China Fashion: Step by Step guide to selling your brand in China

China Fashion Market is a market for brands in 2022. Chinese consumers are very attached to the brand (Label for quality), the product image, the company, and its position. All this is true for a fashion brand that wants to make it in China. In this guide we guide you through the marketing steps you’ll have to take in order to get your fashion brand the recognition it deserves on the Chinese market, let’s get started!

International Brands have advantages in the Chinese fashion world

International companies are often focused on establishing their business quickly and trying to build profit, then they forget to build a good reputation around their brand. It is very important to understand that Chinese people will only do business with you if you have established a reliable and trustworthy brand. China is becoming more and more digitalized than its counterparts.

In fact, when you live in china, you will barely use cash or cards, a mobile phone is a substitute for your card (paying through my WeChat wallet or Alipay). So, if you plan to sell fashion brands to china, you should prepare yourself to go digital, and online platforms are the place to be.

China Apparels & Luxury Market trend:

• Genderless fashion: Jewelry brands in China have already picked up the pace with genderless fashion trends, and clothing brands as closing the gap quickly.
• Chinese Street Fashion: It’s a popular style with Chinee consumers.
• Guochao: Guochao is a Chinese term that refers to the nationalistic trend in fashion, which includes a preference for traditional Chinese styles and designs. This trend has been growing in popularity in recent years, as more people are looking to promote and celebrate Chinese culture. Guochao fashion often includes traditional elements such as hanfu (the traditional clothing of the Han Chinese people) and qipao (a type of body-hugging dress traditionally worn by Chinese women). In addition to traditional clothes, guochao style can also include modern twists on classic designs, as well as new designs that incorporate traditional Chinese motifs. Guochao fashion is usually seen as a way to express pride in China and its culture.  Many local designers and domestic brands have already jumped the wagon. Brands like Louis Vuitton for instance are also not shying away from
• China is a Luxury Goods Market: China is the number one market for personal luxury sales and is experiencing rapid growth. Although counterfeit luxury products is still a plague for a big name in the country, Chinese people are looking for authentic luxury goods and clothing.
• Second-hand fashion: A Growing consumption trend in the Chinese market. China’s second-hand luxury stock is doing exceptionally well as consumers are looking for a good deal but are also being more and more conscious about the environment.
• Sustainable fashion is gaining traction in the Chinese fashion space,  eco-friendly fashion brands have an opportunity to seize before the market becomes too crowded

China Fashion: brands need to be on Chinese e-Commerce Platforms

While many fashion brands have a physical storefront, e-commerce provides access to a larger market. By selling online, fashion brands in China can reach buyers around the world. Additionally, e-commerce offers a convenient way for Chinese consumers to purchase items 24/7.

Customers can also compare prices and style options easily online before making a purchase. Overall, eCommerce provides many advantages for both businesses and consumers in the fashion industry.

The question that you have in mind is: which online eCommerce platform is the most profitable?

There is no definitive answer, as each brand will have its own preferences and priorities. However, we can take a look at some of the most popular Chinese e-commerce platforms and see how they compare

The two biggest online eCommerce platforms to sell fashion products are :

• Tmall  (Tianmao)
• JD.Com (jingdong)

These 2 e-commerce platforms enjoy the most consumer confidence thanks to their strict requirement for both foreign and domestic brands.

Tmall, is geared towards higher-end brands. It offers better protection for brands and charges higher commission rates, but it also has a larger customer base. It has a cross-border option.

JD is also great for brands operating in the clothing category. Just like Tmall, it puts consumer values and interest above all, resulting in trust and more sales.

Taobao is one of the most popular platforms in China and it is known for its low prices. While this may be attractive to budget-conscious shoppers, it can be less profitable for brands. However, it is a lot cheaper than Tmall.

Chinese marketplace offers obvious advantages to brands:

• Existing and known platform: visibility
• Online payment is already active
• High traffic
• Assistance 24/24;7/7

For a marketplace of those mentioned above, we are talking about the daily visits of millions of users. A thousand billion dollars is what Chinese e-commerce has been Worth in 2017.

