This innovative approach allows overseas shoppers to make purchases on China’s cross-border e-commerce export platforms by simply entering their foreign bank card information to complete payments.

This significant development in the acceptance of foreign payments marks a major stride in facilitating international consumer spending, simultaneously propelling Chinese export businesses to achieve global sales from their domestic bases, thereby fostering a new development pattern that promotes the mutual reinforcement of domestic and international economic cycles.

The chasm in cross-border e-commerce exports has long been a hurdle. With China’s export e-commerce rapidly evolving and becoming a new engine for high-quality foreign trade development, the sector saw a 19.6% increase in total exports, reaching 1.83 trillion yuan in 2023, according to estimates from customs data.

The Central Economic Work Conference in December 2023 emphasized expanding high-level opening up, accelerating the cultivation of new foreign trade momentum, and expanding trade in intermediate goods, service trade, digital trade, and cross-border e-commerce exports.

The payment aspect of cross-border e-commerce exports, a critical link connecting supply and demand, faces inherent “chasms” due to regulatory requirements for cross-border information and fund transfers, as well as differences in currency types, payment tools, and habits.

This has led to numerous Chinese export enterprises facing penalties on foreign platforms, frozen funds, and extended payment cycles due to a lack of understanding of cross-border payments.

JD Pay has introduced this new model under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Leveraging JD’s comprehensive e-commerce ecosystem, the model was developed in collaboration with clearing organizations and financial institutions, focusing on cross-border payment pain points.

It addresses compliance issues, ensuring smooth funds transfer for merchants on China’s cross-border e-commerce export platforms. Furthermore, it lowers the shopping barriers for overseas consumers, who can now pay with their international bank cards without needing currency conversion or a Chinese bank account.

Currently operational on JD Global, this new model serves Chinese mainland merchants and overseas consumers.

Going forward, JD Pay aims to further refine its cross-border payment services in close collaboration with clearing organizations and financial institutions, enhancing the payment experience and services for more cross-border e-commerce platforms and independent sites, benefiting both international consumers and Chinese export enterprises.

The export cross-border e-commerce totaled 280.8 billion yuan (US$42.73 billion), an increase of 69.3%; the import totaled 138.7 billion yuan (US$21.10 billion), an increase of 15.1%.

The General Administration of Customs works with relevant ministries and commissions to continuously innovate and optimize the regulatory system and support the healthy and orderly development of cross-border e-commerce and other new formats.

There are more than 600,000 cross-border e-commerce related enterprises in China, with more than 42,000 newly registered companies since the beginning of 2021, according to Tianyancha data.

In 2021, in addition to the North American and European markets, there are also countries and regions in Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan, the Middle East, Africa, etc. where many cross-border sellers are ready to reach.

Top e-commerce mobile shopping platforms in China 2021

E-commerce in 2021

Retail e-commerce sales in China will grow by 21.0% in 2021, versus the 4.0% growth in total retail sales. As a proportion of total retail, retail e-commerce will jump more than 7 percentage points year over year to 52.1%, according to eMarketer.

Live streaming e-commerce, online grocery, and local group buying are well-positioned to gain further traction.

According to preliminary customs statistics, in 2020, cross-border e-commerce imports and exports totaled 1.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.1%. Exports were 1.12 trillion yuan, an increase of 40.1%, and imports are 0.57 trillion yuan, an increase of 16..5%.

In 2020, China’s top five trading partners will be ASEAN, EU, United States, Japan, and South Korea in order. Imports and exports to these trading partners will be 4.74, 4.5, 4.06, 2.2 and 1.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 7%, 5.3%, 8.8%, 1.2%, and 0.7% respectively.

Live streaming e-commerce to account for over 20% of China’s online shopping GMV by 2022

Jingdong (JD.com) total 11-day sales during Double 11 2020 grew by 32% YoY and reached 271.5 billion yuan (US$41.02 bn) in GMV. Tmall’s 11-day Singles’ Day sales reached 498.2 billion yuan (US$75.27 billion) with an increase of 26% YoY.

Tmall Historial Double 11 Sales

CIW Premium subscribers can download this year’s update on Double 11 here.

Double 11 Sales 2020

Lenovo reported total sales of 1.3 billion yuan in the first hour of the first day (1 Nov). Xiaomi received total sales of over 1 billion yuan in less than 20 minutes of the first day.

Tmall Double 11 Sales

In just two minutes, Tmall’s smart home sales exceeded 100 million yuan on the first day. And more than 1 million smart home devices were sold in one hour.

As of 1:00 a.m. on Nov 1, the total sales of Tmall Smart Speaker ranked first in the smarter speaker category. Among them, the total sales of smart screen products increased 14 times year on year.

By 1:51 am on Nov 1, 100 brands, including Apple, L’Oreal, Haier, Estee Lauder, Nike, Huawei, Midea, Lancome, Xiaomi, Adidas had a total sales of more than 100 million yuan (US$14.95 million). The most popular categories are 3C and cosmetics.

Update (11 Nov): According to the data of Taobao Live, the proportion of GMV via live streaming exceeded 60%, and the number of live streaming merchants increased by 220%. Taobao Live promoted more than 4 million employment opportunities.

Alibaba Tmall Double 11 total GMV in 2020 reached 372.3 billion yuan (US$56.46 bn) as of 00:30 am on 11 November.

Update (12 Nov): Tmall’s 11-day Singles’ Day sales reached 498.2 billion yuan (US$75.27 billion).

• 250,000 brands in total participated in Double 11 this year, of which 31,000 are overseas brands. Within these overseas brands, 2,600 participated in 11.11 for the first time.
• 357 emerging brands became top sellers in their respective subcategories. More than 1,800 emerging brands surpassed their GMV from Double 11 last year and, of these, 94 emerging brands enjoyed sales growth of over 1,000%.
• Under Alibaba’s Spring Thunder initiative, 1.2 million merchants and 300,000 factories focused on overseas trade from more than 2,000 industry clusters across China participated in Double 11.
• AI customer chatbot handled over 2.1 billion queries during the 11-day period.
• The United States was the top country selling to China by GMV.
  • Other top-selling countries to China, in alphabetical order, include: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and UK.

JD.com Double 11 Sales

Jingdong (JD) released the first day Double 11 report, and the turnover of the whole day increased by more than 90% year on year.

