News, Blog and Updates

Photo by Moose Photos at Pexels. Understanding young consumers in China can have a significant payoff, with Gen Z poised to be some of the most prolific shoppers ever    Just when you’ve mastered millennial appeal, along comes Gen Z and their unique demands, expectations and tastes. Taking the time to tailor a business strategy with this market in mind can mean tapping  In China, Gen Z is a distinctively new consumer segment that is

Photo by Miguel á Padriñán at Pexels. Demand aside, there are some serious hoops to jump through for British brands looking to enter China’s e-commerce market. Serious hoop jumping can equate to serious returns though – here’s what to consider when exporting to China…   Entering China’s e-commerce market is an attractive proposition for British retailers right now. Tricky times for the retail market domestically means looking abroad for growth potential makes sense. And nowhere

Photo by Kindel Media at Pexels. …and there’s plenty of appetite for international brands. From collagen gummies to beautifying drinks, we look at the biggest opportunities in China’s nutricosmetics sector.   Instead of reaching for a handful of cheese and onion crisps, beauty-conscious consumers in China are instead choosing snacks that promise to satisfy and beautify. Supplements designed to deliver aesthetic outcomes are a major trend in the country’s booming e-commerce market.    These types

Photo by Johnny Brown at Unsplash. Clean is the new normal in China’s huge and growing beauty market. It’s a prime opportunity for British clean beauty brands to fill a glaring gap left by domestic brands. This is why…   Whether you’re in a supermarket or reading the news, there’s no escaping the current trend for eco-consciousness and all things natural. Consumers and those behind the products they consume are – quite rightly – aware

Photo by Jordan Nix at Unsplash. We round up the biggest shopping festivals in China, and how your band can capitalise on them   Any brand considering entering the Chinese market knows this: shopping is Big Business in China. The country is experiencing a year-round boom in e-commerce in particular, but it’s also home to a host of shopping festivals that make even China’s usual mind-boggling e-commerce figures pale in comparison. Its shopping festivals are

Photo by Rui Xu at Unsplash PyxPro’s payment solutions are the missing link between British retailers and the booming Chinese e-commerce market. Better still, set-up is free. Stephen Williams explains how it works…    Officially, England and the rest of the UK are coming out the other side of pandemic-induced purgatory. After more than a year of restrictions that saw high streets, airports and offices deserted, life can return to normal.    Or can it?

Photo by Cris Feliciano at Pexels.   Entering the lucrative Chinese e-commerce market? Key to your brand’s success is developing a social media strategy that’s in line with local culture and platforms   We might not be able to agree on the most delicious type of dim sum, or whether Shanghai or Beijing has the most to offer tourists, but one thing is unanimous. A localised social media strategy is essential for brands entering the

Photo by Zhang Kaiyv at Unsplash. China is leading the way in the development of artificial intelligence – and like most trends that originate there, it’s one that is set to impact how we do banking in the West.    The association between China and imitation, rather than innovation, is officially outdated. Not only is it leading the way in e-commerce and retail trends, but its finance industry is benefitting from advances in technology that

Photo by Rodolfo Clix at Pexels. Digitalisation is driving a much-needed transformation in financial services. At the forefront of that change is China. And its position at the frontier means lessons for the rest of us…   Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there’s no doubt that you’re aware of the current FinTech boom. And like many trends – in finance, e-commerce or even fashion – it all started in China.    A large

Photo by Matt Ridley at Unsplash. Your customers will want – and expect – to shop directly on social media platforms like Instagram in 2021. Here’s how to make social commerce a friction-free and profitable experience.    Online shopping is evolving. The record numbers of consumers that are now shopping online want that experience to be as frictionless as possible.  For retailers, this means adapting. Creating seamless, convenient buying experiences that integrate as naturally as

Photo by Ryoji Iwata at Unsplash. China’s social media landscape may be the world’s largest, but it’s also arguably the most unique. Here we demystify everything from Douyin to Weibo to help you successfully market – and sell – your brand to China.    If shoppable content has recently stopped your scroll on Instagram, you’re not alone. Social commerce is set to be one of the biggest trends across Britain in 2021. In China, though,

Photo by Dan Gold at Unsplash. Experts agree that China’s post-pandemic health and wellness boom is here to stay. Here are the key areas of opportunities for brands looking to move into the Chinese e-commerce market.   Forget the lipstick economy. In the wake of a global pandemic, it’s the health and wellness industries that are booming. And nowhere is this more profound than in China.  A report by Boston Consulting Group had estimated that

