Chinese e-commerce platform opens up overseas trade to Leeds City Region businesses

Chinese e-commerce platform, Kaola.com, is launching a search for businesses based in the Leeds City Region to work with.

The search is in aid of Kaola.com’s aim to grow its portfolio of products produced in the UK.

This announcement followed on from a recent Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) led trade mission to China, during which representatives from the region met with officials from the cross border e-commerce platform.

This opportunity offers businesses new to exporting a way to enter the Far East market and the world’s second largest economy, due to Kaola.com’s direct procurement and export model.

The Chinese retailer has developed its website to sell products to the Chinese middle class, and boasts over 5 million visitors a day. This high volume of users presents an opportunity for Leeds City Region Exporters to tap into a large consumer market.

David Shepherd, Head of Trade and Investment at the LEP, said: “We understand that businesses can be put off by the thought of exporting, believing it to be an expensive and complicated process.

“At the LEP we’re working to help firms overcome this barrier to trading overseas. As such I’m pleased that as a result of our recent trade and investment visit to Hangzhou, we secured this opportunity for the fantastic manufacturers and producers based in our City Region to start exporting and expanding their client base in a relatively simple way.”

Kaola.com purchases the products directly from the supplier and exports them to China via its warehouses in Germany.

This model benefits the supplier and particularly those businesses which are new to trading overseas, allowing them to enter a growing market via a proven platform and without having to pay for the cost of shipping to China or the customs processes.

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