According to JD big data, FMCG products such as milk and dairy products, shampoo, rice, biscuit cake and paper drawing have become the top five categories in terms of sales, while 3C household appliances such as mobile phones, washing machines, flat-panel TVs, refrigerators, laptops and other household appliances rank first by total sales.

JD Plus, which recently reached 20 million members, saw a lot of activity on Nov 1st. The number of new users on Nov. 1st increased 113% YoY.

JD’s C2M home appliances, which have quickly become popular for their high cost-to-performance ratio also performed well. Twenty products from this line selected as priority quickly exceeded sales of RMB 200 million yuan on the first day.

Personal care home appliances grew 180% on the first day of sales, among which makers of hair dryers, electric razors and more such as Dyson, Philips, Flyco, Panasonic, Braun and Oral B were highest ranked in terms of sales.

Mobile phone sales in half an hour saw 314% growth. JD’s special mobile phone for the elderly saw eight times growth in the first 15 minutes, while users who participated in JD’s trade in program in the first 30 minutes increased 465%.

JD Luxury saw whole day sales on Nov. 1 up 138% YoY. In the first 30 minutes, 127 brands including Ferragamo, Ralph Lauren and Tod’s saw sales up 10 times YOY. International jewelry brands were up six times.

Update (11 Nov): JD Double 11 total GMV in 2020 since 1 November exceeded 200 billion yuan (US$30.33 bn) as of 00:09 am on 11 November. Here are a few quick highlights:

• In 6 seconds sales generated from live-streaming exceeded RMB 100 million yuan
• In the first 11 minutes, JD private label sales exceeded sales of the whole day on Nov. 11^th last year
• Haier, Midea, Gree and other brands sold over RMB 100 million yuan in products in one minute
• Huawei Mate 40 sales in 7 seconds exceeded RMB 100 million yuan
• Over 100,000 computers were sold in 10 minutes
• The turnover of JD Super, JD’s online supermarket increased 10 times YOY in the first five mins of sales
• JD Fresh increased 5 times YOY in the same timeframe
• JD’s international business saw transaction volume increase more than 120% YOY in the first 10 minutes
• JD’s imported goods supermarket saw turnover increase 2.5 times month-on-month
• 93% of first party orders placed during the Singles Day Grand Promotion have been delivered to customers in 24 hours

JD’s Consumer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) home appliances, which quickly became popular in the market because of their high-cost performance and ability to meet consumers’ demands, were highly sought after during the Singles Day period.

Twenty products hand selected by JD as development priorities quickly exceeded RMB 200 million yuan when the official sales period kicked off on Nov. 1^st.

C2M relies heavily on JD’s supply chain abilities. JD helped with sales forecasts for 33,000 brands and 5 million products and automatically deployed them to the locations nearest to users in advance.

Update (12 Nov): Jingdong (JD.com) total sales during Double 11 2020 grew by 32% YoY and reached 271.5 billion yuan (US$41.02 bn) in GMV.

Starbucks saw one-day GMV growth of over 90% YoY on 11 Nov to 200 million yuan.

Other Platforms

Suning reported 5 billion yuan sales across all channels as of 00:19 am on 11 Nov.

Gome GMV increased by 166%. In terms of online platforms, the sales of general merchandise increased by 237% month on month, and that of maternal and infant commodities increased by 314%.

Xiaomi reported total sales of 14.3 billion yuan across all platforms in the 11-day sales.

Come back soon; we’ll update with the latest information on Double 11. You can subscribe to e-newsletter or paid subscription. 

Dossier: Double 11

How JD penetrates lower-tier cities with social e-commerce initiative

Double 11 Introduction

Alibaba Tmall Double 11

Alibaba Taobao kicked off its Double Eleven Global Shopping Festival (“Double 11”), the largest annual shopping festival in China, on 21 October 2020 with new innovations and features to meet rapidly changing consumer trends.

These include the participation of Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform; broader consumer reach and bigger promotions, “double” the number of shopping windows that will spotlight more brands, products and special offers, and the popular live streaming technology creating more fun and engagement for Chinese consumers with the largest international presence to date.

For many brands, Double 11 is the single biggest growth driver every year and this year will be no exception. Check out Double 11 2019 performance.

Read our guide on Double 11 here.

Deepening Engagement to Create “Double” Opportunities

This year the Taobao/Tmall Double 11 Festival expands the concept from “single” to “double,” enabling merchants to double up on promoting their products to consumers across China not just once, but twice, according to Alibaba’s official announcement.

A new sales window will be added from November 1 to 3 on Taobao/Tmall platforms, ahead of the main event on November 11, with the aim of providing merchants, specifically new brands and small businesses, the opportunity to showcase their products and tell their brand stories amid the pandemic.

Double 11 has become one of the most important new product launch events of the year for many brands. This year, more than 2 million new products will be introduced, which is double the amount compared to last year.

Double 11 will be offering more opportunities for merchants both online and offline to engage with consumers as well as provide a better consumer experience overall.

This year’s Taobao Double 11 experience will also be enhanced by Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform, which brings together nearly 2 million local service providers offering special promotions in more than 100 cities.

Offline small- and micro-merchants across China, such as street stalls and neighborhood grocery stores, will be able to participate in the excitement of Double 11 by connecting with consumers through Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform.

Big Growth Driver for Participating Brands

Alibaba launched Spring Thunder Initiative early this year as a continuous effort on merchants empowerment and Double 11 is yet another milestone to help merchants regain growth.

This year’s Taobao Double 11 Festival will feature 14 million value-for-money products from more than 250,000 brands available on Tmall.

Also, to cater for the needs of customers in lower-tier cities, Taobao Deals’ “RMB1 Sales” campaign will enable consumers to purchase goods at huge discounts with free shipping.

To meet Chinese consumers’ increasing demand for international products, Tmall Global will bring more than 2,600 new overseas brands to Chinese consumers for the first time. Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform Kaola will also join Double 11 for the first time, featuring products from 89 countries and regions.

Live streaming and Logistics Core to the Event

Live streaming is expected to take the center stage of this year’s Taobao/Tmall Double 11.

In addition to sessions hosted by top live streamers, about 400 company executives and 300 celebrities will also hold individual live streaming sessions. Taobao Live will offer sessions ranging from cosmetics, electronics, to cars and houses.

New features like online property viewings and virtual vehicle test drives will provide a more realistic and engaging experience to help consumers with their buying decisions. Alibaba’s DAMO Academy will use artificial intelligence technology to create its first virtual live streaming host while Fliggy will host travel-related live streams.

This year’s event will have the largest international presence since it was founded in 2009.

