How to sell on Tmall and Taobao: setting up an online store to enter the Chinese market
As the world’s largest e-commerce market, China presents a significant opportunity for businesses looking to expand their reach. Platforms like Taobao and Tmall have made it possible for foreign businesses to enter the Chinese market and sell to Chinese consumers. Taobao is Asia’s largest network retail business. Founded by Alibaba Group in 2003, the Chinese online shopping […]
South Korea’s digital ecosystem: local players dominate the game, but foreign competitors are lurking
South Korea is one of the most digitalized countries in the world. In addition to being home to chaebol tech companies like Samsung Electronics (삼성 전자) and LG Electronics (LG 전자), its population boasts a strong affinity for technology and the services it provides. As of 2018, South Korea ranked first worldwide in terms of […]
Leveraging WeChat mini programs for enhanced brand engagement and independence
WeChat mini programs, or MPs, are “sub-applications” within the WeChat ecosystem. These mini programs are widely used in China to facilitate a range of everyday tasks, such as booking a cab, making payments, playing games, and scheduling doctor appointments. Consequently, an increasing number of people are utilizing WeChat mini programs in their daily lives. Given […]
Content is king in South Korea’s influencer marketing
Influencer marketing refers to the collaboration of influencers to market branded products and services. Interacting with people and buying items online has long become the new normal, contributing to the growth of influencer marketing worldwide. The estimated global market size of influencer marketing was USD 16.4 billion in 2022, twice the size it was in […]
Neiwai: Empowering women with comfortable lingerie & loungewear
Neiwai is a Chinese lingerie and loungewear brand that was launched in 2012 with the aim of creating apparel that frees wearers’ bodies and minds. Starting as an online retailer, the brand has grown into a well-established brand offering a full range of leisurewear lines. This lingerie brand has over 140 stores covering more than […]
Shifting perceptions of money among Chinese millennials
Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are those born between 1981 and 1996. This makes the oldest millennial 42 years old and the youngest 27 years old in 2023. There are more than 350 million millennials in China, amounted to about 25 percent of the whole population. They are more educated than the previous generations, […]
Chinese Digital Consumers are adopting a less impulsive and more sustainable consumption
China is the largest e-commerce market in the world. In 2021, it was estimated to have a revenue of more than 1.5 trillion USD, while the US ranks second, with 875 billion USD. The biggest platforms for e-shopping in terms of users and transactions are in China and almost one billion people visit them every […]
Juhuasuan: the app that wants to give Pinduoduo a run for its money
China plays a leading role in the global e-commerce market. According to Statista, in 2021 almost half of the world’s e-commerce retail sales took place in China, with a sales value estimated to be more than US and Europe combined. These record-braker figures are possible due to the immense number of Chinese internet users, which […]
How the Zero-COVID lockdown impacted the Chinese economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused not only a public health crisis, but also an economic crisis across the globe. According to the International Monetary Fund, the median global GDP dropped by 12% from 2019 to 2020. When Omicron became the dominant variant, most countries started loosening their restrictions as the new variant is less deadly, […]
The Zero-COVID lockdown’s long-term impact on Chinese consumption
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and the consequent containment measures have forced consumers to stay at home, as a result, shopping habits significantly shifted. Indeed, the pandemic accelerated health awareness in China: fitness and weight have become some of the hottest topics on social media platforms like Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat, […]