Cashback News – Oct 13: China POV, luxury goods grow, Baidu, PayPal, Airbnb, Uber, Twitch, Pedder Red, Charles Philip Shanghai, WeChat (Weisin), Anker…

In today’s Cashback News, we take a tour of the latest developments in e-commerce and online shopping in China. Stock market troubles aside, e-commerce and luxury goods remain in growth mode. KPMG study finds luxury shoppers spent 28% more per online purchase in 2015. According to iResearch, Baidu is benefiting from the trend to Online-to-Offline (O2O) services. PayPal builds bridges from consumers in China to business in the US.

TechCrunch says Airbnb, Uber and Twitch show that now is a good time to enter the China market. Luxury shoe brands Charles Philip Shanghai and Pedder Red test the e-commerce market. Is there any market where millennials don’t have a big influence? They’re a consumer force in China too. 40% year-over-year growth in rural e-commerce in China has retailers excited. social media in China is a must including the Chinese version of WeChat called Weisin. Finally, Chinese tech company Anker is making it big on Amazon and gaining rave user reviews.

Luxury shoppers in China spending 28% more per online purchase than in 2014, study shows

Unfazed by the country’s economic slowdown, luxury shoppers on the Chinese mainland have increased their purchases online as a range of e-commerce options provide attractive deals – from cosmetics and clothes to cars and property. The survey was called China’s Connected Consumers 2015. The new KPMG-led study found that the average spending by mainland luxury shoppers has increased 28% to 2,300 yuan (US$362) for each single e-commerce purchase, up from 1,800 yuan average in last year’s survey. Via scmp.com

Baidu Bets Big On O2O

According to iResearch, the Online-to-Offline or O2O service industry is expected to grow between 20% and 50%. The CAGR in the reverse Offline-to-Online industry is expected to surpass 600%. Baidu’s Financials Baidu’s second quarter revenues increased 38% over the year to RMB 16.575 billion (~$2.67 billion)…

By segment, revenues from online marketing services grew 37.1% to RMB 16.23 billion (~$2.62 billion). Active online marketing customers for the quarter grew 20.9% over the year and 12.6% over the quarter to 590,000. Revenue per online marketing customer during the quarter grew 13.2% to RMB 27,400 (~$4,419). Traffic acquisition costs were 12.7% of total revenues, flat from 13.5% in the first quarter of 2015. Via seekingalpha.com

PayPal to Connect Chinese Consumers to US Retailers

PayPal took the time and did their research when looking at the Chinese consumer market, as any responsible business would do. In the past year, PayPal commissioned two research projects in partner with Ipsos MORI and Nielsen’s Harris Poll. The study was meant to focus on the buying habits of consumers throughout the world, but to pay particular attention to those consumers in China.

So what did PayPal discover? Not surprisingly, they find that Chinese consumers are looking for products that are authentic, brands that have a trustworthy reputation and in particular, Chinese consumers are looking for goods that are from the United States. This comes as no surprise, as Chinese consumers have been known for their desire to have products that are luxurious and what many consider to be good craftsmanship. In addition, Chinese consumers want products for good value. Via socialbrandwatch.com

Now Is The Time To Break Into China

A generation ago, well-known Internet and tech giants with global ambitions tried to break into the Chinese market but often failed. Those attempts have been well-documented, but conditions change when a country like China goes through its own mobile revolution. Today, startups around the world have a real chance to break into China, no matter how global financial markets are behaving…. Airbnb, Uber and Twitch are leading the way. Via techcrunch.com

Two Companies Show Online Success via Personal Ecommerce

When people consider buying goods online, they often think this e-commerce sale will take place via one of the two online shopping giants, Alibaba or JD.com. However, the online shopping world in China is more than just these two platforms. Many companies are finding it just as good of an investment to start their own website in China, and have their own shopping platform online. Two of the companies who are receiving tons of attention for doing so are a local Chinese businesses, Charles Philip Shanghai, and Pedder Red.

Educated, web-savvy pleasure-seekers: how China’s millennials are changing the face of the consumer sector

China’s millennials are becoming an increasingly powerful consumer group. Better educated, more pleasure-seeking and internet-savvy, the generation tends to spend more on high quality goods and services, preferring online stores to bricks and mortar retailers to the benefit of brands with innovative designs over traditional players in the sector. Another survey by China Internet Network Information Centre, a government body, showed that 20 to 29-year-olds accounted for over 50% of online shoppers in 2014. Via scmp.com

E-Commerce Expands in China Rural Areas and Continues to Climb

It seems that rural China, whose citizens are often seen as less affluent, is seeing an increase in e-commerce, as more and more citizens are utilizing their mobiles and the Internet to buy and sell goods that are available online. For the past year or so, e-commerce seemed to be devoted to the more wealthy citizens of China, with luxury goods often being purchased online. However, China Internet Network Information Center stated that in 2014, the number of rural online shoppers was 77.14 million, a growth of 40.6% since the previous year. Via socialbrandwatch.com

For brands to market themselves in China they must engage with Social Media

Brand awareness in China is not easy, we must study the Chinese way and know the culture in the aptly namedmysterious orient. Before you can begin promoting yourself in this huge market, it is necessary to study every detail, you need in-depth cultural specific knowledge. There are 1.3 billiion people in China with 800 million people owning a phone, this leads to more people being connected and registered on social networks….

The instant messaging application, WeChat (Weisin in Chinese), has over 400 million active users. It is based on the sending of messages, video and pictures to contacts. The application was developed by internet giant Tencent who have continually improved the application, it is now comprehensive networking platform and therefore a good social network (along with Weibo) to develop your marketing on. For brand awareness in China a strong presence on WeChat is key. The mobile application is a platform for exchange between users, but also the sharing of content to the wider community. We call it the ‘WeChat times’. Via marketingtochina.com

Counterfeit Goods Becoming an Issue with Alibaba…Again

Counterfeit goods within the Alibaba marketplace Taobao, is not something that is unfamiliar for the huge company. Alibaba was able to remove itself from the list after 2011, after being able to stop the rapid counterfeit products that they were seeing. The association’s president, Juanita Duggan stated: “Our members face enormous difficulty working with Taobao in solving the problem of counterfeits, meanwhile illegal merchandise continues to proliferate. So why is the company calling for Alibaba to be put back onto the list? Via socialbrandwatch.com

Chinese Company Anker Makes it Big on Amazon

When Anker founder So Yang came to America to study for his Master’s at Uni Texas, he had no idea he would be exporting technology from China to America so soon. He realised if you can sell something that everybody needs around the globe, it becomes possible to employ 100 engineers within 4 years on tiny profit margins.

How Amazon Became the Backbone of So Yang Success
When he returned to China So Yang concluded the best place to start was compact technology. His first choice was mobile chargers because they appeal to the mass market, and are cheap and easy to ship. This logically lead him to appointing Amazon as his storefront, and launching his portable phone chargers under the Ocean Wing e-Commerce Company’s Anker brand. Via socialbrandwatch.com

I hope you enjoyed today’s focus on China. In tomorrow’s news, we’ll have a roundup of more e-commerce and cashback stories around India and it’s critical festival sales season.