AliExpress now sells to more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. Lazada was the first to bring the shopping festival concept to Southeast Asia across six markets – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Shopping festivals such as Double 11 have also become one of the key industry growth drivers as local small-and-medium businesses participate in this biggest event alongside LazMall, the region’s largest online mall with more than 18,000 local and international brands.

This year Lazada will continue its “shoppertainment” features ranging from live streaming to new consumer games and innovations such as voice search to find items.

Alibaba’s robust technology and logistics infrastructure is the backbone of the Double 11 Shopping Festival. Cainiao will charter approximately 700 flights during Double 11. More than 50% of this year’s cross-border parcels are expected to be delivered twice as fast as its usual speed.

JD Double 11

JD also kicked off its Double 11 2020 campaign on 21 October 2020. JD is expected to be the first choice of consumers buying 3C products (mostly computer, consumer electronics, and communication products) in this year’s Singles Day promotion, according to Nielsen.

Double 11 Pre-sales

Nearly 140 million items were sold during the pre-sales period from October 21st to 28th, an increase of over 42.3% from the same period last year, of which JD.com sales increased by 85.5%, according to O&O Consulting.

Products worth more than RMB 1,000 yuan accounted for 48.3% of JD’s pre-sales. Pre-sales of medicine and health care on JD increased by 378% YoY while home furnishings increased by 79.3%. One of the reasons cited for the increase is people’s yearning for a sense of security and stability after a very tumultuous start to 2020.

During the pre-sales, home appliances, computer and office supplies, maternal and child, medical and health care and other categories saw growth of over 100% YoY, indicating that after the epidemic consumer demand to “settle down” has become more important.

According to JD’s own data, from October 21st-29th advanced orders for health equipment, Chinese and western medicine, and traditional nourishment on JD’s platform increased more than 10 times compared with the same period last year.

Orders for fitness and exercise equipment increased more than three times, while health-conscious small home appliances increased four times YoY.

In terms of key sub-categories such as computers, electrical appliances and home furnishing, JD’s pre-sale volume of mid and high-end goods exceeded peers, especially in the home decoration category.

O&O data finds that consumers have a tendency to turn to JD for purchases in the durable consumer categories such as large household appliances, computers, and household appliances, with the platform making up 62.7%, 82.6% and 82.7% of pre-orders respectively by category.

Total transactions during China’s 618 shopping festival in 2020 reached 16.91 trillion yuan (about US$2.38 trillion), up 42% from last year, according to Chinese online payment clearing house NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (NUCC).

During the “618” online shopping festival from June 1 to June 18, a total of 26.18 billion transactions were made, an increase of 52% year on year, said the NUCC.

Alibaba Taobao/Tmall 618 2020

More than 100,000 brands have signed up for this year’s Tmall 618, double that of last year’s 618. More than 10 million items have been discounted to participate, which is in line with last year’s Double 11.

Tmall 618 generated a total sales of 698.2 billion yuan (US$98.49 bn). SME merchants saw one more billion orders during this year’s Tmall 618.

The import consumption of Tmall Global increased by 43% year on year. The direct purchase transactions of overseas warehouses increased by 199% year-on-year. As of June 18, more than 4,000 overseas brands doubled year-on-year growth.

Over 2 million merchants opened stores on Alibaba’s Taobao e-commerce platform since the pandemic, creating over 40 million jobs. C2M orders have grown by 500% YoY.

Tmall 618 Warming Up

On May 19, Tmall announced that during the period of 618, Tmall will, together with many local governments and brands, issue the largest scale of cash consumption coupons and subsidies this year, with an estimated amount of more than 10 billion yuan.

Chinese cities have been issuing billions worth of e-coupons to stimulate consumption.

Mini Program platform compared: WeChat vs. Alibaba vs. Baidu

According to Tmall, more than 100,000 brands have signed up for this year’s Tmall 618, double the number last year.

In addition, more than 10 million products will offer discounts in this year’s Tmall 618, which is in line with last year’s Tmall Double 11. All these figures have broken the historical record of Tmall 618.

In this year’s Tmall 618, Alibaba took “consumption voucher” as a new way of “festival making”, leading the national consumption recovery, promoting the release of China’s domestic demand potential, and bringing the biggest growth opportunity for the brand in the first half of this year.

Tmall said that the cash consumption coupons and subsidies issued by Tmall 618 will cover the broadest population ever. Besides, the conditions for using cash vouchers and subsidies will also be the most relaxed this year.

Tmall 618 presales started from 0:00 on May 25, with official sales starting on June 1 until June 20, 2020.

The epidemic has affected all aspects of society, and businesses have also suffered from different degrees of damage. They are looking forward to “a key battle”, either to turn the tide or to ensure growth.

Tmall 618 is such an opportunity. According to the analysis of the insiders, the biggest wave of consumption subsidy will come in Tmall 618 after the epidemic enters the stage of normalization prevention and control.

Tmall and over 100 furniture sellers, such as IKEA, Kohler, KUKA, QuanU, and Linshimuye, will launch a 3D shopping feature, allowing customers to “see” how the furniture fits into their homes.

Affected by the epidemic, since February of this year, a large number of offline stores have launched stores on Tmall, including IKEA, Tesla, and etc.

Close to 180 luxury brands are participating this year, nearly double the amount from Double 11 2019 Global Shopping Festival. Burberry, Montblanc, Cartier and Michael Kors are offering customized special edition items co-created with Tmall just for 6.18.

Coach, MCM, and Theory are participating in the campaign for the first time, and all recently launched outlets on Tmall Luxury Soho.

To many merchants in China, previously participating in the 618 promotion was a growth engine; but, now it’s more “life saving”.

Tmall 618 First Day Sales

In the first hour of Tmall 618 pre-sale, the total transactions increased by 515% year on year. Within the first two hours of the pre-sale, the transactions of several brands including Lancome and L’Oreal exceeded 100 million yuan. Subscribe to get more timely insights.

At the opening, an hour and 29 minutes of Tmall 618, the total transactions referred by Taobao Live reached 2 billion yuan (US$280 million), far more than that of the same period last year.

Since the launch of Tmall 618’s pre-sale on May 25, the number of live shows on Taobao has exceeded 1.4 million.

On June 1, Taobao Live delivered total sales of 5.1 billion yuan with over 20 brands and merchants exceeding 10 billion yuan in live streaming.

