Chinese consumers have always been enthusiastic about buying health products or any brand related to wellness. This strong preference stems from a cultural standpoint, where traditional Chinese medicine is believed to be an effective medical system to prevent illnesses.
China has a distinct digital landscape, but we all know that a good KOL marketing campaign is always an effective strategy to captivate the fragmented Chinese consumer base. Like it or not, Chinese Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) wield substantial influence across major social media platforms in China. And while their prowess molds consumer habits and purchasing decisions, not all popular KOLs suit every brand’s target audience.
Social commerce has surged in popularity worldwide in recent years because of the fusion of online shopping and community engagement. With people opting to purchase products online, social media platforms gradually became the preferred shopping destination for many internet users. China is no exception to this trend.
Is 小红书 (Little Red Book, aka RED) all it’s cracked up to be? Or is it just a flash in the pan, a one-hit wonder, an over-hyped fad, bound to go the way of Vine and MySpace? It’s hard to tell. One thing’s for sure – in the last few years, it’s gone from being a relatively niche platform, used almost exclusively to share cosmetics tips, to a full-blown social commerce powerhouse. We’re going to give an overview of what RED is, the kinds of users it attracts, user behaviour, KOLs vs KOCs, RED ads and best practices.
In this guide, we will detail what Live Commerce is, why brands should live-stream on Tmall, what sort of shoppers to expect when doing so, and how to get started.
Put simply, live commerce is the combination of online live-streaming with e-commerce. It can be thought of as teleshopping for the 21st century. What the television did for home shopping in the 1980s and 1990s, with companies like QVC becoming multi-billion-dollar juggernauts in just a decade or two, smartphones are doing for all shopping in the 21st century, at a significantly hastened pace.
In the era of digitalization, China’s e-commerce market has continued to grow and adapt to meet the ever-changing demands of Chinese consumers and merchants. These developments have brought about the emergence of multiple e-commerce platforms and has led to the market dominance of Chinese online retail.
China’s Fintech industry is continuing to develop as more and more companies look to expand into this constantly growing market.
2020 will be a busy year for WeChat, with a range of updates and changes that will help to advance and evolve the platform, and provide new opportunities for both users and brands.
