Interview with Peter Heather, Co-Founder China Online Solutions
1) Tell me why China is such an exciting market for products and services?
For me, it is the size of the
country. 1.4 billion people. A product or service with just a small success in China
can result in 1,000s of sales.
The market goes beyond the
borders of China. Chinese people have lived, studied, travelled and worked
outside China for centuries. A in these markets can lead to success in China.
China's success over the last 50
years is mainly due to worldwide trading. It is so much faster and quicker than
anywhere I have seen in the world.
A country that needs to trade,
with a very large consumer market, is a place businesses should consider.
2) What are the problems brands/companies face trying to become an e-commerce player in this market?
Firstly, the protection of their
brand trademarks. Regardless of whether you could be trading with Chinese
businesses, ensure your trademarks are protected.
Secondly, there is a misunderstanding
of the prices that can be achieved in China. In the early days of the
e-commerce systems in China, higher prices were achievable. Today, you may see
higher retail prices for overseas products. These are net prices to the
consumer and include shipping costs and Chinese taxes (import and sales taxes).
Then, add the costs of using the Chinese e-commerce site, and you can have
lower margins in the Chinese market.
Thirdly, they do not reach the
Chinese market for their products and services. The companies I have seen with
the greatest success took time to reach, visit and plan their entry into the
Chinese market.
3)
Why is it important for a company to have a website
visible in China?
Today, online digital presence is
critical to any business trading regardless of location.
Overseas, social media is blocked
in China; therefore, your business website is the most cost-effective way to
have an online digital presence in China.
80% of overseas websites cannot
seen in China. Correcting this is straightforward in most cases and will mean
your business can be seen in China.
4)
Why must the site be in English and not
Mandarin?
This is only partly true.
If you translate your website
fully into Mandarin, it will often be mistaken as a website created by a
Chinese agent or “copycat” Chinese business. Chinese businesses want to see an
overseas business website in English.
When a Chinese business is
looking at a website, they will be the only tools you automatically translate
your website. This brings me back to “only partly true”;
o
Best practices: have a Chinese speaker read your
website using automatic Chinese translation tools. Where the translation is
poor or confusing review the English on your website. You can make small
adjustments to your English, which helps with the automatic translation.
Remember, once the automatic translation works for one language, it will work
for most other languages.
o
The website SEO data to drive Chinese search
engines. Search engines do not automatically translate website content. If you
wish to be listed in Chinese search engines in Mandarin, you will need SEO data
translated into Mandarin: titles, SEO descriptions, headers, etc. If done
correctly, it will enhance your website for the Chinese market with very few
words translated.
5)
You have developed a unique platform for making
overseas websites seen in China. Can you
tell me more about this platform?
Historically, an overseas
business has translated a copy of its website into Mandarin and used the Cloud
service which they believe will allow their new Chinese website to be seen in
China.
There are two issues with this
approach;
·
The additional time and costs of developing and
maintaining two websites.
·
Websites, in over 80% of cases, still cannot be
seen in China. This is due to third-party websites being blocked in China e.g.,
Google files and Cloud services not fully understanding what you can and cannot
do on the internet in China.
Our unique platform, Dynamic Cloud
Platform, creates a dynamic copy of your website and applies changes needed to
see your website from the internet in China.
In addition, SEO translation is added if required.
This service is fast to implement
giving a website that can be seen in China in days not weeks.
This platform removes the need to
maintain a second website for the Chinese market. As it is a dynamic copy of
your website, changes you make to your website are reflected in China within
minutes.
6)
How does this work for the brand/company
owner? What work do they need to do?
Our Dynamic Cloud Platform is to
greatly speed up the processes of getting your website seen in China while
reducing the need to create a Chinese website.
In achieving these objectives, we
have reduced the owner's work down to a few key points
·
What domain name do you wish to use for the
Chinese market
·
Do you wish to add SEO data for the Chinese
search engines?
·
Review of the final dynamic website
No. Have a Chinese speaker read
your website using automatic Chinese translation tools. Where the translation
is poor or confusing review the English on your website, you can make small
adjustments to your English, which helps with the automatic translation.
Remember, once the automatic translation works for one language, it will work
for most other languages.
8)
Medium to long term, what should a brand/company
think about once they’ve established interest in China?
Once you have established an interest
in China, it is back to business planning. There are many Chinese channels to
the Chinese market;
·
Your
local market: Chinese Internet sales and visitors in your country
·
Your
local market; direct sales from your website to China
·
Direct
selling to the Chinese market using Chinese e-commerce service
·
Appoint
local Chinese agents
·
Appointment
of a Chinese distributor
·
Chinese
representative Office
·
Chinese
local licensing
·
Chinese
Joint Ventures (JV)
·
Wholly foreign-owned
Chinese enterprise
Each of these channels has very
different costs.
I have seen the best results when
local Chinese agents are appointed. While many points need to be considered,
·
Stock is only shipped to China once payment has
been received
·
Clearance of goods into China is the agent's
responsibility
·
All agreements should be performance levels to
be achieved
· Agreements by channel/regions in China. No one agent can reach all markets in China
9)
What is the cost of your service so that my website
can be seen in China?
Dynamic Cloud Platform - £495 per
website
Chinese SEO - £495 per website
Quarterly hosting costs - £95
Chinese domain name £9.50 to
£35.00 per year
For further information please email info@chinaonline.solutions
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