China is now the focal point of e-commerce worldwide, with many brands relying on China's e-commerce consumption for growth or looking to enter for its enormous potential. The ecommerce market in China is the largest in the world, and in recent years, technological developments, consumer habits, and Covid-19 have seen even more rapid growth. This has put enormous pressure on businesses like yours to stay competitive in a fast-evolving ecosystem with digitally mature consumers. Online shopping and mobile payments have become second nature to Chinese consumers, and a highly connected supply chain with fast deliveries has made everything available at their fingertips. Social media consumption has also had a great impact on what and how consumers shop, with platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, and Little Red Book fueling social commerce, often driven by KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) or Influencers as called in the west.
In the initial boom of the Chinese internet, Chinese online consumers' first choice was always large ecommerce platforms such as Taobao, Tmall, and JD. There was convenience, trust, and reliability in a new and tumultuous online ecosystem. Due to this, many brands have taken the initial strategy of selling on Tmall for their ecommerce strategy. To set up a store where the crowds already were, accepted the terms and conditions, and a templated approach to selling. And this has worked and does work for many.
But as Chinese consumers have become more mature and the brand's needs, capabilities, and requirements have grown, the Tmall ecommerce marketplaces are no longer the go-to strategy but a piece of the bigger picture. Brands are now becoming aware that a direct-to-consumer approach, achieved through developing a brand-owned custom ecommerce mini program, app, or website, has countless upsides that include better customer data collection, owning your customers' data, the ability to personalize your customer's experience, and countless opportunities for optimized clienteling and marketing.