Online Shopping in China: Beginner’s Guide

Most expats are comfortable with online shopping back home because they know how to spot the deals while avoiding the fakes and scammers. But in China it is not as easy with language and cultural barriers. As a result many don’t even try to dive into the world of online shopping in China, but really you are missing a lot. It’s time to get your feet wet, and we can help.

Taobao: The Holy Grail of Online Shopping

Taobao (www.taobao.com) is probably the most well known of all the Chinese online shopping options and a fantastic starting point for would be online shoppers. It is well worth a browse just to see the massives cope of online shopping available in China. Taobao is the daddy of online shopping platforms in China and the equivalent to www.ebay.com throughout the rest of the world. Taobao’s platform differs from Ebay in two distinct ways: Firstly, it focuses on being a collection of stores with customizable spaces. In turn, this creates the second difference, that being the shopping system in Taobao relies less upon auctions, it allows for more instantaneous communication and bargaining with vendors via ‘WangWang’, Taobao’s instant messaging platform.

Getting Started on Taobao

The most convenient way to make payments for online shopping in China is with an Ali pay account www.alipay.com. Although, it should be mentioned that certain online shopping service providers, such as a great many Taobao stores, give shoppers a ‘cash on delivery’ option when making a purchase. This is also a good way to safeguard against receiving goods being delivered that do not match their description.

It is also worth noting that you can purchase Bian Li Tongtop up cards from vendors that sell telephone cards, should you not want to go to the trouble of opening a bank account. This method is also a good option when a cash on delivery option is not available.  

Getting the Goods – Shopping Online in China

 I arrived on the online shopping scene rather late in the game, and I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. It was only once I’d heard my Chinese co-workers talking about their purchases around the watercooler, checking out clothing online, and receiving deliveries from the post man at their desk at work, that I decided I might like to try for myself. Online shopping has taken China by storm, and the most popular site is Taobao, which is like a Chinese version of eBay, although Amazon (in conjunction with the Chinese company Joyo) has a share of the market too. Taobao is to China what ebay was to America about 5 years ago, taking the country by storm, turning everyone and their dog into home-grown entrepreneurs, and providing a vast array of goods to people who would otherwise have no access to them.


And who is in more need of hard to find goods than expats in China? Expats frequently complain about China’s lack of English language books, good coffee, cheese, large sized clothing, and Western brand “stuff,” from toys to baby formula to laundry detergent. And delightfully, all of these are available to be purchased online, from your home, and will be delivered straight to your door, practically anywhere in the country. Putting it plainly, sites like Taobao are an expat’s lifesaver. But there’s just one catch –Taobao, and other China-based sites, are all in Chinese, no option for English.

Maybe you need taobao english site? For expats starved for a taste of home, online shopping can be a life saver, and once you get started, you won’t be able to stop. Luckily online shopping is often more affordable than trips to fancy expat grocery stores, or import bookshops. The clothing you buy online is cheaper than what you’d buy in a shop because the overhead is less. Online shopping is an affordable, convenient, even fun way to get your fix of the goods that you miss in your day to day life.

The 3 C's of Content Marketing

Happy Monday, everyone! This week in news read about the top 5 emerging technology trends, 19 social media facts that every marketer should know, Google Android catching up to Apple in race for mobile ad dollars, and mobile contributed 59% to ad revenue for the first quarter of Facebook. In tips, learn how to increase your social media click-through rates, the three C’s of content marketing, effective, ethical native advertising, and 5 steps to creating a better app… It’s Skimming the News!

NEWS

The Top 5 Emerging Technology Trends of 2014 via Business2 Community

According to Gartner, one result of BYOD is “a doubling or even tripling of the size of the mobile workforce.” Gartner predicts improvements in JavaScript performance will push HTML5 and browser-based enterprise application development environments into the mainstream. Gartner believes the number of mobile apps will grow—while the number of larger applications shrink–with apps becoming smaller and more targeted than more comprehensive applications. Read the full article for the complete list of emerging technology trends.

19 Social Media Facts that Every Marketer Should Know [Video] via Mashable

Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old. 53% of people on Twitter recommend products in their tweets.93% of shoppers’ buying decisions are influenced by social media. 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations whereas only 14% of consumers trust advertisements. The four C’s of digital are creating, curating connecting, and culture. See video for full list of facts.

