China Internet Shopping Behaviour
China netizens (internet citizens) were among the top online shoppers in Asia, with an average of 71.3% having tried online shopping. According to a news report from China People’s Daily, from 350 billion yuan in 2005, online transactions shot up to 553.1 billion yuan in 2005 (that’s about US$70 billion).
Among the popular products purchased online in China included books, digital products, computers and mobiles / cell phones related items.
In a survey in June 2006 conducted by the China Internet Network Information Center , the preferred methods for shipping the merchandise were ordinary post, EMS (popular worldwide mail courier company, details on their website EMS.com.cn), and other express delivery companies.
As for collecting payment for e-commerce in China, the most popular payment choice is credit or debit cards, cash collection upon delivery (collect payment at door), and bank remittance. Do take note though that most people would use the local Chinese debit card system, and not the regular international credit cards that we normally use. 12 years ago, there was not a single credit card issued in China, and according to the China Business Weekly, in 2005, there were only about 2 million international credit cardholders. Looking at the 1.3 billion Chinese population out there, credit card growth is set to increase exponentially in these few years, and further fuel the growth of e-commerce in China.
Among the popular internet applications used by China internet users include searching for jobs (over 25 million people), web education (15 million people are undertaking online training programs), downloading of movie & TV programs (45 million customer market) and music & radio download programs at 40 million internet users.
Let’s start planning on what you can offer on your website to entice the millions of internet users in China!
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