Top 4 Localized Features to Engage Chinese Consumers
Considering entering the Chinese online retail market? Smart move! China is now the largest eCommerce market in the world, with annual sales that topped $1.52 trillion in 2020. Consumers there are tech savvy and digitally focused, and they’re keen to experiment with new products, services, brands, and innovative sales promotions.
But you can’t engage any consumer if your brand isn’t tuned in with their local culture, language, currency, or preferred technology. China is no exception to that rule. But rest assured that the effort you put into customizing your end-to-end retail experiences for the Chinese consumer will be richly rewarded.
Silk has deep roots in the APAC region with global offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Chengdu, China. Our founder, Dong Xu, was born and raised in Hangzhou, one of China’s most important technology hubs, and home to China’s largest eCommerce giants. He founded Silk in 2007 in the US and has maintained strong connections to the Chinese technology and eCommerce sectors. Our global team has proven expertise in understanding the culture, language, and the motivations of the Chinese shopper.
Here’s how our experience working in the China market can help your eCommerce store succeed in this vibrant and innovative region:
Language
Consumers can’t understand your product descriptions, sales guarantees, or brand promise if they’re not written in a language they speak.
But you can’t simply translate your site word for word and assume it will be understood by a Chinese consumer. All languages have prosody — meanings and information go beyond the definition of a word. You need a partner, like Silk, who understands the nuances of the local language, especially as it pertains to the intersection of eCommerce, social selling, e-wallets, and the consumer’s preferred technology for engaging with brands.
When you work with Silk, we’ll provide you with truly native Chinese translations and fully localized Chinese language support so that local users can easily understand your site and your brand promise.
User Experience
According to a recent McKinsey report, Chinese consumers are far more likely to purchase items on the go. What’s more, mobile commerce has merged with social commerce to create some of the most remarkable and seamless buying experiences.
Silk can help you create a tailored mobile customer experience with features that are essential to the Chinese consumer, including integrated WeChat ID login, address automation support, Chinese social sharing, and more.
Payment
Chinese payment platforms are years ahead of Western ones in terms of accessibility, ease of use, and the speed in which they’ve been integrated with other online and brick-and-mortar checkout options. They’re also years ahead of the US in terms of adoption. Today, over 90% of the Chinese population uses an e-wallet. The most popular are Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Alipay is the most widely used e-wallet app. It’s super convenient in that it allows users to store their debit or credit card details in the app and then use their mobile phone to pay for just about anything, even a cup of tea from a street vendor!
WeChat Pay is a payment feature that’s integrated into the WeChat app and allows users to complete payment quickly using their mobile phones. WeChat Pay has many features that foster seamless payment. One of the coolest, Quick Pay, lets consumers show their barcode or QR Code on their WeChat’s Quick Pay page to a vendor who scans it for immediate payment.
Offering the right payment options to your target market will be critical to your success. You can’t expect to gain a lot of, say, Gen Z customers if your site only accepts credit card payment. Silk can help you select and integrate the right payment options for your target audience.
Logistics
Like Amazon Prime in the US, Alibaba has set extremely high expectations for shipping, tracking and support among consumers in China. In 2017, the platform set a world record for package delivery. The first order placed on Single’s Day was delivered to the customer in 13 minutes.
Silk has working relationships with the major logistics companies in China, and we can help you find and integrate with a provider who can meet your customer’s expectations. Track shipments to your customers in real time and receive timely support when needed.
Get in Touch
Email us if you’re planning to expand your business into the Chinese market. We’ll hook you up with the right resources so your eCommerce store will seamlessly fit into the ecosystem.