Building online bookstore for Chines market Assignment

Building online bookstore for Chines market - Assignment Example China could become the world's largest online marketplace in two years (Register.uk), with a current base of 30 million users (Asiasource). With growing spending power and a fast-paced lifestyle, the Chinese consumer is today, the favourite for all online marketers. Books, Game CD's and other computer gear seem high on the wishlist of the young Chinese buyer (Register.uk). In order to establish an online bookstore in China, we must focus on a customised business development plan that caters to the specialised buying and behavioural needs of this particular segment. China is much different from the United States or Europe in its approach to online marketing, and the following points must be kept in mind before embarking on any online business venture in this country. Amazon.com opened its maiden store in China with a localised affiliate called www.Joyo.com , and has succeeded in tapping its potential. Online Credit card transactions are the norm in the US and Europe for E-commerce (with a number of private players like PayPal, E-Gold and Discovery carrying out highly reliable transactions), but in China, except for affluent buyers, the penetration of such pay mechanisms is slow. Owing to sheer ignorance, many people still feel insecure about divulging their banking information to a remote web server. These precautionary moves are here to stay as long as the penetration of E-commerce continues. Two-thirds of present transactions happen by cash-on-delivery or post-office methods (Register.uk). Upfront payments are increasingly frowned upon thus, because of fraudulence fears. Transportation and logistics is an important area of concern for the far-flung regions of this huge country. Despite large-scale development, it is not uncommon for online agencies to miss out on delivery dates. Information infrastructure lies at the heart of spreading E-commerce. ISP quality and service value directly affect the convenience posed by the Internet for online buying. In China the ISP costs are still very high and the quality of service, poor. According to a survey, 49.3% of complaints are due to slow speed and 36.8% due to high costs (Jiacheng). Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is a serious bone of contention between Western and Chinese governments, and till date, shows not enough signs of resolving. Piracy is not just an issue in China, it is practically a way of life. There are many small, niche players in the Chinese market who make their daily profits out of duplicating Books, CD's and other branded products. Many of them have ventured online to take advantage of the corresponding boom in Internet spending, and can easily eat into the profits of any large MNC investing in China. The Government acts as watchdog to monitor any online activity that it sees