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E-Commerce in China: A Marketer's Dream

By Kerry Finch

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 01Oct2008
Word count: 567
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It is easy to see why China can be a lucrative market for businesses, both big and small. With China's burgeoning population of at least 1.33 billion people, there's not only room for everyone, but there's also a big chance for an enterprise that captures a small portion of that pie to gain a fortune.

You do not have to be locally based in China in order to sell to the Chinese. With Internet and superior technology, buying and selling online are two activities that are literally at anyone's fingertips. In recent years, China not only opened its doors to foreign merchants but also allowed its nationals, albeit reluctantly, to get on the information superhighway.

It is undeniable that e-commerce has flourished because the Internet has made trading across continents faster and cheaper.

In China, industry watchers are expecting an Internet boom to happen any time soon because of the observation that more Chinese prefer to spend their free time surfing the Internet rather than watching TV.

The China Internet Association said that there are 137 million "netizens" (net citizens) in China. Out of that big number, they say that 2 out of 3 Chinese Internet surfers may be expected to purchase something online. Thus, Internet businesses are looking at breaking into China for greener pastures.

As with any regular business plan, if you want to start an e-business with the Chinese, you should be able to study your market first. There are a few things that you or any electronic retailer may find useful to know such as the following:

Online consumer make up. Based on statistics, Internet users in mainland China are most likely to be:

* young people, or those under 40 years old;

* purchasing books, computer devices and accessories; and

* average or high income earners.

Online retailer's problems. While selling to China online is easy, e-commerce still faces some problems, such as:

Lack of secure and trusted payment systems

With credit card fraud on the rise, Chinese buyers are not comfortable with giving their credit card information online, and prefer to pay for their purchases on a cash-on-delivery basis or through post office transfers.

Government control of web content

The Chinese government is wary of the Internet and of its possible influence on the Chinese culture. While Chinese nationals are allowed to go online, much of the content that they are able to access have been subjected to censorship. Anti-government blogs were the first to go. What constitutes objectionable material to the Chinese authorities is not clear but websites with pornography and smut were definitely taken down.

Foreign websites and cybercafés have been placed under the watchful eye of the authorities for possible violations of the strict censorship rules. This has led to the closure of some 1,600 cybercafés nationwide, which have been believed to be instruments of undesirable Western influence.

In recent news, the world's giant search engine Google gave in to the China government's pressure to censor its search results. Google has also blocked some of its regular applications from mainland Chinese net users, so as not to risk the government's disapproval.

While foreign-owned online businesses may have to face some barriers in China, the mainland's huge population and growing number of online purchasers are enough to whet every marketer's appetite.

The number of Chinese now using the internet is nothing short of staggering, and Chinese eWhispers shows how this opens up huge opportunities for internet marketers. No internet marketer can afford to be without a good understanding of this lucrative market.

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