Jingdong (JD) 618 2020

JD 618 total transactions (1-18 Jun) reached 269.2 billion yuan (US$37.98 bn), up 33.6% YoY.

• Top categories by growth rate: fresh food, medical & health care, kitchenware
• Top categories by sales: mobile phones, home appliances, PC & digital products
• Top categories by the total number of customers: food & beverages, baby & maternal, beauty products

JD’s 7Fresh GMV increased by 100% year on year, and the turnover of more than 1000 fresh brands doubled during JD 618 sales (1-18 Jun).

More than 25,000 live broadcasts of Jingdong home appliances during 618 delivered the more GMV than the first five months’ total.

In addition, during the whole 618 periods, the cumulative turnover of air conditioners doubled over the previous year; the cumulative turnover of refrigerators and washing machines increased by 130% over the previous year; there are 10 third-party stores with a turnover of more than 100 million yuan on JD home appliance platform, and more than 1000 third-party stores with a turnover of more than one million yuan.

This is the 17th year for JD.com to hold its 618 Grand Promotion. JD will provide RMB 10 billion yuan in subsidies, hundreds of billions of discounts, and 10 billion yuan consumption coupons during the JD 618 event this year, announced on 25 May.

JD 618 Planning

This year’s 618 is the sales promotion with the largest amount of discounts ever with most new product launches. Among the many discounts and promotions offered, JD.com provided over 200 million units at a 50% discount and sell over 200 million units of new products.

JD.com would also help more than 150 brands to sell over RMB 100 million in products through innovative empowerment initiatives, subsidy support and other measures, and help more than 100,000 small and medium-sized brands and merchants to double their transactions.

JD would host over 300,000 key live streaming sessions during this year’s 618. It will also work with partners including Kuaishou, Douyin (TikTok), Wesee, Bilibili, Huya, Douyu, and others.

JD would invite top executives from brands such as Huawei, Honor, and Haier to interact with consumers directly, offering big discounts. JD’s executives and sales managers will also join JD Live.

JD Live would invite more than 100 civil servants, such as mayors, county heads, and directors of commerce to act as live streaming anchors to promote local agricultural products to help farmers and industries affected by COVID-19.

Home Appliance

Over 40 brands have created over 200 special production lines to produce over 1,000 exclusive products.

For example, Dyson would offer 70% of its Dyson Airwrap inventory to JD during 618. Some other promotions include a 60-inch 4K TV for less than RMB 2,000 yuan, a 55-inch 4K smart TV for RMB 1399 yuan, a Panasonic dishwasher for RMB 1899 yuan, and a new Midea air circulator for RMB 459 yuan – prices are significantly lower than usual.

JD has upgraded its service during 618 so that customers can enjoy a 30-day price protection policy for home appliances bought on JD’s first-party platform, and the option to replace a new home appliance with a quality problem within 180 days.

JD would also provide integrated delivery and installation service for TVs, and fast installation service for air conditioners.

JD would also offer RMB 300-600 yuan subsidies for people who trade in old air conditioners for new ones. It would provide a pre-sale video service to help guide consumers in the purchase of home appliances.

In addition, offline stores JD’s E-Space would participate in a 24-hour promotion on June 18th, providing customers with subsidies and discounts. JD’s over 12,000 home appliance experience stores would leverage live streaming for marketing promotion, covering Hebei, Henan, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces.

JD 618 First Day Sales

JD 618 started at 0:00 on June 1. According to JD, in the first hour, the transactions of Apple products were three times of that of the same period last year; luxury goods achieved a 400% growth and completing full day sales last year.

June 1st, the first day of JD’s 618 Grand Promotion, saw total transaction growth of 74% YoY. Forty brands individually achieved sales of over RMB 100 million. Check out the 7 consumption trends based on first-day sales data.

Sales of JD Super, JD.com’s online supermarket, increased by 100% compared with the same period last year. Sales of JD.com’s 7FRESH increased by more than 140% compared with the same period last year and JD New Markets grew by more than 100% year on year.

Compare with the same period last year:

• On June 1^st, sales of food categories in JD Super was three times.
• Sales of baby and maternal categories increased by 100%
• Sales of pants-type sanitary pads in the individual care category and female care increased by 12 times.
• Dental patches under the subdivision of oral care increased 19 times
• Sales of smart pet devices increased nearly 7 times
• The two-hour sales of toys exceeded the all-day sales of last year.

JD.com’s customized products also witnessed explosive growth including C2M, exclusive brands, first sales of new products, underwriting of tail goods, exclusive specifications, etc., and in only 4 hours exceeded the all-day sales in the same period last year.

JD Super brand merchants and retailers made efforts to reach the lower tier market. JD Super got off to a good start for 12 hours on June 1st. Sales in the lower tiers market increased by 160% compared with the same period last year, and the number of users from lower-tier markets increased by 83% compared with the same period last year.

JD.com’s outbound e-commerce platform witnessed a 742% growth in transaction volume on June 1st , compare with the same day of last year.  The top five markets are the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Canada.

The number of customers in Hong Kong grew by 370% year-on-year, while transaction volume by 266% year-on-year.

JD Worldwide (Cross-border e-commerce platform)

On June 18th, sales of JD Worldwide (JD’s cross-border import e-commerce platform) increased 110% y-o-y. Imported pet products increased nearly 400% y-o-y, imported beauty products increased 180% y-o-y, and imported electronics products, maternal and baby products, health care products, fashion products have all increased over 100% y-o-y.

From June 1^st to 18^th, over 30% of countries saw sales of their products more than doubled.

JD Worldwide has introduced over 1,000 new brands as of May 2020, and welcomed over 500 stores on third-party platform, including Abbott, Nestlé, as well as international chains such as South Korean department store AKPLAZA and Japanese drugstore Daikoku Cosmetics. During this 618, sales of the stores increased by over 100%.

This 618, JD Worldwide introduced 30,000 new international products to JD customers. On June 18^th, sales of new products were 15 times that of the average daily sales in May. From June 1^st to 18^th, sales of over half of the new products increased by over 200% compared with the same period of May.

Other Retailer & E-commerce Platforms

Gome’s one day GMV on 18 June increased by 73.8% YoY. 65 inch TV sales increased 186% year-on-year, and OLED TV showed 285% growth. Its 618 sales (1-18 Jun) exceeded May’s total sales.

Xiaomi’s total sales have reached 10 billion yuan across all platforms during the 18-day sales period.

