It is widely believed that e-commerce in China will lead that country's economy into a new era where customer focus, responsible business practices and innovation are the determinants of success rather than cultivating relationships with people in high places.
As the western world began to embrace e-commerce in the mid-1990s, China could do little more than watch. The concept of buying from strangers at the click of a mouse was the stuff of science-fiction.
No credit cards were available, no online banking and you could only access the internet if you were one of the few with a telephone line. An if you did the connection was slow an expensive.
What westerners consider a simple task - posting a package - mean long waits in long lines at the post office. State run organizations, which included the whole Chinese retail system, were inefficient, and low disposable incomes meant improvements were a low priority.
In its infancy, China's e-commerce was driven by businesses that saw the opportunity for finding both suppliers and buyers. When it entered the World Trade Organization, companies on the fertile east coast of China, where businesses had begun to flourish, saw the internet as key to connecting to trade partners.
A milestone year for Chinese e-commerce was 2003, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the country's first generation of internet users was graduating from universities, and they were quick to grasp the concepts of online commerce, shopping and gaming.
A healthy consumer culture was the result of increasing disposable incomes, and the previously state run retail outlets were no longer able to cope.
Secondly, major investments in China were being made by international e-commerce companies. This resulted in real competition between local and foreign companies for the first time.
To instill trust in both buyers and sellers of online traders, escrow systems were developed, and real-time chat enabled them to get to know one another before confirming deals.
This was a very important feature, because the cultural history of the Chinese society saw relationships as one of the most important channels in establishing trust.
By 2007 for the first time the amount spent on online transactions surpassed the cash taken by physical retailers in China. And in a departure from the way online purchasing progressed in the west, users of online payment systems exceeded the number of credit card holders.
2008 has seen the trend towards a new type of business, conducted by entrepreneurs, niche marketers who deal directly with niche retailers, cutting out the middlemen. A lot of them are buying in large quantities from China and then onselling to western countries. Individuals from the west are embracing the "drop, ship" concept - marketing products that are fulfilled and shipped from China.
Research has shown that one of the best opportunities for to enter this lucrative Chinese market is by marketing information products. Downloadable 'how to' and 'best ways to' ebooks, courses and webinars are hot items in China, and they can apply to business, hobbies, crafts or entertainment.
Getting started online can be tough for anyone but it is also really lucrative and there are hundreds of opportunities out there for you to take advantage of if you choose too. The thing about these opportunities is that you really need to know how to work them really well for yourself and for you best interest. It is really important that you try to keep yourself away from opportunities that promise you a lot of success without really backing it up because this can be a way that you lose a lot of money, time, and effort. I bet you have probably seen those pay per click sites that offer you a whole bunch of success and then you see the fee and it is really expensive.
However, you might be thinking that the price is actually worth it because they make it sound so convincingly perfect for your website and your online business. The truth of the fact is that these sites cannot give you permanent success because there is no perpetuating factor at all. You need to put in a lot of effort into getting success and then you need to keep on putting in a whole lot of money for them. This is just basically going to drain your bank account and by the time you see any sort of success you will definitely not even think it was worth it anymore. The reason for this is because these links just push you up in the ranks temporarily until your competitors beat you out.
Your competitors all know this simple pay per click tactic and they might be more aggressive or freer with their money and they will just kick you right back out of the ranks because you do not have any kind of permanence using these pay per click companies. So, if you are getting frustrated with not having the success you want then you need to start exploring all of the other opportunities that are out there for you to make yourself a powerful force on the internet and get your business really noticed and established.
I have had a lot of success online with writing articles and submitting them to various online publication services. These articles are written in order to give people tips on the products I sell and what they can be used for. It is a terrific way to promote my site and all of my products so that I can get exposure and gain credibility on the internet. You can definitely get in on this too if you decide to purchase my PDF file that explains all the details to you.
I can guarantee that you will get top page rankings on Google, the powerhouse of the internet, within seventy two hours. You will get this high ranking by writing articles and submitting them the right way and using the right kinds of links in your articles. If you do all of these things then you will create natural links to your site that will perpetuate and propagate themselves, adding to the spider detection that Google uses.
Both Kerry Finch & Joe Palladino are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Kerry Finch has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Internet Marketing and Writing. Acknowelging the cultural differences that impact on business dealings with China is an important first step in anycampaign planned for China.. Kerry Finch's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.