Bicyu: China E-comm; overview

icyu Publications presents

E-Commerce Sites in China To Stand Alone or not to Stand AloneWhen we talk about a STAND ALONE site we arereferring to one that you have developed, eitherprofessionally or from a template and hosted yourself asopposed to a site in space rented in an E-mall, such asAmazon, or, in China, Taobao JD or Tmall.For the purpose of this short article, we are assuming youare a brand with a high end, high quality product with agood reputation for service and transparency so arefocusing on Tmall rather than Taobao.

Tmall V/S Taobao What is the Difference?First, lets make it clear, Taobao and Tmall are NOT theonly games in town, but are probably the two best known. Alongwith JDMall they would likely be the Chinese consumers top “goto shopping” sites.We will take a quick look at JD, [Jing Tong Mall] as it has grownto be a serious competitor to Taobao, recognised by Chineseconsumers as a source of reliable, trusted products and brands.If your product is “mass market' e.g.; perfume, fashion,consumer or luxury goods and you aim to to gain as muchexposure and market share in China as possible, these would beour first suggestion. If you have a more niche product, pleasediscuss it with us for other options.

Both Tmall and Taobao are owned by the AlibabaGroup, best known for its Manufacturers and SuppliersB2B China Sourcing site, and share several similarities.Taobao, the original was set in competition to Amazon sofollows the same structure; a space on a server thattraders, large and small, can lease to set up their own online E-com store with minimum financial cost and effort.Taobao provides template software so that anyone caneasily be in business in a short time, complete with storefront, back end management, shopping cart, and escrowstyle payment system.It was an immediate hit with the shopping public, brandsand small time, would be entrepreneurs, housewives andstudents working from home.



Prior to Taobao, the Chinese Internet had been a mishmash of a variety of similar, independent stores, but likelyTaobao's success was due to one thing. Dishonesty.It was exceedingly difficult to get a refund from somesellers if the goods turned out to be faulty or not up toexpectations, which was quite of the norm.Backed by Alibaba's reputation, [and in no small way,founder Jack Ma's honest, upfront charismatic characterand appeal as the “common man fighting theestablishment” ] its now well established financial andcredit system and escrow, it soon became the #1 E-shopping spot in China. From initially a C2C platform ithas evolved to also include to B2C.But it wasn't totally without issues.



Consumers could now shop with more confidenceknowing their payment would not be processed until thegoods had been received and checked, the site flourished.Perhaps too well as it also attracted criticism for its fakeproducts and knock offs.It is probably fair to say that the average Wang shopperdidn't really worry to much, but Taobao began to feel heatfrom International Brands who felt their copyright and IPwere being threatened or diluted, and also from centralgovernment, who were getting heat from western brandsSo Alibaba cleaned up Taobao and imposed strictercontrols.

This criticism of fakes and knockoffs was likely theinspiration for Tmall, a high end, B2C shopping platformfor brands who could prove their ownership of logos,trademarks and designs. An elite mall by invitation only.At the time this idea met with some derision, criticism andskepticism, but it dovetailed with the explosion of theNouveau Riche in China, the hitherto poor working classwho were now becoming millionaires and wantedsomething more than a fake LV purse or T/shirt.The rest as they say, ishistory, Tmall is now hometo most of the globes highend, luxury brands, fromAdidas to LV toMercedes Benz.



Tmall offers brands templates, scope to develop anddesign design their own interactive website or exploitcutting edge technology such as VR to set up an “on linefitting room” where shoppers can try shoes or dresses ina variety of styles and colours before check out.Brands can also maximise Alibaba's huge data base andanalytics to develop extremely fine, personalised portfoliosor customer personae to help them provide an even moreintimate shopping experience.

Because of its, shall we say, exclusivity, the process to setup and register an Tmall account is rather more complexthan Taobao, but the advantages should be obvious;security, recognition, trust, and reputation are all built intothis platform. If you are qualified to live here, then theChinese shopper will credit you accordingly.FACE is extremely important in China, both yours and thecustomers in this case.However, as is normal for this part of the world, this“complexity” has been seized upon by many offering tohelp provide western brands with a Tmall site, - for a fee.Many are fine, legit and do a great job, but not all.If you are in any doubt or confusion, don't hesitate to askus for free advice.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to horses forcourses, your aims and aspirations for your Brand inChina.Budget and complexity are often sited as reasons to gostand alone, but being objective, we feel it is at least 6 ofone, half a dozen of the other as registering even a basicE-Com site in China is not without its red tape and hoops.There is also no shortage of “Turn Key” Chinese E-complatforms, obliquely claiming to offer same advantages asTmall. But they can't.Any short term gain is, we feel soon offset by the longterm advantages of living in a real estate that Chineseconsumers often frequent and know to be honest, reliableand of high quality.

No matter f you chose Tmall, Jd or Taobao there are some basic guidlines or “laws” you should, nay, must observe if you want to be successful in E-com in China. Your site needs be be impressive, expansive with high rez, detailed images of your product➢➢➢



➢ Stitching, buttons, workmanship➢ and finishing should be shown as➢ extreme, detailed close ups

➢ A how to use guide is always a good idea, even if you think most people should surely know, as this delightful cartoon from DUREX illustrates.