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Top traffic driver compared: TikTok/Douyin vs. Kuaishou vs. Bilibili vs. RED

The program, named “AliExpress Connect,” is practically an affiliate platform dedicated to content influencer campaigns. On AliExpress Connect, influencers can access collaborate with AliExpress or brands that are selling through the marketplace.

AliExpress Connect is the official platform for connecting influencers and social media experts to hundreds of thousands of premium AliExpress merchants and brands. Millions of quality products can be advertised to consumers across over 220 countries and regions through popular platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, VK, TikTok and more.

The influencers can complete the agreed tasks to get cash at the Task Center and receive their advertising fee by creating exciting brand-centered content or sharing news about ongoing promotions. Two profit models are available including “fixed fee” and commission-based CPS model.

AliExpress has been working with local influencer agencies in Europe, to nurture influencer talent and create a new business approach that goes beyond the traditional one-off cooperation with brands, according to Xinhua News.

It looks similar to Amazon’s Influencer Program with a more flexible requirement. Anyone with an AliExpress buyer account can join. However, the “affiliate” has different roles:

• Buyer: anyone who likes to share product information
• Influencer, whose social media account has a minimum of 10,000 fans or followers
• Group owner, anyone who owns an online community such as Facebook Group administrator
• MCN

Anyone in the Connect program can profit from CPS but the “fixed fee” model is for brands to work with influencers (or via MCN).

Check out China online shopping market overview Q1 2020

China has announced another 24 cities as pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce to boost exports in December 2019 according to a statement released by the State Council.

China had previously designated a total of 35 cities for cross-border e-commerce. The new additions will extend the pilot program to most of China’s largest cities. Companies in these pilot cities could enjoy benefits such as tax rebates and government support to set up e-commerce platforms and international logistic services.

In 2018, China’s cross-border e-commerce transactions grew by 52.3% to 134.7 billion yuan ($19.3 billion), according to data from China’s customs administration. The growth in the first eleven months of 2019 reached 25% YoY.

It is agreed to set up comprehensive pilot areas in 24 cities including Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Chifeng, Fushun, Hunchun, Suifenhe, Xuzhou, Nantong, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Wuhu, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Ganzhou, Jinan, Yantai, Luoyang, Huangshi, Yueyang, Shantou, Foshan, Luzhou, Haidong, Yinchuan.

13 comprehensive experimental zones are newly established in the central and western regions and northeast China.

Users between 18 y-o and 34 y-o represent the majority (76.8%) of China’s cross-border online shoppers. Female account for over 58% of total users. China’s cross-border e-commerce users overview »

Relaxed forex management in FTZs

China has eased administrative approvals regarding foreign exchange (forex) management within its pilot free trade zones (FTZs) on a trial basis amid efforts to further facilitate investment and trade according to Xinhua News.

Four administrative approval items have been canceled, covering issues including forex market access and the registration of import and export entities, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

By easing the administrative procedures, SAFE expects to effectively improve approval efficiency and lower costs for market entities.

More efforts will be made to implement the reform on streamlining administration, delegating powers, and improving regulations and services, as well as the reform on separating business licenses from administrative permits, SAFE said.

SAFE will review the progress of the pilot program and improve forex management policies and measures accordingly, so as to further boost the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

Mobile shopping users and top e-commerce apps in China in Q3 2019

In 2015, a2 Milk chose JD Worldwide as the first online platform to launch its first-party store in China and introduce its world-famous milk powder products to the Chinese market. China is the top priority market for a2 Milk, and many Chinese parents have become customers of the company’s milk formula, which is designed to be easier for children to digest.

Over the past 4 years, JD has leveraged its unique insights into the Chinese market and consumer preferences to provide a2 Milk with customized marketing solutions, increasing the brand’s recognition among Chinese consumers.

On June 18 this year, the peak day of JD.com’s annual 18-day “6.18” anniversary sales festival, a2 Milk was the top-selling brand on JD Worldwide, and the brand’s platinum baby milk powder was the best-selling product. Sales of a2 products on the day increased 210% compared to the previous year.

Earlier this year, a2 Milk was a participant in JD.com’s “Brand Competitiveness Plan“, a one-month program which is an extension of JD’s previous Super Brand Day program and provides brands with comprehensive marketing solutions to increase sales performance and build up brand recognition.

Marketing solutions offered through this initiative include guidance on marketing campaign timing, choice of promotional channels, and help in identifying the target audience for a campaign. On every day of the one-month long campaign for a2 Milk, JD helped the company identify a group of customers who had indicated interest in a2 products within a specific period of time but had not yet made an order.

Coupons were then sent to these high potential customers. The ROI of coupons during the month of the campaign was 3.6 times higher than the typical average, and fans of the a2 Milk online store on JD Worldwide surpassed 1 million users.

“China is the top growth market for The a2 Milk Company, and JD.com’s expertise in innovative marketing has consistently allowed us to make the most of this exciting opportunity,” said Xiao Li, CEO of a2 Greater China. “Last year, we launched a blockchain partnership with JD, using a QR code on a2 Milk products to show logistics information at every stage of delivery. This is just one of the ways we are working together to give customers more peace of mind and confidence in their purchases.”

“The a2 Milk Company’s premium dairy products are an increasingly popular choice for Chinese parents across the country,” said Chris Cui, Head of JD Worldwide. “As China’s largest retailer, JD has unique capabilities to offer a2 Milk assistance in terms of marketing solutions, logistics and technology, helping a2 continue to grow their market share.”

With a reputation for safety and quality, products from Australia and New Zealand have consistently sold well on JD.com, with health supplements, maternal and baby products, wine, milk and cosmetics among the best-selling categories.

In addition to a2 Milk, popular brands including Swisse, Blackmores, Devondale, Penfolds, and Jacob’s Creek have also seen impressive growth in sales on the JD platform, with sales of Penfolds products increasing by more than 200% YoY during the first 30 minutes on June 18th.

China’s cross-border e-commerce users overview 2019

A new service will help Alibaba double the number of foreign brands on Tmall Global to 40,000 in three years.

Alibaba has taken another giant leap forward towards its ambition of becoming the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2023, becoming a truly global titan of commerce. A crucial element of realizing this is attracting more global brands, large and small, to its platform.

This has just become much easier with the new English-language portal on Tmall Global. Introduced in 2014, international brands on Tmall Global cover more than 4,000 categories and originate from 77 countries and regions. Tmall Global now plans to launch other foreign-language sites, including Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Global eCommerce expansion ramps up with the launch of English Tmall portal

This new service will certainly help Alibaba double the number of foreign brands on Tmall Global to 40,000 in three years, with a goal of generating more than half of the company’s revenue from outside China by 2025.

