China’s First-time Internet User Data Report

Tingyi Chen New WeChat features

As we are sitting here within the 5th ring road of Beijing, it is hard to imagine that 40.4% of the Chinese population still doesn’t have access to the Internet. As this population gains access to the mobile Internet at a faster pace, it generates tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs and marketers. Penguin Intelligence published the 2019 China Internet Trend Report. …

Shipping to China for Cross-Border E-Commerce: a Simple Guide

Thomas Graziani New WeChat features

Frequent readers of our posts may have already learned how to set up your e-commerce presence in China and generate traffic to their WeChat store. We’ll now deep-dive into a common problem of vendors selling to China: logistics and shipping to China. Can my product be shipped to China? Click here Cross-border trade and FOREX Click here Custom clearance Click here Direct shipping Click here …

WeChat releases new logistics API: should you be impressed?

Thomas Graziani New WeChat features

A few days ago, WeChat announced the release of a new logistics API enabling to connect WeChat Mini-programs with 3rd party logistics providers. The solution has already been implemented by companies such as the American skincare brand Kiehl’s (part of L’Oréal group) and is now being made available to the whole public. But is it any good? WeChat new logistics …

Tencent Annual Report 2018: Stagnating Gaming Revenues, Payments & Ads Growth

Thomas Graziani New WeChat features

Tencent just released it’s Q4 2018 financial report and 2018 annual report. The report provides insights about the overall strategy of Tencent, and the future of WeChat and QQ. Financial growth Tencent continued on a steady growth of revenue: revenues reached nearly 85 billion RMB, a healthy 28% YOY increase. The company however delivered disappointing profits of 14 billion RMB …

How did TikTok become the first Chinese App to succeed oversea?

Leung Muk Wun (Kristie) New WeChat features

The short video craze is reaching new heights in mainland China. But what’s happening outside? As you may know, Tik Tok is the king of short video Apps oversea. What is Tik Tok? If you live outside China, you can hardly have avoided seeing advertising for Tik Tok, the latest short video App to boom in the Western markets. If …

Community Group Buy – the next billion dollar e-commerce industry

Tingyi Chen New WeChat features

The social commerce space never lacks innovation. A new type of location-based social model called Community Group Buy is changing how people engage in grocery shopping. Here is the monthly Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of top community group buy platforms according to eburn.com: Xingshen Youxuan 兴盛优选 – 370 million RMB Shixianghui 食享会 – 210 million RMB Niwonin 你我您 – 200 …

The cross-border payment war of WeChat Pay and Alipay

Tingyi Chen New WeChat features

During 4 years helping brands sell to Mainland China via WeChat, we collaborated with many cross-border payment gateways. These gateways are authorized by Alibaba, Tencent, and Union Pay to provides a cross-border payment solution for foreign businesses. Most of these payment gateways cover specific countries or regions, and some provide a one-stop-shop to leverage WeChat Payment, Alipay, Union Pay and …

Taobao Launches Mini-program to Compete Against WeChat

Thomas Graziani New WeChat features

If you search for “Starbucks” (“星巴克”) on Taobao you might be in for a surprise. Instead of simply seeing a link to Starbucks’ Tmall store, you will see a menu linking you to a “Starbucks Mini-program” experience within Taobao. The search also shows 4 tabs leading to different sections of the “Mini-program”. When opening the mini-App, the interface looks like… …

A Super Bowl for Chinese tech companies- The Spring Festival Gala

Tingyi Chen New WeChat features

The 5-hour long Spring Festival Gala (AKA Chunwan) is the most-watched Chinese TV program, with over 1.17 billion viewers and 30.07% viewership rate in 2019 according to CCTV. In comparison, the Super Bowl’s record-high viewership was only 114 million (in 2015). Just like the Super Bowl, the Spring Festival Gala has become a competition for advertising sponsorship. The cost of …