➢ Material, weight, sizes must be clearly shown as well as care or laundry instructions. Anything relevant to the consumer. Environmental friendly aspects should be highlighted

Respond to comments, feedbacks and complaintspromptly and professionally. Our observations showmost buyers begin at the top, then scroll to the bottom tolook for other's comments, before scrolling back up tolook at product detail. If comments are negative they willlikely move onto another site skipping the detail.

And for goodness sake, what ever else you do or do notdo with your China on-line E-com platform, do NOTforget to link to or include the QR code of your WECHATaccount. Don't have a WECHAT? Contact us urgently tohelp you get going..

JD.com Quoting from Wiki: JD.com, Inc., also known as Jingdong and formerly called 360buy, is a Chinese e-commerce company headquartered in Beijing. It is one of the two largest B2C online retailers in China by transaction volume and revenue, a member of the Fortune Global 500 and a major competitor to Alibaba-run Tmall. As of September 2017, it has 258.3 million monthly active users.As the next screen shots show, JD carries a wide range ofimported and domestic goods from home appliances,furniture, electronics, seafood, fresh food, fashion, books,and cosmetics to name a few.

The following images have been translated to English for your convenience









So we can see JD is not only more of a competitor to Tmallthan Taobao but also caries a wider range of goods.JD is valued for its reputation of stocking high quality goodsfrom famous reputable brands.



JD also provides a 7 day no questions askedreturn of goods plus a deferred payment option, translated as STAGING the English version

These measures inspire confidence in the Chineseconsumer.It has further strengthened its position with its own logisticshaving invested in strategic warehouses and deliveryvehicles.In all but the extreme rural areas, JD promises deliverybefore 10 AM next day if goods are ordered before 10 PMthe previous night with a second afternoon delivery in majorcities for goods ordered after 10 PM.Patience is NOT one of Chinese virtues, and oftencomments will focus as much on the delivery time ratherthan the goods as demonstrated in the following shot.Also notice the sellers tactful and prompt reply.



Notice too that JD also follows the golden rules about product detail



JD also emulates Tmall in some ways in that brands do have 2 main options:1/ the Main JD page, where, as we have seen the item is listed in a generalcatalogue and sellers link to that one item.2/ A Brand home page run on top of the JD site. This enables sellersTo set up their own site with their own livery and branding illustrating thedepth and variety of their goods. Not just the one sample as in option 1.Buyers then have the choice of linking to the brands “Flagship Store.”The is strategically advantageous as it enables a “second bite” of theCherry. If the original selected item is not to the buyers liking, she canthen link to the brand store to browse alternatives.Without this option she would return to the main catalogue with the riskof possibly selecting a competitors brand.These shots from the PORTS branded page illustrate this effect, thelanding page looks unique, impressive and data automation offers arange of alternative garments based on the buyers search.





To Summarise You are a foreign brand in China [you are reading this inEnglish] at a premium price, which, in the consumers eyes, is part of the value of their purchase. It affords them thechance to flaunt or show their wealth and status in society. Your marketing, including your website, needs to reflect this, a dull, boring, poorly developed site that is lost in cyber space does not show you or the shopper in a good light. FACE is important in China. The Digital marketing landscape in China is constantly evolving, hot, competitive, E-com is brutally vicious. Just as in the High Street, you need to have your brand in a high traffic count area.

Visibility is as vital for you as it is for your customer, it ispart of the consumer satisfaction package. She needs toknow you are a well known, coveted, respected, enviedand trusted brand that people will recognise. Your statuswill help raise hers. FACE is important in China.A Tmall or JD site also provides brands with a relatively easygateway to new tech without the cost and time ofredeveloping your own site. Many top brands have boththeir own Flagship store and a Tmall site working together.Which ever way you go, you are going to need marketinghelp and support, for which there is plenty available.All this can be reduced to three words: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Bentley or SkodaTo illustrate the previous 2 pages, we could, perhaps, use a simple anlogybased on the two above brands; both are a means of conveyance from point Ato point B, both perform this in reasonable comfort, safety and reliability, bothare owned by the same company [VW]Now, if your sole aim was to travel from A to B without too much extra hassle,reliably and economically, then Skoda [representing Taobao] would be yourchoice.However, if you wanted to BE SEEN going from A to B in more comfort with afew more refinements and luxury touches, then probably you would opt forBentley. [Representing TMall] If you could afford one.So that would neatly explain, in simple terms, the difference between Taobaoand Tmall, but we need to factor JD into the mix which does complicate things alittle more. On the surface, we could say JD is a cross ‘tween the two but thatdoesn’t really define JD fully. People have written 100 page books on this.If you need greater clarification without wading through numerous books, orwish to discuss your specific needs or situation, we are happy to offer ouropinion and suggestions based on local knowledge and almost 2 decades ofhands on experience, as both users and marketers.

Who Are We? SaaS: Beyond Digital MarketingConceived, founded and registered as a legal Chinesecompany in 2003 by a UK – Chinese husband and wifeteam as WPBeijing, we are now a SAAS tech helpingbusinesses thrive and prosper in the China DigitalMarketing arena.We also deliver presentations, webinars, training coursesand write E-books and other free China Digital Marketingsupport material. Thanks for reading our little E-book, we hope you found it useful, please contact us for any advice or questions. Marketing the World to China Marketing China to the World