Google’s Android Catching Up to Apple in Race for Mobile Ad Dollars via AdAge

In a report published Tuesday, mobile-ad platform Opera Mediaworks found that devices running Android sent a greater percentage of ad requests in the first quarter of 2014 than those running Apple’s iOS. The report found that, in the first quarter, Android devices’ share of mobile-ad requests reached 42.8%, up from 31.3%. Over that time iOS’s share fell to 38.2% from 44.5%. After serving 76% of impressions in the first quarter last year, Android and iOS now control 81% of all traffic and 86% of revenue.

Facebook’s Q1: Mobile Contributed 59% of Ad Revenue in Q1 via AdExchanger

Facebook reported first-quarter earnings Wednesday, exceeding analyst estimates with ad revenue growth of 82% to $2.3 billion. In contrast, Google’s Q1 revenues were seven times larger at $15.4 billion, but its growth was only 19%. The number of users accessing Facebook via a mobile device jumped 43% year over year to 609 million globally, and monthly active mobile users surpassed 1 billion for the first time. Mobile now contributes 59% of the company’s total ad revenues, up from 30% in Q1 2013.

TIPS

How to Increase Your Social Media Click-Through Rates via Social Media Examiner

Most businesses make the same mistake in their social media updates: They don’t have a call to action that routes people back to their website. Remember to give fans a reason to click through. To get the most out of your efforts, look at which social updates, blog posts and advertising campaigns your prospective customers have responded well to in the past. Use your landing page to provide more information and another clear, strong call to action and the means to complete that action.

The 3C digital accessories Marketing via Entreprenuer

Be compelling. The information and perspective you provide should feel unlike anything that’s available elsewhere, and it should give your customer pause. Always customize. When publishing your content, it’s important that it feel unique to your customer, specially created to suit their certain kind of needs. Keep consistency. Each piece of content you distribute should be published consistently, with purpose, and with a constant brand voice.

The Essential Guide for Effective, Ethical Native Advertising via Business2Community

To avoid angering your audience, transparency is critical when it comes to native advertising. Strive to educate, inform, or entertain while weaving your brand message subtly into the content. Since kids are less likely to distinguish between advertising and regular content, avoid sponsored ads in children’s publications and websites. Native ads work best when the content is consistent with a brand’s personality, as well as the publisher’s editorial mandate. Finally, provide an opportunity to participate and make customers feel empowered.

Five Steps to Better Apps: A Cookbook for Mobile Application Security via Forbes

Code should be regularly scanned for security vulnerabilities during the development cycle.  Companies that have to go back and add security after development often find that it can be more expensive. Applications produced should be automatically tested as part of a build automation process. All development staff should have received some secure application development security training. Check for security gaps by testing vulnerabilities. Utilize other testing techniques such as penetration testing, infrastructure tests, and risk reviews.

China credit rating agency in Europe

Italy's second largest city is to be home to the first European office of Dagong, the Chinese credit rating agency,which check chinese company credit. It is expected that the company's Milan office could get official approval to begin operations as early as next month (June). It is currently waiting on final authorisation from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU financial regulatory body.

Once operational, the Milan office will employ more than 40 analysts as a joint venture between Dagong Global and Mandarin Capital Partners, a Sino-Italian private equity fund. It will undertake rating activities for banks and corporate entities, while any sovereign state rating activity will be conducted by the company's head office in Beijing.

It is believed this Europe-based rival to Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Group (the three ratings agencies that together share 95% of the global market) is intended to boost Chinese investments in Europe by providing Mainland companies with clear indications of the value and rating of local industry prospects.

It is a timely launch, given that Chinese investors are currently switching away from sovereign state bond investments and considering the acquisition of both brands and local industries. A rating by a China-based agency could be a useful guide for Chinese investors looking to evaluate opportunities in the European market.

Milan decision surprises industry observers

The selection of Italy as Dagong's first European operation – with more apparently planned in the coming years – has caused raised eyebrows among the EU business community. Despite retaining something of an industrial base, the country is not seen as one of the main European hubs for financial services.

The Italian press has carried some concerns that the arrival of this Chinese newcomer reflects expectations that a number of local businesses, weakened by the prevailing European financial conditions, could be ripe to be acquired at knockdown rates. Some have even suggested the agency could be instrumental in artificially lowering the value of companies in order for purchasers to secure a better deal. Others, however, maintain that the arrival of a Chinese ratings agency is inevitable given the level of the country's acquisitions in Europe.