Member Article

Learn how to sell online to China

A special masterclass to teach businesses how to use the Internet to export goods to China is being held in West Yorkshire next month (December).

The two-hour morning event, being held by overseas trade specialist, Chamber International, at Deloitte LLP, Leeds, on December 8, will provide insights on key opportunities for Yorkshire businesses to use e-commerce to sell into the world’s second biggest economy.

Insights on how China’s consumers use e-commerce, the differences between key platforms and a step-by-step guide to the logistics of online exporting, will be provided by Chamber International’s China affairs associate, Matthew Grandage, and Scott Muir, founder of London-based digital marketing company, Regroup Media, which specialises in online selling to China.

The Chinese already do more than 13% of their retail shopping online, higher than the EU average of below 10%. Chinese internet giant Alibaba recorded $17.8bn in sales in 24 hours on this year’s “Singles’ Day” shopping festival (November 11th), a 32% increase on 2015.

Matthew Grandage says: “Chinese consumers love to buy fashion, accessories, cosmetics, baby care and healthcare products online but there are also rapidly growing online markets for food, beverages, pet products, toys and much more.

“The Chinese also love UK quality and design. Even companies in industrial and service sectors will benefit greatly if they can understand and engage with China’s Internet culture. Some UK companies now do most of their business with China online because they made the smart move to get in early, and did it well.

“The Singles’ Day phenomenon illustrates the scale of the opportunity and the cultural differences between online shopping in China and the West.

“China is a huge and growing market, but some British SMEs have felt that it is too expensive or difficult to address, even though they have the right product. E-commerce and digital marketing are bringing these barriers down, and opening up new markets in China for businesses like these and our masterclass will show them how to do it.”

Chamber International supports Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership’s We are International campaign. It also helps hundreds of new and experienced exporters with a wide range of specialist services to make exporting easier and more cost effective each year and is exclusively partnered with London headquartered global testing organisation, Intertek, to assist with a wide range of issues including product conformity.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Clarke Communications .