Frédéric Guiral de Haas, CEO Nivose and expert in the Asian market, and Philippe Canonne from Valtus, discussed how Covid has accelerated the digitalization in China.
China is no longer just the whole world’s factory but is also at the forefront of the latest trends and developments in the digitalization of, above all, retail, and payment systems.
Guiral de Haas says that “The speed at which trends, tools and market releases are spread is quite frightening. So much so that what was true six months ago is no longer true today.”
Trend 1: The cashless society
One of the areas in which China is a leader is within QR payments, and with Covid, it has become the norm to pay with a mobile phone to avoid infection. Cash and bank cards have almost disappeared. The soon cashless society can also be explained by the fact that it is secure, very user-friendly, and a fast way of paying. The downside is the loss of privacy through constant monitoring of payment systems and users.
Trend 2: Live-streamed shopping
Another growing trend accelerated by Covid is live-streamed shopping. It is a modern version of teleshopping, in an interactive form. Live streaming is a must in any sales strategy in China, says Frédéric. “This has been a way to keep in touch with customers during lock-down. However, the costs are high, and the question is whether we will see a slowdown in the development.”
To enter the Chinese market, new brands need to spend more and more money on marketing. According to Chinese law, companies must use a TP (Trading Partner) for their platform and costs will be a problem, especially for smaller companies. Free deliveries and returns will decrease, higher demands will be placed on environmentally friendly trade, and what happens to e-commerce then? asks Frédéric.
China has:
30% of world industrial production
75% of rare earth metal production
850 million Internet users
50% of global e-commerce
40 trillion $ in mobile payment transactions