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E-commerce Potentials in China

Get to Know About E-Commerce Trends and Magento in the Most Exciting Online Market Worldwide.

According to eMarketer’s latest forecasts, in 2014, for the first time, consumers in Asia-Pacific will spend more on ecommerce purchases than those in North America, making it the largest regional ecommerce market in the world.

Beginning in 2016, China will overtake the US in spending


The eMarketer report also notes that ‘the Chinese e-commerce market is second only to the US, but this is not expected to last much longer'.

This year alone, business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce sales are expected to reach $525.2 billion in the region, compared with $482.6 billion in North America.

Recently we’ve expanded our partner program with Bluecom Solutions in Asia and asked Patrick Deloy, Executive Director, to comment on China’s e-commerce market and its path to world domination.

Bluecom’s expertise is in the planning, development, and support of complex e-commerce platforms for medium to large international B2C and B2B companies.

Bluecom has offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong & Vietnam and focuses especially on the China and APAC online markets.

 

What’s the percentage of the Magento market share in China?

I would position it somewhere at 2-3% of the market maybe. Unfortunately I do not have specific numbers for that, but we can see more and more merchants in the region (multinational companies as well as local companies) looking closely at Magento to set up their e-commerce operations in China and the APAC region.

Two of the main reasons are that the implementation budgets are usually a bit lower than in Europe or the US, and Magento can flexibly adjust to the local requirements (e.g. payment integration, checkout modification, logistics connection etc.).

Name a few prominent Chinese brands run on a Magento platform.

In terms of Chinese brands, that is hard to tell, most of the brands (except for maybe Haier and Lenovo) are unknown outside China anyway. But a few international companies that run on Magento in China are e.g. Adidas, Quicksilver, Decathlon...

The worst advice you've ever heard about China.

The worst advice for a Magento implementation or localization in China is always to rely solely on western (European/American/Australian) or Indian/SE Asian outsourcing companies who have no idea about China.

We have seen many sites that were supposed to aim at the Chinese market but lacked basic best practices or integration in terms of design/UX/checkout/payment/social networks etc.

aheadWorks has a lot of great extensions that are very well maintained and which help us and our clients to realize common requirements quickly and cost-efficiently.
Magento is one of the most popular e-commerce frameworks for China and East Asia

 

What will Magento market in China be in 10 years?

I think Magento will grow further in China since it can be completely localized. We are certainly putting in our share to promote Magento further in China and the APAC region.

How long have you been dealing with Magento?

We are currently Magento Gold partner and with more than 20 Magento certified developers and over 70 e-commerce experts we are one of the biggest Magento implementers in East Asia. We have also initiated the first Magento conference in East Asia (Shanghai) that has drawn a great crowd of merchants and business owners.

What was the most exciting thing about MagentoCom (China)?

It was the first event of its kind in East Asia, so we had to do most things from scratch. However we received great feedback, had more than 250 attendees (mostly merchants, retailers and business owners) and Magento Inc. also gave great support (Ryan Scott, Sales Director for LATAM/APAC came over in person for the keynote speech).

Are you intending to make the conference an annual event and what can people expect form it this year?

Yes, we intend to repeat the event later this year. Magento Inc. has noticed the great response we had for the event and were impressed with the turnout at the first event, so they have assured us high-level support for the second event as well. Most probably it will be in Shanghai again, though it may also be held in Hong Kong.

Any last words you might have?

China and East Asia are the e-commerce markets of the future, and Magento is one of the most popular e-commerce frameworks for these markets due to its cost-effectiveness and flexibility. Any merchant looking to set up in this region should have a close look at Magento Community or Enterprise and speak with a local solution provider (such as Bluecom).

Thank you so much, Patrick, for your time and detailed responses. Feel free to ask our guest about China market and Magento in the comments below.