MILAN, June 5 (Class Editori) – Social commerce and mobile payments, omnichannel and new retail. To understand how e-commerce is evolving, turning the entire distribution system upside down, we need to look to China.
Not only China is the number one in the world for the highest volumes of growth in online sales, but also is foreseeing all the economic and innovation trends – which will be the reference points in the coming years. According to Statista data, the online business of products in China – which now amount to 633.9 billion dollars (563 billion euros) – will exceed one thousand billion dollars (974 billion euros) in 2023, with a growth rate of 11.6% per annum.
In comparison, in the US it will rise from 445 billion euros to 626 billion, with an increase of 8.1% per year, while in Europe it will go from 318 billion euros to 458 billion (+7.5% annually). Moreover, in China there are 817 million mobile users per day and, in 2019, they will make online purchases for more than 577 million (464 million in 2017).
The mobile transaction volume will reach 41.500 billion dollars (37 thousand billion euros), 55% through Alipay (Alibaba group) and 45% through WeChat Pay (Tencent).
"It is an understatement to talk about a marketplace in China, the two most challenging topics are social commerce and omnichannel", said Mcom Giulio Finzi, Netcomm Services senior partner, adding that: "WeChat is a big success, with 1 billion users a day: here brands can open their e-commerce, so the purchase takes place without leaving the social environment. For what concerns fashion and lifestyle, Xiao Hong Shu is the emerging social network, with about 100 million users, which allows brands to be more niche-oriented".
Furthermore, the fashion and luxury market appleals to everyone, starting from the big names in the online business such as Tmall of Alibaba, which is investing in Tmall luxury pavillion and Jd.com, which has become the reference shareholder of Farfetch, in order to exploit synergies. That in addition to Secoo, the real online luxury retailer, which also has various physical experience centers.
"On-off line interaction is essential, also because the consumer now claims to live the same experience in all channels. Even more so in China: those who enter the market must do so online, using WeChat. The next step is to open pop-up stores, to create events and engagement, possibly converting them into real stores," said Finzi, specifying that: "In general, all points of sale must be transformed into experiential touch points and showrooms within an omnichannel strategy, which includes social networks integrated with e-commerce".
China is also the cashless country par excellence. "Traditionally, bank accounts are not widespread and so the Chinese have switched directly from cash payment to digital, among other things with no mistrust as, instead, happened in the West", explained Stefano Generali, the Intarget managing director, digital company that develops advertising strategies.
"In fact, Tencent through WeChat Pay and Alibaba through AliPay represent an all-round digital ecosystem: in addition to selling, they directly manage transactions, experimenting with the most advanced forms of payment," added Generali, stating: "That said, we must first consider that Chinese culture is very different from ours, therefore we need to develop ad hoc strategies. Moreover, given the territory size, the country cannot be considered as a single market, but many, different markets: all to be explored".
(Source:Class Editori)
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