China Digital
The Future of Mobile Apps in China
How can companies stand out in an increasingly competitive mobile apps market? Tencent’s best and brightest got together in Shenzen this week, and came up with some ideas. Firstly, developers should recognise that apps are not universally popular all of the time – just as the consumer’s mood goes through many changes on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, so does their behaviour in relation to mobile apps. The best apps should anticipate consumers’ change in mood – they should turn the market variations to their advantage. Secondly, the apps that have the highest retention rates, such as Tencent QQ, allow the individual user to share content with their social circle in many different ways. The more opportunities a user has to share content, the more that content will disperse throughout their social circle. Not only does this give the user an incentive to experiment with different kinds of content sharing, it means that, when QQ users at the fringe of the circle receive content, they might share it with users in other circles. Thus, retention rates, as well as the total number of users, increase. Thoughts to keep in mind as we shift towards an increasingly app driven life.
Source: SoftChinaByte
China E-Commerce
Baidu Targets SMEs
Baidu is targeting 20,000 SMEs in over 200 Chinese cities. The reason? – The company aims to encourage the next generation of small business to use Baidu as its online marketing partner of choice, rather than its competitors. Baidu is targeting SMEs in as wide a variety of industries as possible – from retail, to fashion, to construction. If a small business becomes an official partner, says Baidu, it will be granted access to Baidu’s colossal data bank, which means that the two companies will be able to produce detailed reports about consumer behaviour and market trends in many different industries encouraging small businesses to achieve greater growth.
Source: ChinaByte
China E-Commerce
E-Commerce Puts its Best Foot Forward
E-Commerce is changing the way Chinese consumers buy footwear. In 2010, the total online sales of footwear in China accounted for ¥20 billion. However, in the increasingly multichannel online retail environment, companies such as Belle and Addidas face new challenges. The supply chain, for example – the traditionally static-supply chain model involving a warehouse used by both the manufacturing and distribution arm of footwear retailers, is old news. Now, distribution channels are virtual – large physical spaces are out, online retail, wholesale and auctions are in. The footwear industry illustrates changes that spread far in to many industries, changes that will continue to develop further.
Source: SoftChinaByte