In no other country in the world, mobile sales accounts for such a high amount of retail transactions. Skipping the personal computer era, ecommerce business in China has become smartphone centric: Popular apps and platforms provide rich user experience rather than simple sales channels.

Unlike western countries, China and many other developing markets did jump from physical shops and markets directly to the smartphone. They simply bypass the personal computer and laptop era and have hardly engaged with desktop websites and its related marketing channels. This fact makes mobile commerce and marketing not just an option. It’s makes it the core strategy.

You think millenials generation are addicted to their mobile phone? Then most likely you haven’t visited urban China. For Chinese, the Smartphone is not just a gadget. It has become the centre of their social and commercial life.

Internet and Smartphone Usage in China

By 2018, the number of internet users in China has exceeded 800 million. 788 million (98%) of them using smartphones, making China the market with the largest and most mobile drive internet user base worldwide. The number of people with internet access has grown by more than 250% over the past decade with mobile use rising from 35% to 98% in the same period.

Retail and Ecommerce in China

The Chinese online retail market reached a volume of more than $ 1.5 trillion, more than the 10 largest following markets together (including US, UK, Japan and Germany). For 2019 a further increase of more than 25% is expected, heading the total volume towards the $ 2 trillion level. Online conversions accounts for more than 36% of the total retail sales in China, according to eMarketer. The research company expects the strong growth to continue throughout it’s forecast period which gives outlook until 2023.

Smartphone Centricity is a Strategy

Mobile is not only a medium of communication. It has become ubiquitous and a way of life. Brands are not only seen as providers of products and services, but are expected to helping consumers with daily living. The most successful companies have recognised this and build efficient advertising, marketing, social communication, shopping, purchasing, and payment programmes fully focused on mobile use. They offer a complete user experience focusing on multiple aspects of the users life, not only pure sales. Smartphone centric ecommerce has thus become a core strategy for commercial success in China.

Tencent for example has leveraged it’s mobile messaging app WeChat into a platform covering various aspects of peoples everyday life and communication. Besides the initial voice and text messaging, it integrates social media elements we know from facebook and instagram, online shopping marketplace as well as a payment service used for online and offline purchases. It has created a comprehensive tool for, if not to say introducing the era of social ecommerce in China. With this trend set to further grow, digital platforms like WeChat are becoming the axis around wich all content, social sharing, retail product promotions and catalogues are integrated. By connecting this with behavioural data and purchasing information, processed by AI-powered analytics systems, they will allow personalisation by an accuracy that has not been seen before.

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