Wondering what the future of commerce looks like? Look no further. China’s e-commerce sphere offers us a glimpse of what commerce will look like in the future. It will be a convergence of mobile commerce, social commerce, and entertainmerce. Continue reading Why China Is Leading Us To The Future of Commerce
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This year’s Economist Innovation Summit in Hong Kong brought together about 200 industry luminaries, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to debate one of the hottest topics regarding China: will China become an innovative economy and what will it mean to the world?
Shutterstock One of the themes that emerged was Chinese consumers have become a driving force for global innovation. In 2015, China’s industrial sector barely grew, but its service sector saw higher than usual growth at 12%. Latest data indicate that consumption accounted for more than 60% of China’s GDP. As I wrote here and here, there are more than 600 million Chinese middle class consumers–and counting. They have been evolving and maturing quickly over the past decades. “I don’t think that there is a consumer in the world now that is more demanding than the Chinese consumer,” said Victor Fung, chairman of Fung Group, a business consultancy based in Hong Kong. Continue reading The Chinese Consumer Is Driving Global Innovation The Chinese super app WeChat is not only a superior social media tool (as I wrote here), it is also at the forefront of mobile e-commerce innovation that the West has never seen.
As of this writing, WeChat has over 800 million users (yes, it seems that WeChat’s user base is growing by the minute). Better yet, its users are super active. An average user checks into the app 10 times a day. They are practically living on WeChat. This has created a tremendous opportunity for brands to reach consumers. Reports indicate that brands in the fashion, watches, and jewelry categories receive an average of 7,000 views per WeChat post. WeChat offers platforms for brands to engage in interactive and one-to-one communication, driving online-to-offline activities and encouraging loyalty. WeChat’s payment system allows brands to sell directly to consumers seamlessly. Its true potential has yet to be tapped. Continue reading Three Innovative Ways to Reach Chinese Consumers Many in the West have long disdained Chinese firms as copycats. Some believe that no innovation from China can be called original. Baidu looks like Google, they argue, Alibaba is a version of Amazon, and Tencent imitates Facebook. Wrong. In the example of Tencent’s WeChat, the Chinese social media platform, Western equivalents such as Facebook Messenger, What’s App, or Twitter look hopelessly inferior.
As I wrote two years ago, there is nothing like WeChat in the West. A super app, as some call it, WeChat is a mobile messaging board offering free video calls, group chat, and many fun features such as a shake function to link contacts with other users. Now it boasts 700 million users. Each user has a personal QR code that serves as a digital ID. Over half of users have linked their bank accounts to its mobile payment system. They can shop, hail a ride or book a hotel – right there while they are chatting with friends. At an event in Shanghai last year, Elaine Chow, communication manager of the global digital consultancy Razorfish, demonstrated how she went about her day without her wallet. Continue reading It’s Time for Facebook to Copy WeChat With Apple’s fanfare announcement of Apple Pay on new iPhone6 and Apple Watch, Gary Rieschel of Qiming Ventures seemed unimpressed and said it was a non-event in China as Alipay and Tenpay had been doing exact that for years. Watch the Silicon Dragon show: Are we seeing a reversing tide when it comes to innovation in consumer and mobile sectors? Your comments are welcome. |
