What Does a Messaging App Have To Do With Doing Business with the Chinese?
If you are doing business with China, you would probably want to find out how most people there communicate with one another. If a popular messaging app happens to have 600 million out of the 1 billion people in China subscribed to its service, then it should rank high in your order of business.
Moreover, the app doesn’t only provide a means to communicate, it also allows subscribers to send money, pay for products or services, hail a cab, order food, video chat, read news and even book a doctor’s appointment! One source calls it the “most important app” in China now.*
There is even a place in China where the app is used as a means of identification! Just put in a scanned copy or photo of your ID, and your phone will work just as well as your driver’s license!**
Here are more uses:
- Make in-store payments
- Send lucky envelopes to friends
- Split the bill
- Barcode scanner
- Pay utilities***
If you think there could not be anything possibly more that a chat application can do, how about exporting your product or service to China? Imagine starting an exporting business, or cashing in on your asset by selling it to a Chinese investor, with little more than a free app downloaded on your mobile phone!
Here are some of the costs that you can avoid by using the popular chat application to promote your product, as compared to conducting a promotional tour in China:
- A round trip ticket to China can cost you around AUD $1,500.
- Each night’s accommodation can average AUD $150 a night, in some of the major cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
- Rental costs for the venue is a separate tab, that could set you back around AUD $700 to AUD $2,000.
- You may even have to hire an interpreter. On top of this, you also want to prepare to spend on transportation costs once inside China, and other contingency costs.
In all, prepare to spend $10,000.00 with whatever exposure you get out of one physical visit to China.
The alternative is to set up your own store on the mobile application, and with some help, connect to the best prospective Chinese buyers for your product or service.
How can this be done?
I will share that with you in my next post!