The #1 e-commerce market within easy reach: China
10 December 2019

Chinese people just love shopping online. By 2022 it is estimated that about 70% of them will be doing exactly this. With a population of 1.38 billion, this makes China the largest e-commerce market on the planet. Without doubt an interesting proposition for Dutch companies. We therefore now offer our clients the opportunity of a simple and accessible way of joining China’s largest e-commerce platform: Tmall.
Tmall: China’s number one
The average income and expenditure per consumer in China are rising rapidly. By 2022 Chinese individuals are expected to spend on average 1000 USD per year in webshops. Rising prosperity also means that Chinese consumers are expressing an increased interest in the quality products of recognised international brands. This makes China a focus of interest for all European companies.
With a market share of 56.5%, Tmall.com is China’s largest e-commerce platform. The platform markets a wide range of consumer products, including fashion, cosmetics and vitamin supplements, as well as food. These products are all sold through partners. Tmall.com can be compared to familiar platforms here in the west such as Amazon and Bol.com.
As well as an e-commerce platform, Tmall is also one of China’s largest search engines. This may sound strange, but this came about because the world’s largest search engine, Google, is blocked in China. Investing in Google search machine optimisation or advertising is pointless for anyone looking to enter the Chines markets. Chinese consumers searching for products will use platforms such as Tmall as their first port of call.
Easy entrepreneurship in China
Usually, anyone intending to trade in China is required to meet a whole raft of demands, including:
- Possess a license to sell products in China
- Have the availability of a physical shop or storage facility in China
- Register as a company with the Chinese authorities
- Have a Chinese bank account
These demands make trading in China a complex affair. E-commerce platform Tmall Global is changing all this.
Any company can register with Tmall Global as a seller. To do this your company will not be required to meet any of the above demands, as with this system the goods are officially sold outside China and then legally exported to China. It should come as little surprise then that over 20,000 brands based in 77 countries already operate a webshop on Tmall Global. A few examples of the bigger names include cosmetics brand Lush, Foot Locker and Swisse nutritional supplements.
How much does it cost to have a webshop on Tmall Global?
Normally, Tmall charges a range of costs for a webshop. A company can quickly run up costs into the tens of thousands of dollars for mediation fees and subscription charges. Start-up costs are relatively high, which makes joining daunting, not to say risky.
However, our Chinese agent has managed to negotiate a set of excellent conditions for Ritra Cargo clients. Rather than high upfront costs it has been agreed that only a small fee per product offered will be charged. Companies can simply and easily access the reach of Tmall for a fraction of the usual start-up costs.
Selling your products via Tmall?
If you think you would benefit from entering the Chinese market or are interested in the opportunities the Tmall e-commerce platform offers, please feel free to contact us. We always look forward to explaining more about it. Let us know your wishes on sales@ritra.nl, or call us direct on 0031 (0)10-7671000.
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