Taobao, an Authoritarian Socialite?

e commerce china
 
 
Brian Clarke wrote about Google in Authority rules  : “People respond to and follow important people more than others. And Google ranks important pages and sites higher than others.”
 
Social networks are now the new referrers of authority and brands are fighting to get these networks attention and even use mimetism. Why?  Just because of the very simple question :
Who are you going to listen to when you buy something?
 
A. The friendly yet unknown woman/man/persona in the ad
B. Your friend, family or any person with similar interests
 
Something tells me most of us will go with B, meaning we are somehow each other special “Google”.
 
Let’s talk about growing trends and Internet facts in China :
x Boom of the Internet population : by the end of September 2009, Chinese Internet users had reached 360 millions (CNNIC)
x Growth of online shopping : online shopping transactions were worth 46.7 billion yuan (US$6.8 billion) in China in the first quarter, nearly twice as much as a year earlier, among which over three-quarters of that transaction value occurred among consumers on Taobao (iResearch)
x Growth of social networks along with a crave for participating – voting, acting, chosing.
 
So it is only a matter of time until we see more and more models emerging from these trends.
China’s Alibaba understands that very well : more engagement = more time spent on site = more $
 

According to the press release, “Alibaba is crafting social-networking platforms specifically to complement two of its core operations. The beta version of a Web site with Facebook-style applications and a Twitter-style feed is being grafted onto Taobao.com, Alibaba’s auction and retail Web site, a spokeswoman said. A more professional platform that the spokeswoman likened to LinkedIn is being added to Alibaba.com, the group’s business-to-business e-commerce operation.”

 

Taobao or the Gargantua of the E-Commerce

Taobao or the Gargantua of the E-Commerce

 
The platform, called Taojianghu, is designed by Taobao and supposed to encourage users to form groups and share their interests – in Taobao products that is. 
 
Really, will adding some Facebook apps and tweet some stuff about products be really effective? How can we know when Taobao has volume (120 million registered users reported at the end of the first quarter, more than one-third of China’s total number of people online*) and a certain monopoly when it comes to e-commerce in China ?
Are we facing an Authoritarian Socialite?
 
The thing I find most laughable is that both Facebook and Twitter are blocked here, undesired, but a giant like Alibaba is still getting “inspiration” from them…
Legitimacy anyone?



Sources

* IResearch
November 13, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Why Facebook is banned in China

computer-thrown-out-a-window

 

 
This weekend I went out in a happy socializing mood and inevitably, the question popped up
“What do you do in China?”
 
It’s funny how most people ask you “in China” as if what you do is only relevant as long as you do it here…Anyway I gave my usual and vague answer ” I work in the Web”.
The girl opened her eyes wide and said 
“Can you ask them to bring back Facebook?”
 
Well, sure. As a matter of fact, I am on my way to a little chat with the Politic Bureau see if I can pull some strings and ask them “C’mon, you know, we just want to update our status”.
 
Since Facebook was banned early in July this year, only 14 000 out of the 1 million monthly active users remain according to Facebook Global Monitor. The report does not mention the impact this has on us, survivors :
 
x We can’t randomly update status, tag/comment anymore to remind people on the other side of the world we still exist.
x We can’t upload party pictures to prove our relatives we are having so much fun away from them.
x Now we have to ask people what’s new in their life instead of just checking their profile.
x I can’t know what city should I live in or what would be my ghetto name anymore – this probably increased the productivity of foreign staff working in China.
x Most seriously lots of businesses like restaurants, clubs and hotels were using it to promote their events. How do they do now?
 
The web 2.0 situation is frustrating here : I can’t say how many times a day I come accross a blog or a website, an author and the guy is like “follow me on Twitter” “add me on Facebook” and I feel like a loser uninvited to parties – something I never felt of course in the real life.
Or maybe it is blocked

Or maybe it is blocked

 
But why is Facebook banned in China?
 
x Insight 1 : Politics
 
As a group supporting political activism in Xinjiang appeared on Facebook, the government took sanction against the social network. According to article, Chinese netizens “agreed that Facebook should be punished for that” – nationalism is indeed very strong among Chinese Y generation.
 
What could have been done is ask Facebook to block such groups in China, just like Google was asked to filter results if it wanted to enter the market – but Google generates money as Facebook still struggle to find a long term viable business model so that leads me to :
 
x Insight 2 : Politics + Economic
 
What is the risk for a particpative foreign media/website/business with a popular concept in China ?
They are most probably very welcomed at first, then copied before being banned or blocked. They educate the market before their audience goes to local competitors who do it a lot better because of their better understanding and sometimes the support of the government.
As major foreign players cannot really play without China, they all expose themselves and face the same issue : Yahoo vs Alibaba, Ebay vs Taobao, Google vs Baidu…
This applies to all online models except micro-blogging which is not welcomed no matter what as we’ve seen with the blocking of popular micro blogging site Fanfou (back to theory #1). So basically in this counter-creative environment, foreign models are just used to leverage local ones.
 
What to do? For companies, I’d just say : Who might benefit from the crime? That’s your Achille tendon. Make sure you work with people, Chinese and foreigners, who have experience and a deep understanding of both the country and market. The human factor is the key.
What about you, lonely foreigner facing the Great Firewall ? Get a VPN. Move. Or stop complaining about it.
 
Peace x
Sources
 
 
October 19, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , | 12 Comments »