Welcome to the new “trendy” e-commerce platform made in China!
I know! Another one! I can hear you from here…“I was already lost with the others! Why am I keeping hearing e-commerce everywhere and all the time? “
My dears expats, or, China curious, you already know it. E-commerce begins to be unavoidable in every country of the Globe. In China, Chinese customers are using all these platforms daily, and, e-commerce is “the” Chinese lifestyle. If you try to understand China, you need to stop a moment on several Chinese platforms: but, today, we are going to zoom on one of the youngest one: Kaola.com.
NetEase and his “baby” Kaola.
You probably read this name for the first time, or, you heard about NetEase but never Kaola, or, anyway these are just names for you, and concretely you are not Chinese, so you never used it.
You presumably think; so then, definitely, what is the name? We can say both, to be honest.
NetEase Inc. is a Group which is on the Chinese market for a long time now. They began to be known by commercialized PC, and then created a platform specialized on video games and finished by proposing to Chines consumers some Internet services. They were touching several markets at the same time, and consequently, had a lot of consumers.
In 2015, the Group introduced Kaola.com on the Chinese market.
“Kaola” meaning “koala” in Chinese. A little hint of humor, this mark was made to simplify the life of the consumer; so it was quite reasonable to take an animal known for its appearance and taking the lead.
Kaola: an animal not so quiet!
Not wanting to scatter, Kaola’s bias was focusing itself on one market and one target. The company wanted to give the possibility to the Chinese middle-class to buy products from big brands. These brands being the international and luxury brands of preferences.
This bias performs directly; the principal target liked this idea. They are the typical “new rich” Chinese customers interested by spending more money on quality or trends. Fast Kaola.com began to be “The” e-commerce cross-border platform.
Today, we can count four huge warehouses:
1. Hangzhou ( 56 000m2)
2. Zhengzhou ( 40 000m2)
3. Chongqing ( 30 000m2)
4. Ningbo ( 26 000m2)
Visiting the biggest one at Hangzhou is possible.
( Bus to Kaola+Site Visit+ Presentation and Q&A+Bus to the Azure Qiantang or Hangzhou East Railway Station+Aussie Drinks+Bus to Hangzhou East Railway)
SITE: http://www.austchamshanghai.com/en/event/upcoming-events/netease-kaola-hangzhou-site-visit
These warehouses were a strong move and gave the opportunity to have free-trade zones.
The Kaola way
At his head, Zhang Lei (CEO), and, Sean Wang (vice-CEO)( who was the vice CEO of Amazon China.)
This incredible team didn’t want to retail everything has they concurrents but focussing on the high-level product:
“This business model enables consumers to purchase products at better prices and to save time in making their selection,” said Zhang Lei in the Digital Commerce 360 interview.
- We can explain the growth of this company by interesting ideas that the company set up:
Firstly, they improved the BtoC( Business to Costumers) experience with the delivery time.
I remind you that we are talking about foreign products and so the platform are dealing with overseas e-retailers. Usually, the delivery time is 15 days to 20 days, thanks to the warehouses Kaola.com can deliver the product in 3 days. - Then, they facilitated the BtoB ( Business to Business) exchanges by speeding up the payment process. Habitually, brands are, most of the time, pay 3 months after the products have been sold. Kaola.com give them the possibility to pay them 7 days after the product arrives in the warehouse.
Pretty impressive, but that can explain the growth of 63% of the company in such a short time.
An endearing Kaola…
By their actions, Kaola.com is a guarantee. This platform is sure for Chinese consumers.
In some interviews done by ChinaDaily, some consumers explain why they are using this platform:
“I like to know that what I am buying is a safe product,” said Chen Zhiyu, a 29-year-old new mother in Beijing, who has purchased everything from baby diapers to breast pumps on Kaola.
“I read in the news that Kaola has set up offices in many countries and has big warehouses in free-trade zones－they just can’t be fake. It ensures authenticity, and makes overseas purchases cheaper by circumventing commission from middlemen,” Chen said.
It’s Kaola who said it!
Yes, girls, or boy! The cosmetic, and health care is Kaola.com specialty. I mean, Chinese customers are attracted by the deals that the platform propose. 40% of their sells are cosmetic products.
In 2017, we can count 6.7millions products sold daily. The way they are trading give them the opportunity to put some exciting promotions.
So cosmetic lovers you know where to go…