Workshop: e-Commerce and Social Media in China – 14 & 15 June 2017

On 14 and 15 June 2017 NextportChina organized two workshops about “E-commerce and Social Media in China”, together with ChinaTalk and Horsten International. On the 14th of June the workshop was held at Kasteel Ter Ham in Steenokkerzeel, Belgium. On the next day the workshop was held at Beeckestijn Business School in Leusden, the Netherlands.

Ed Sander of ChinaTalk kicked off the workshop with a presentation about the e-Commerce and Social Media landscape in China. He introduced the main Chinese social and e-commerce channels, identified key trends and explained why cross-border e-commerce has shown such significant growth over the last couple of years.

Bart Horsten (Horsten International) followed up with the strategic aspects in choosing the right e-Commerce platforms and social media channels in China. Among others he answered questions like: What are these Chinese e-commerce channels offering? What are the differences between these channels and which channels are suitable for your business? What are the expectations of the Chinese customers? How to integrate your online sales into your regular trade activities and how to use social media?

NextportChina’s Thijs van der Toom concluded with a deep-dive into WeChat. He first introduced the WeChat ecosystem to the audience and explained why this app has become just the Internet in China. Later on he showed in detail how WeChat can be leveraged by SMEs as a successful tool for promotion an (cross-border) e-commerce in China. Thijs concluded his talk by giving insight into the latest opportunities for merchants to use WeChat (and Alipay) mobile payments (POS) in order to better serve Chinese tourists who visit the Benelux.

The workshops were concluded with Q&A sessions and vibrant networking drinks. In total 40 participants attended the workshops.