New growth engines are also essential given a cooling economy in China, an ongoing trade war with the US and increasingly aggressive competitors including JD.com and Pinduoduo. Efforts are well underway in this regard, with Alibaba having made inroads into Southeast Asia through the acquisition of Lazada, but it now aims to broaden its reach even further.

Attracting more international brands across key categories will provide a strong fillip to growth. Alibaba is already increasing investments to unlock growth from China’s lower-tier cities and rural areas, which currently account for only 20% of total orders for the company. This means plenty of room to grow for the business and cements the huge opportunities to go after for international brands.

Streamlining the Gateways to China

The new portal allows English-speaking merchants to fill in details online about their products, which are then vetted by Alibaba based on category and quality. If they fit the bill, Alibaba contacts them within 72 hours to gauge if their products are a fit for the Chinese consumer and Tmall.

The portal provides a hands-on guide to overseas merchants on how to open a store on the platform and make use of tools such as Tmall Overseas Fulfilment, which provides a low-cost way to set up their business in China before they start selling to domestic consumers. Tmall Global will also advise merchants on optimizing operations after they’ve established a strong presence on the platform.

Prior to the site, joining Tmall Global was only possible through personal introduction, or by signing up at trade fairs. With a huge emphasis on leveraging technology, namely artificial intelligence, to automate processes, a self-service portal and onboarding system makes sense. Especially if Alibaba wants to hit its ambitious target.

China is a fast moving, dynamic, highly nuanced, highly competitive, market. Understanding the drivers and influencers of growth, and how to unlock them is a scary prospect and often too daunting for smaller non-native brands.

The provision of Tmall Global’s portal will help brands understand the vast, diverse and digital-facing Chinese market – while at the same time providing Alibaba with what it strives for, operational efficiency through the efficient and effective use of data.

Removing friction and pain-points from the entire process of attracting, onboarding and helping to succeed, this new portal will certainly appeal to smaller brands. However, brands will need a good understanding of how to tailor products, messaging and marketing strategies to truly grow in China.

The need to deal with real-time data and industry benchmarks will become imperative. This will remain a challenge for smaller brands and will be essential capabilities if they’re to fully realize the opportunity in China and the potential of selling through Tmall Global.

Brands will still need to truly understand the landscape, and the ever-evolving shopper-retailer-brand relationships if they’re to establish credibility within the organization, and externally with key partners. Demonstrating the potential of Alibaba’s ecosystem and platforms in prioritizing investment for maximum ROI, is only one piece of the jigsaw.

eBook: Tmall Global Guide

This article was originally published on Kantar.com

Alibaba Group has entered into a strategic collaboration with the municipal government of Yiwu in Zhejiang Province to launch an eWTP hub in Yiwu to digitize trade infrastructure and empower new trade flows for the city, which is the world’s largest wholesale market.

Yiwu, in central Zhejiang Province, is the world’s largest wholesale market for daily commodities, attracting more than 500,000 buyers from around the world every year. Yiwu exports goods to more than 200 countries and regions and a majority of the 450,000 merchants in Yiwu are micro-, small- or medium-sized enterprises, a group Alibaba serves through its e-commerce platforms and other digital services.

This collaboration between Alibaba Group and Yiwu will make cross-border e-commerce more accessible to small players in global trade.

The eWTP hub, called the Yiwu eWTP Pilot Area, will build on the success of the eWTP hub established in October 2017 in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang Province.

With the support of the Zhejiang Provincial Government and experience from the Hangzhou eWTP hub, the Yiwu eWTP hub will use technology to promote innovation in trade and trade finance, establish a smart logistics hub and create greater inclusivity for businesses in Yiwu.

“Alibaba Group and Yiwu both have a long history of enabling small businesses to participate in global trade. While Yiwu brings together buyers from around the world, Alibaba’s platforms also bring together millions of merchants and hundreds of millions of consumers. The synergy of the two ecosystems will create value for our communities of users,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, at the launch ceremony of the Yiwu eWTP Pilot Area.

The Yiwu eWTP Pilot Area is the fifth eWTP hub under the global eWTP initiative following eWTP’s launch in Malaysia in March 2017. Since then, the eWTP project has launched hubs in Hangzhou (China), Belgium and Rwanda, respectively.

Initiated in 2016 by Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, the eWTP is a private sector-led, multi-stakeholder initiative that facilitates public-private dialogue to share best practices, incubate new trade rules and foster a more-integrated and inclusive policy and business environment to promote the development of e-commerce, trade and the digital economy.

The concept of eWTP was accepted as a major policy recommendation of the Business 20 (B20) and officially included in the 2016 G20 Leaders’ Communique.

Introduction to Xiaomi’s e-commerce platform Youpin

China’s Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council decided to adjust the import tax on imported goods according to the website of the Ministry of Finance.

The relevant matters are notified on 8 April 2019 as follows:

1. The import tax of goods in category 1 and 2 are reduced to 13% and 20% respectively (from 15% and 25%).

2. Notes on “drugs” under Category 1 are revised to “imported drugs that are subject to a reduced-3% value-added tax specified by the state are taxed at the rate of goods.”

3. The above adjustments will be implemented from April 9, 2019.

According to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, the postal tax is an import tax levied on the tariffs of goods carried by individuals, postal goods, import value-added tax, and consumption tax.

To maintain a fair competitive market environment, the tax rate for each type of postal tax should be roughly the same as the comprehensive tax rate for similar imported goods.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council pointed out that since this year, the value-added tax rate for imported goods will be adjusted from 16% and 10% to 13% and 9% since April 1; imports of rare disease drugs have been reduced to 3% since March 1.

The focus of this year is to reduce the tax rate for daily consumer goods, and the tax rate for goods classified as tax category 1 is reduced from 15% to 13%, a 13% drop. The tax rate for items classified under category 2 is decreased from 25% to 20%, a drop of 20%.

At the same time, the scope of drugs taxed at lower tax rates (goods tax rate) is expanded.

For all CIW Premium and annual CIW Standard members, download the new tax rate table for three categories of goods below:

• Import Goods Tax April 2019

Tmall Double 11 global shopping festival 2018 is expected to double its sales value in the UK, according to the e-commerce delivery firm ParcelHero. 

