Chinese Online Influencers Are Busy Touring Pharmacies In Australia And New Zealand

August 22, 2016 (Which-50)

Brands looking to create a buzz on social media often turn to social media influencers offering products or payments in exchange for posts. It’s no different for pharmacies and baby formula brands looking to cash in on the demand for Australian health and wellbeing products in China.

A 12 person delegation made up of influential Chinese online celebrities and the editors of online shopping guide SMZDM.com will visit five pharmacies and their warehouses in Sydney. The tour will take place in Melbourne and Auckland between August 21 and 30. They will also meet with popular vitamin brand Blackmores.

It is being organised by Azoya, a turnkey ecommerce solutions provider, which helps overseas retailers set up shop in China via cross-border ecommerce.

The delegation will experience production, supply, marketing, order fulfillment and customer service from the stores and warehouses of five of Azoya’s participating retail customers, which all have established ecommerce businesses in China. These include Pharmacy Online (Sydney), Pharmacy 4 Less (Sydney), Amcal (Melbourne), Kiwi Discovery (Auckland) and Pharmacy Direct (Auckland).

The aim of the campaign is to help build a bridge between Chinese online shoppers and Australian retailers by offering face-to-face interactions to help them understand the authenticity and reliability of ethical products from Australia.

Influential online celebrities, known in China as key opinion leaders (KOLs) are emerging as a new marketing channel, being employed by the Chinese ecommerce industry to acquire new consumers.

“China’s ecommerce landscape is rapidly evolving, offering Australian brands and retailers a huge opportunity to take advantage of it,” said Sylvia Wei, deputy managing director, Australia for Azoya.

“If they’re going to survive in such a competitive market, they’ll need to build relationships with key online influencers, who are invaluable sources of promotion in China. This campaign will help them develop more effective and rewarding channels, as well as better understand what Chinese consumers need and want.”

The delegation includes four high profile influencers selected from over 1,000 applicants and editors from SMZDM, a shopping guide that focuses on recommending high-quality products.

KOLs mainly attract followers by being an authority on a particular subject and gain credibility through a long history of interacting with followers, who have a high-level of trust in them. Leveraging high-profile bloggers and microbloggers boasting millions of followers is a very effective strategy for brands and retailers to reach target audiences.