logistic system and product assurance.

Other growing players like Little Red Bookare sharing similar characteristics with Tmall cross-border or JingDong. Using cross-border marketplaces can be an extremely expensive strategy (expect 1 million USD to get a significant measure of success). However, for big players with an existing brand name and Chinese business license, they can be a good strategy to pick in order to sell in China.