How to open a store in China at low cost

Background

Hello, my name is Sophie and I am a consultant.
Due to the sluggish Japanese economy, more and more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are looking to expand their business overseas. One of the big markets is China. However, major e-commercemalls like Tmall and Jingdong not only take time to prepare, but also require relatively large investment, which discourages many SMEs. If you want to open a store quickly with a low investment, we recommend opening a store on WeChat first. In this article, we will introduce the advantages of opening a store on WeChat.

Advantages

● Huge number of users
The biggest advantage is that it is easy to promote products on WeChat, which boasts a huge number of users Social media. According to a report released by Tencent, the operator of WeChat, in April 2023, the number of monthly active users exceeds 1.2 billion, which is an advantage that no other platform has. WeChat has an advantage over other platforms.

● Low cost
The cost of setting up a WeChat store is very low compared to other platforms - about 1/3 of the cost of major e-commercemalls like Tmall and Jingdong. Compared to setting up your own e-commercesite, the initial, monthly, and operating costs are much lower. This makes it easy for small and medium-sized companies and start-ups to enter the international e-commercemarket.

● Speed of preparation
WeChat stores can be set up very quickly. We can fully prepare a store from screening to opening in just ten days, whereas a typical e-commercesite takes several months. This allows for a speedy entry into the market.

●Easy setup with SaaS
Many WeChat stores offer SaaS, making it easy to set up a store without any specialized knowledge. Templates and tools are provided so that everything from product upload to order management and inventory control can be managed centrally.

●Integration with WeChat accounts
WeChat stores can be easily linked to WeChat accounts (both personal and official). This allows for efficient marketing and promotions, and can easily direct existing followers to the store.

● Integration of live streaming
Live commerce has become extremely popular in recent years. In addition, in recent years, brand live-streaming has gradually replaced the earlier KOL live-streaming. If you are interested in brand live-streaming, please refer to our separate article "Brands have become the mainstay of China's EC live-streaming" ,WeChat stores have integrated live-streaming capabilities and can provide a seamless user experience, from product introduction to immediate purchase.

● Customer data collection
The WeChat store platform provides the ability to analyze customer purchase history and behavior patterns in detail. This data can be used to develop marketing strategies. For example, product recommendations and targeted advertising can be made more effective. If more detailed configuration is needed, a CRM (SCRM) for wechat can be used. Customers can be automatically classified by purchase history or pre-set keywords, and campaigns, articles, coupons, etc. appropriate for them can be sent to increase customer loyalty, LTV, and sales.

● Mobile optimization
Chinese consumers primarily use smartphones to shop online, and because WeChat is a mobile-specific platform, it offers a very high level of optimization for mobile users.

● Multi-language support
Multi-language support is very important for Japanese companies. Many WeChat store platforms support not only Simplified Chinese, but also English and Japanese. This opens up opportunities to attract customers from outside of China.

● Advanced payment options
WeChat Pay is one of the most popular payment methods in China, and WeChat store supports multiple payment options including WeChat Pay and Alipay. With WeChat pay, there is only a 2% fee for payments, and there is no need to open a Chinese bank account. Monthly earnings are automatically transferred to your Japanese account.

● Enhanced customer service
Within the WeChat platform, there is a full range of customer service tools. In addition to real-time response, AI chatbots are available 24 hours a day. This allows for lower labor costs while increasing customer satisfaction and encouraging repeat purchases.

Summary

Overall, WeChat store is a very attractive option for SMEs. It offers many advantages such as low cost, fast setup, SaaS use, account integration, and live streaming. In addition, total business operations, from data analysis to payments to customer service, can be handled efficiently and effectively. Japanese SMEs can take advantage of these many benefits and seize the tremendous opportunity to succeed in China e-commerce.