China the world’s largest ecommerce market has become an attractive destination for global brands in the last decade for those looking to expand their online operations.
China’s ecommerce dominance has been well cited in the media in recent years since it has taken over the United States as the leading/largest global ecommerce market. Online retail sales in China grew 35% in the first nine months of 2013 and over the same period a year ago, equalling the 1.3 trillion Yuan ($212.4 billion) of online sales for all of 2012, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
China has 591 million internet users as of August 2013, with 49% of the population making at least one online purchase in 2013, exceeding the global average of 40%. With high consumer confidence the territory is predicted to see this rise from 49% to 71% by 2017.
The statistics making interesting reading and will likely inspire those once unsure about the China’s ecommerce market think again. Brands should be aware that the market differs vastly to the familiar territory of the UK and US – It’s not just buying practices that are different in China but the way consumers search for products on the web differs also.
With eight main dialects, several payment gateways and multiple search engines, brands won’t just be able transfer their European search engine marketing techniques and strategies as Baidu, the leading search engine in the country is nothing at all-like Google – and should be treated as such as it has its own unique likes and dislikes.
Find out just what these differences are and how to rank on Baidu in the below infographic:
