WeChat began life as a basic messaging app focused on text messages. Then, it added phone and video calling capabilities. Then, it began to expand into areas that had previously not been associated with simple messaging apps, like pages for photos, linking, liking, commenting and updates. It started...
When talking about tech giants in China, many people immediately think of BAT – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. They have been the key forerunners in China’s tech development, including digital payments, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). But the mobile age has given rise to a new gen...
China’s 5G rollout is becoming one of the biggest tech stories of the year. In June 2019, three domestic carriers and a broadcaster in China were given the green light to launch 5G commercial services months before the licenses were expected to be issued indicating an acceleration of the ro...
These days, Chinese consumers aren’t as target-oriented and purpose-driven as they used to be when shopping in physical spaces. Since they can very quickly and easily find specific items while shopping online, they don’t go to stores with the same mindset except for grocery shopping. They care m...
China is a huge market full of potential, but it’s also a complicated and constantly changing landscape that experiences frequent shifts in national policy. It’s hard to tell what the market will be like in five or 10 years’ time, but the below consumption and marketing trends will have a sign...
China’s internet celebrity economy has expanded exponentially in recent years. According to a report released by iResearch, the number of online celebrities in China with more than 100,000 followers has increased by 57.3 percent since 2016. With a single embedded ad in a WeChat post w...
In an increasingly digital world, traditional media such as print, radio and TV are losing ground, while the Internet takes an ever-larger role. The web, and in particular the mobile web, allows information to spread rapidly and opens the door for anyone who proves capable and trustworthy to enlarge...
Key opinion leaders, or KOLs as they’re called in China, are a primary touch point for brands in China, where the average internet user spends 27.7 hours per week online. Knowing the latest trends amongst KOLs helps brands and marketers that are engaged in influencer marketing. Being...
Despite WeChat’s incredible growth, engagement on articles published by official accounts has fallen by two thirds in the past 3 years. WeChat users are bombarded by content and it’s becoming harder for publishers to reach their fans. Building on the success of last year’s guide KAWO & 31...
Alibaba offered the tech world a double-whammy in the last fortnight, first with the ceremonial passing of the torch from chairman Jack Ma in a heartfelt open letter, then with the unexpected signing of a joint venture arrangement with Russia’s leading tech player a week afterwards. The deal wit...
China’s economy has been on the rise for decades. Improved living standards, a growing interest in tourism and relaxed travel regulations for Chinese citizens has led to a huge rise in the number of outbound Chinese tourists. As of November 2017, 120 million Chinese citizens hold passports which i...
While most of you are using Amazon and eBay, people in China are shopping on sites and apps like Tmall, Taobao, JD, Suning, Kaola, VIP.com, and the very popular new kid on the block, Xiaohongshu. Xiaohongshu (小红书), or Little Red Book, first came to my attention when I heard two collea...
Any foreigner trying to navigate Taobao for the first time will agree that online retail in China is a world of its own. Where technologies such as mobile payments and live-streaming shopping are still finding their feet in Western markets, they have become integral to the Chinese shopping experien...
While the majority of luxury brands operating in China have opened WeChat Official Accounts, many of them are still reluctant to run their businesses entirely on WeChat, instead opting to drive their subscribers to external websites and e-commerce platforms. However, WeChat doesn’t make this ea...
One of the biggest issues brands encounter when entering China is that they grossly underestimate the budget needed for an effective marketing strategy. Without sufficient funding and/or incorrect budget allocation, they flounder, and fail to gain traction. Why is this such a common problem? Possib...
If you want to tap into China's e-commerce market, the first thing you need to know about are the online shopping festivals. You may have heard of Alibaba’s very successful Double 11 Shopping Festival, which is two and a half times bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. But that’s n...
China is leading the globe’s cashless trend with its ubiquitous mobile payments. According to Xinhua, the mobile payment market reached RMB 81 trillion (US$12.77 trillion) as of October 2017. Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial’s Alipay account for 90% of the industry. The...
China has long been perceived as a “nation of copycats,” where the shanzhaimentality reigned supreme, but, while pirating still goes on there, China has already moved on to the next phase of its development. The same has happened with WeChat. What started out as a Chinese copy of Whatsapp has...
ALIBABA founder Jack Ma brought up the concept of New Retail at the 7th Alibaba Computing Conference 2016. New Retail aims to merge online and offline retail, and use adequate information and Big Data technology to enhance customers’ shopping experience. New Retail – backed by technology and Big...
At Alibaba’s 2016 Computing Conference, Jack Ma focused his speech on five areas that are being transformed by technology. The list included new finance, new manufacturing, new technology and new energy with new retail at the center. Alibaba wants to use data and technology to transform retail, in...
There is no denying that social media is the best way to approach target customers and raise brand awareness in China, as the country has an extraordinarily high mobile device penetration rate. With new social media products and programmes constantly appearing, 2017 witnessed countless innovative...