Photo by Pexels. Opportunities for British skincare and cosmetics brands in China are significant. Savvy businesses won’t take the thriving sector at face value though – trends such as products aimed at men and those made with natural ingredients offer exciting scope for cross-border success.    It’s the ultimate glow-up. China has moisturised and made-up its way to become the second-largest cosmetics market in the world.  Placed just after the U.S. in terms of revenue

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko at Unsplash. The global pandemic has fast-tracked changes in consumer payment preferences. And thriving in this new era of digital payments means adapting. Here’s how your customers will want to pay this year and beyond so that you can stay ahead of the curve.   The sound of tills ringing is set to be relegated to pre-pandemic history. There’s a digital payment revolution underway and it’s good news for retailers. While

Photo by Min An at Pexels. Chinese influencers are trusted by consumers more than anywhere else in the world. Here’s how to use KOL marketing to boost your brand and turn fans into sales.    Influencer marketing in the West is at a crucial tipping point, with many experts predicting its meteoric rise is over. In China, though, it’s booming.    In China, influencers are KOLs – Key Opinion Leaders, and so influential is their

Photo by Tarik Haiga at Unsplash. China’s preferred payment methods are more than just digital wallets, they’re a way of life. And doing business there means rethinking the familiar and embracing the new…   There’s no doubt about it. For most, China represents a bit of a mystery. From its cuisine to its style of communication, China’s cultural differences to the West are significant.    Its preferred payment systems – WeChat Pay and Alipay –

Photo by Tom Fisk.   China’s shoppers are buying from overseas businesses more than ever, and they’ve got billions of pounds to spend. Here’s why making sure your brand is in their online shopping cart should be your top priority.      1. China has the world’s largest digital buyer population, with more than 710 million people.   2. In 2020, e-commerce sales in the country were worth $826.6 billion. That number is expected to

Photo by Florian Wehde. China represents a multi-billion pound opportunity for British businesses. But tapping into the world’s largest e-commerce market means understanding Chinese consumer nuances and tailoring products, services and a customer experience to match.   It’s been a tough past year for British retailers. Amidst uncertain times domestically though, a retail gold rush awaits abroad. It might be thousands of miles away physically, but online, China is just a few clicks away; and

French luxury goods house Cartier has opened a flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion, making it the first Richemont-owned business to launch a standalone boutique on Alibaba Group’s dedicated channel for luxury and premium brands.   Cartier said it would offer a wide range of jewelry, timepieces and leather goods in the new store, which begins presales next week. Two new products will also be making their exclusive global debuts on Tmall Luxury Pavilion: the new

  Taobao Live, Alibaba Group’s livestreaming platform, saw a sharp rise in brand activity this past month as merchants slowly resumed their operations and looked for ways to reach consumers in the midst of the novel coronavirus outbreak. In early February, livestream sessions on the platform had increased by 110% compared to the same period last year, according to Taobao Live. Driving that growth was the surge of businesses using online tools to maintain sales

  Key Opinion Leaders — better known as KOLs — have long been used by luxury brands in China to promote products and influence sales. However, in an ever-changing consumer climate, experts are now claiming that a new form of influencer may be even more beneficial for building a brand’s image. Introducing, the KOCs, China’s Key Opinion Consumers. Until recently, the title of “influencer” in China was attributed only to celebrities in their own right — singers,

  At $5.8 trillion last year, China has the second-largest retail market in the world. One area in the market in particular is showing promise: the cross-border e-commerce channel, says a new report from global consultancy Deloitte, the China Chamber of International Commerce and AliResearch, which is a part of Alibaba Group. Cross-border e-commerce in China holds a specific distinction where international companies are allowed to sell certain goods to Chinese consumers online, through platforms such as

  The luxury world is now very dependent on Chinese consumers, but the COVID-19 crisis is revealing the cracks in that once rosy relationship. When an industry puts all its business eggs in one basket, it can be a recipe for disaster, and major luxury players have perhaps gotten too comfortable focusing on younger, affluent Chinese urbanites over the past few years instead of looking for innovative ways to branch out into the global market. UnionPay transaction data used in

  There’s no doubt that people both in China and all around the world have been spending far more time at home than usual recently. Inevitably, that means people are spending more time with their phones. During this year’s Spring Festival celebrations in China, screentime was up by 26 percent compared with the figure for 2019, according to mobile big data platform Aurora Mobile Limited, we can also see from the DAU increase of top 10 apps in