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E-Commerce Market Entry China

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Market Entry Strategies for Entering E-Commerce Business in China

May 18th 2014

Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Market overview 1 3 Market analysis 2 3.1 Approach using Porter’s Five Forces 2 3.2 Approach using SWOT analysis 2 4 Failed market entrants 3 5 Successful market entrants 3 5.1 Leveraging local platforms 3 5.2 Buying stakes in local businesses 4 5.3 The case of Amazon 4 6 Key success factors 4 6.1 Understanding the market 5 6.2 Differentiation 5 6.3 Social Media 5 6.4 Payments 5 6.5 Logistics 5 7 Conclusion 5 8 Bibliography 6

Introduction
This paper covers challenges and strategies in entering the e-commerce business in China from a Western point of view. The focus thereby is on companies doing classical business-to-consumer (B2C) business and that are established players in their home market.

Market overview
According to market analysis (ref 1-2-3) the e-commerce market in China surpassed the U.S. one in 2013, reaching almost 300bn USD in turnover while U.S. reached just little above 250bn USD. Not only the size is impressive but also the growth rate, which has been around 70% in China since 2009 compared to 13% in the U.S. (see Figure 1). The online part of the retail sector is around 7% whereas Western countries report from 2% to 6% according to (Hoffmann & Lannes, 2013). In addition, more than 50% of all transactions are carried out via mobile devices. Finally, it is important to mention that the market is largely dominated by the Alibaba Group, enjoying a market share of more than 50% in B2B, B2C, and C2C.

Figure 1 China's Digital Market © Bain & Company ((Hoffmann & Lannes, 2013))
Figure 1 China's Digital Market © Bain & Company ((Hoffmann & Lannes, 2013))

Market analysis
Approach using Porter’s Five Forces
Figure 2: Analysis of Chinese e-commerce

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