Many well-known retailers such as New Look have launched their flagship stores at Alibaba’s Tmall and marked good sales during Double 11. Meanwhile, lots of users in the UK have participated in the shopping festival through AliExpress, Alibaba’s cross-border export retail platform.

Tmall generated US$25.3 billion in global market during the shopping festival last year, dwarfing the combined sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which was US$14.48 billion.

AliExpress will play a far more important role in this year’s Double 11, considering it has become one of the popular e-commerce platforms in many European countries, such as the UK, Spain, Poland, France, and Italy. It is also expanding quickly in Eastern Europe at over 50% growth.

Besides a wide variety of products, Alibaba also provides a set of infrastructural services including payment, logistics, and technology to European partners.

This year’s Double 11 mega-event will last for 48 hours to be truly global. Stating at midnight on November 10, 2018, in Sydney, promotional activities will be held in correspondent countries.

Furthermore, AliExpress has collaborated with Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics network, to create a European e-commerce hub centered at Belgium Liège Airport. Thanks to that, the best-selling products stored at overseas warehouses would be able to be delivered within 72 hours to half of the European markets.

Continue to read Alibaba Taobao’s marketing strategy for Double 11 in 2018 »

AliExpress, Alibaba’s cross-border online retail platform, reached an accumulated 150 million overseas buyers, with a 50 million newly added users since April 2017. Meanwhile, its monthly visits exceed 200 million on the site worldwide.

Benefited from the Belt and Road Initiative, AliExpress is gaining popularity in the emerging markets like the Middle East and Eastern Europe. At its “8.28 Promotion” on August 28, AliExpress saw rising growth in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Spain, etc. Especially for the Middle East, the transactions grew as much as 252%.

Rising Social E-Commerce

Soon later, a new strategic partnership was established among RDIF, Mail.Ru, MegaFon, and Alibaba on September 11, who are forming a joint venture AliExpress Russia.

Notably, Mail.Ru is the biggest social networks in Russia with 100 million Russian users. The two leading social networks VK and OK are all its subordinate platforms. The whole AliExpress business will be further integrated with social networking in Russia.

It never occurred to AliExpress that the Middle East should embrace so many possibilities, especially after the AliExpress Direct, a new oil plan for the Middle East initiated, parcels can be delivered to the Middle East at fastest in 7 days. Meanwhile, AliExpress enhanced its cooperation with local social networking and KOLs in Saudi Arabia and UAE.

AliExpress has developed social marketing plans in the emerging markets like the Middle East, Poland, and France since last year. Collaborated with overseas web celebrities through AliExpress, some shops have already achieved explosive growth in transactions.

This year’s Double 11 gala will last for 48 hours to be truly global. Stated at midnight on November 10, 2018, in Sydney, promotional activities will be held in correspondent countries. Moreover, AliExpress sets to team up with global web celebrities to help global consumers select goods of high quality.

China online retail grew by over 28% as of end-August this year »

China’s e-commerce startup Xiaohongshu, or “Little Red Book,” has raised US$300 million with a valuation in excess of US$3 billion on May 31, 2018. Alibaba led this financing round, some famous investors GSR Ventures, Tencent Investment, GGV Capital, Genesis Capital, Tiantu Capital, Zhen Fund, and K11 Adrian Cheng have also participated.

Officially launched in 2013, Xiaohongshu originally gathered users by sharing shopping tips. It gradually turns to generate UGC content through users and finally evolved into a lifestyle app that covers every aspect of life.

Xiaohongshu success attributed a lot to its excellent marketing strategies in recent two years. Some popular stars such as Fan Bingbing and online celebrities are using Xiaohongshu, which attracts a lot of new users. Moreover, Xiaohongshu has tried entertainment marketing in Q1 2018 by sponsoring two popular Chinese reality show Idol Producer and Create 101.

As of May 2018, Xiaohongshu had over 100 million registered users and roughly 30 million monthly active users, three-fold more than that of a year earlier. Among which, post-90s and post-95s have become the most active users.

Xiaohongshu launched its cross-border e-commerce business in December 2014. While a half year later, the sales of Xiaohongshu broke through 200 million yuan.

Currently, Xiaohongshu strives to develop self-own brand “Bright”. And its first offline concept store REDHome will be opened in Shanghai by June 2018.

[REPORT] China Shopping Behavior 2018; value growth of FMCG rebounded

Alibaba Group’s first eWTP hub outside of China has gone live in Malaysia. The milestone follows Alibaba’s partnership with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to work jointly to enable Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises to benefit from global trade.

Serving as a ‘one-stop solution center’ for local businesses, the country office is designed to engage with existing local partners, help Malaysian businesses identify global cross-border trade opportunities, as well as to support the country’s technology innovation through cloud computing services.

Alibaba announced the launch of ‘Malaysia Week’, a special online promotion initiative that seeks to attract Chinese consumers to buy all-things Malaysian from the 6th to the 12th of July 2018. The Malaysia Week campaign is set to showcase an array of ‘Must-see’, ‘Must-eat’, and ‘Must-experience’ Malaysian products and tourism across Alibaba’s platforms.

More than 50 Malaysian brands, featuring a wide range of product categories, will be showcased, in addition to a whole host of exciting promotional activities to be launched during the period.

Malaysia Week

‘Malaysia week’ is the result of fruitful discussions between Alibaba Group and Malaysia since the launch of eWTP. Other milestones in the development of Alibaba Group’s support for Malaysia’s digital economy, include:

• Logistics. Commenced construction of a smart e-fulfillment hub in Kuala Lumpur under a Cainiao-MAHB joint venture to enable speedy storage, fulfillment, customs clearance, and warehousing operations.
• Cloud computing. Opened a local internet data center to provide Malaysian enterprises a local choice to build their businesses and run their applications on powerful, reliable and secure world-class global cloud platform.
• Training. Trained thousands of individuals, entrepreneurs and cloud computing professionals under various programs in conjunction with leading Malaysian universities and government agencies to support Malaysia’s sustainable e-commerce development.
• E-commerce. Launched Malaysia Pavilion on Alibaba.com to promote quality Malaysian products to global buyers.
  • Established a one-stop platform to provide export facilitation with services ranging from marketing and customs clearance to streamlined permit application procedures and tax declaration and more.
  • Hosted March Expo with MDEC and MATRADE to connect Malaysian wholesalers with global sales opportunities.
  • Held “Access to China Consumers” seminar to help Malaysian exporters enter the China market with the participation of more than 500 Malaysian merchants.
  • Announced the launch of Malaysia Week in July 2018 to promote a broad range of Malaysian products and services to China’s consumers.

