Selling cross-border to China: what strategy works best?

This article was originally published on The Paypers.

Elena Gatti, on behalf of Azoya, talks about ecommerce in China, elaborating on what strategy works best when it comes to this market.

The global cross-border ecommerce market is booming with great opportunities for retailers’ international expansions. Since China is leading the way in digitalisation and cross-border ecommerce, knowing the Chinese market would be like knowing the future of cross-border ecommerce.

According to Forrester, 82% of global consumers have made an online purchase from a retailer outside their home country. In fact, Internet Retailer estimated cross-border ecommerce sales are set to reach USD 627 billion by 2022, with the fastest growth area falling into APAC. China, as the world cross-border ecommerce trade leader, recorded 49.3% YoY growth in 2018 (USD 19.59 billion, both import and export). 

The opportunity in cross-border ecommerce is big 

Cross-border ecommerce enables brands and retailers from all over the world to ship products directly to Chinese consumers. There is no need to register products or a local Chinese entity. Moreover, the cross-border ecommerce market is estimated to reach USD 200 billion by 2022.

The Chinese ecommerce market, however, is complex and there are many cross-border ecommerce platforms on which brands and retailers can sell their products to Chinese consumers, from Alibaba’s Tmall Global and NetEase Kaola, which have been the distinct leaders for several years, to JD Worldwide, who is the third largest player. Alibaba recently took over Kaola for USD 2 billion and will integrate it into Tmall, creating the largest cross-border ecommerce platform in China. The big marketplaces do take up a lot of space in cross-border ecommerce but there is room for other third-party retail platforms as well.

There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy for China

Having a clear strategy for international expansion is key to success. Nevertheless, when it comes to China, there are a few additional challenges. Read More at The Paypers.