Many new brands are constantly trying to break into Chinese market due to all the potential it has. China is the second biggest economy in the world, right behind USA. It has the population of approximately 1.4 billion people. The urban part makes a half of the whole population. The country has more than 100 cities with more than 1 million people, with the disposable incomes constantly getting higher. It has numerous business opportunities, which makes it a perfect place to import your brand.
However, before taking that path, there are several issues each brand needs to be familiar with. There are numerous regulations regarding importing to China. It is still a very complex process, although the laws are changing in order to easy it up. The import process is monitored by Ministry of Commerce, Certification and inspection processes are very complicated and detailed.
So, how do you import your brand to China?
Chinese market is very complex. There are numerous ways of distributing your product. Finding the right distributor can be a very difficult job. Usually the potential ones might be dealing with up to 200 brands in the same time, which lowers the fact they will pay attention to the new brands, which usually in the beginning don’t have high revenue and impact on the market. They focus on the brands that are already established and who already have strong market position. Distributors just offer a sales channel, but they don’t come up with a long-term strategy. In order for them to care for your specific brand, you need to do the market research and choose the right agency which will help you with branding and marketing strategy in total.
In order for your brand to be interesting for the distributor, you need to target your audience in the right way. There are many decisions one has to make before expanding to Chinese market: Should I focus on 1st tier cities? Should I focus on lower tier cities? What are the best means of reaching my audience? How to be sure the distributor I hired is actually pushing my brand, instead of constantly pushing the ones with higher revenue?
The best way to ensure your presence on Chinese market is by using e-commerce platforms. Chinese society is highly used to purchasing their goods online. E-commerce allows you to build sales for your own brand and it has numerous other perks, such as basis for social media and advertising campaigns, lower commissions etc.
In order to do your marketing strategy in a right way, you need to choose the proper agency. The group of professionals in Tolmao group have years of experience in Chinese market. You can check out our article How to reach Chinese customers in 2019? where we explain in details the steps you need to take. Contact us in order to increase your sales and to be sure your brand will remain stable in the market on a long term!