Find out how WeChat and Alipay payments are making smartphones obsolete.

China cross-border retail e-commerce sales are expected to exceed US$115 billion in 2018 with a growth rate of over 15% YoY and reach US$144 billion by 2021 according to data from Analysis.

The total transaction value of cross-border e-commerce market in China will exceed RMB 8.8 trillion (US$1.4 trillion) in 2018, accounting for close to 30% of total e-commerce transactions in China.

The cross-border e-commerce retail import market is expected to see RMB 511 billion (US$79.9 billion) in transactions in 2018 with an increase of over 25% YoY and exceed RMB 620 billion (US$96.98 bn) in 2019.

Market Shares of China’s Cross-border E-Commerce Retail Imports Market

China’s cross-border e-commerce retail import market is led by Tmall Global (27.6%), NetEase Kaola (20.5%), JD Worldwide (13.8%), Vipshop (9.8%), and Amazon Global (9.1%).

Big e-commerce campaigns like Double 11, Black Friday, and Double 12 are all in the fourth quarter, which greatly prompted the sales of cross-border e-commerce platforms. Read more  »

Also read Tmall Global trends & insights 2018

Tmall Global plans to open six new procurement centers across the world to help overseas vendors capture Chinese consumers’ booming appetite for newer and better imported goods according to Alizila. The centers will be established in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, as well as in the regions of North America, Europe and Oceania.

China’s e-commerce cross-border trade to more than double to RMB 620 billion ($98 billion) in gross merchandise volume by 2019 according to Boston Consulting Group research, from RMB 305.5 billion in 2016.

Tmall Global, which already offers more than 18,000 brands from 74 countries and regions, is committed to attract even more brands and vendors across the world to sell their goods into China in the coming year, said Tmall Global General Manager Alvin Liu.

The top cross-border e-commerce platforms in China include Tmall Global, JD Worldwide, Amazon, Netease Kaola, and etc.

This report is mainly based on Amazon’s own data regarding the volume of overseas sales and consumer behavioral surveys. One highlight is the fact that the number of overseas brands purchased through its cross-border platform has, in the last half year, increased from 80,000 to 210,000. Find out more here.

Black Friday continues to be a revenue driver for cross-border e-commerce platforms in 2017

According to eBrun, the 2017 annual report from Kuajingtong recorded the current business revenue of RMB 14 billion (US$2.2 billion), showing an increase of 63.99% as compared to previous year.

Kuajingtong, the first cross-border e-commerce enterprises granted by Chinese government, aims at becoming the official and standard cross-border e-commerce platform. Kuajingtong, supported by Shanghai Customs, Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and State Administration of Foreign Exchange, has the advantage in product authentic guarantee, competitive pricing, transparent taxes, convenient logistics and customer service.

Net profit is RMB 970 million (US$ 153 million) , an 81.04% increase from previous year. The net profit attributable to the shareholders is RMB 750 million (US$ 118 million), an increase of 90.73% from last year.

Related: Chinese Cross-border Online Shoppers Insights

Besides, the total assets stated in the annual report stands at RMB 8.6 billion (US$ 1.36 billion), reflecting an increase of 21.08% from the start of the year.

The owners’ equity attributable to shareholders at the end of the reporting period is RMB 4.9 billion (US$ 0.77 billion), with an increase of 16.82% from the start of the period. Share capital stands at RMB 1.4 billion (US$ 0.22 billion), with an increase of 0.42%, net assets per share is RMB 3.42 (US$ 0.54), with an increase of 16.33%.

Kuajingtong was initially established as BaiYuan Trousers in 1995, mainly focused on apparel retail business previously.

As the company steeped in the implementation of e-commerce retail and continuous improvement, the company accelerated its growth in cross-border e-commerce ecosystem.

REPORT The rise of the Millennials consumers in China

eBay is well-known in China as a platform for exporters seeking to sell Chinese-manufactured goods abroad, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that it has another “hidden” role as an importer.

On one hand, eBay’s main website is still an important shopping platform for Chinese seeking to buy goods from abroad. On the other, it also attempts to import goods into China through other channels; for instance, in 2015 it launched a “Featured on eBay Abroad” channel on JD Global, and a third-party service provider maintained a WeChat shop called “Featured on eBay” until it was closed in 2015.

It also operates a low-profile China platform for its main e-commerce site under the domain name “haitao.ebay.com”, catering to shoppers looking to access goods from abroad.

In recent days, though, it seems that eBay intends to bulk up its importing business in China; next year, it plans to begin looking for merchants. Devin Wenig also announced progress on eBay’s China platform on November 20^th, saying that eBay had introduced local payment methods to the site.

Wenig’s announcement seems to point to a redesigned website rather than announcing a new strategy, though the latter may come as well. If you open the new eBay platform, you’ll find a redesigned layout, a mobile site, and other user-friendly aids such as one-click translation and acceptance of UnionPay. What’s still missing, though, is a mobile app.

The products on this site are still connected directly with eBay’s various national platforms, mainly from American-based sellers, including Chinese and HK residents who set up stores in the US with eBay, and relies on overseas direct mail to ship goods, unlike eBay’s American platform, where Chinese buyers can transship.

eBay isn’t a stranger to China’s import market, having launched an overseas purchase platform in 2010 to help Chinese consumers buy abroad, but after giving up on the initiative in 2012 it is rarely remembered. To say it was too forward-looking is not an excuse, but the fact remains that at the time cross-border e-commerce in China was in its infancy, at least when it came to imports.

According to statistics from China’s Ministry of Commerce, cross-border e-commerce transactions (import and export) totaled 3.1 trillion yuan (US$469.7 billion) in 2013; in 2016, that number had risen to 6.5 trillion yuan (US$984.8 billion). In Q2 2017, cross-border e-commerce imports totaled 93.82 billion yuan (US$14.21), a 17.6% rise over the previous month.

Giants such as Alibaba, JD.com, Netease Kaola, and Amazon have all entered the market one after another, followed in the 2014-15 period by many start-ups… at which point eBay was still focusing on exporters. It seems to have been involved in the import market, but not enough; the competition of the past few years has left it a late entrant, with little time to make up ground and pass its competitors. It isn’t clear how it can arrange its business in China to overtake them.

High-end retail should focus on high-value-added goods and services in China