How to sell your fashion brand on Tmall and Tmall global?

If you plan to sell on Tmall Global, you need to understand how to set up a store and the costs involved, you need to fulfill different requirements depending on which store type you choose.

Below I’ve listed the types of stores you can choose and the requirements :

• You are the owner of the brand or have been granted permission from the brand owner to sell on Tmall Global
• Your store sells and represents a single brand
• Your store sells and represents several brands (need separate approval from Tmall)
• Your store sells and represents a multi-brand marketplace ( need separate approval from Tmall)

Businesses should be registered outside of china with trademarks in china. The company must be qualified for retail overseas and have good operating conditions. They must also be able to certify that their stock is located outside of China.

To succeed in the Chinese Fashion Market, create a Chinese website

Creating your own website is a better way to establish a brand while selling your products. This is a great benefit for those looking to establish and sell long-term clothing because it builds brand awareness. C

Having a Chinese landing page with hosting in china is an interesting and innovative opportunity created for anyone who wants visibility and success in the Chinese market. You have to host your website in China, this can guarantee you to be known by the Chinese consumers.

The process for building an e-commerce store is :

• Pick a domain name
• Choose a store builder
• Design your digital shop
• Add the necessary functionality (payment, shipping, etc)

Foreign companies that have opened successful online stores online have two common characteristics: They know the Chinese market and have a deep knowledge of digital technology. You need to promote our brand on Chinese E-commerce platforms and invest in marketing and communication.

China Fashion: Reach out to Chinese Shopper through Baidu Seo

While Google is the dominant search engine in most counties, it’s not the same in the Chinese market where only 2.3% of all searches in china happen on the western search giant.

To be truly successful in Baidu SEO, you will need a deep understanding of how to optimize for the search giant. However, optimizing for Baidu using the same approach used for Google. Baidu SEO comes with its own unique challenge environment, cultural differences, and technical considerations.

The goal of on-page optimization is to make it easier for search engines to understand what each page on the site is about, which will help rank the page for relevant content.

To get the best SEO results on Baidu, you will have to host your website within Mainland China(Hong Kong or Macau). There are two main reasons for this approach. The first is that hosting in Mainland China is a strong signal that the site is targeting the local Chinese market. The second is due to the Great Firewall. In fact, many sites outside of Mainland China, load much more slowly than domestic sites, and may not always be reachable.

Unfortunately, because of the multiple local laws, hosting a website in China is much more complicated than in other countries.

Promote your fashion and luxury brand on Chinese Social Media

Remember there is no Facebook, no Twitter, no youtube in China. International brands have to understand that the Chinese social networks are completely different from those of many western markets. More than 30% of millennials say they engage with a brand on

Here are some common social media goals to consider :

• Increase brand awareness: in order to create brand awareness, avoid a slew of promotional messages, and focus on meaningful content and a strong brand personality through your social channels.
• Higher quality of sales: Digging through your social channels is nearly impossible without monitoring or listening to specific keywords, phrases, or hashtags. Through more efficient media targeting, you reach your core audience much faster.
• Improve your ROI: there’s not a brand on social media that doesn’t want to increase its return on investment. It’s important to perform a thorough audit of your channels and ensure the cost of advertisements, and design stays on track.
• Create a loyal fan base: does your brand promote user-generated content? getting to this point takes time and effort with creating a positive brand persona on social.

Through social media, the main goal is to attract and convert media platforms that have been

Digital Marketing through Wechat

Wechat is the app you need to be on. it has many online marketing tools you can use to promote your brand in China, that you’ll be given access to once you have an official account:

• Wechat Mini-programs
• H5
• Wechat Posts
• Store,
• WeChat wallet
• Paid advertising
• Wechat channel and so on

Have Chinese Consumers see you with Weibo Marketing

Weibo is the second most popular Chinese social media, it helps businesses target users according to detailed parameters. The difference between WeChat and Weibo is that WeChat is a private social network, while Weibo is a public source of information.

In general, Chinese consumers rely on recommendations from friends, family, and influencers within the social network when purchasing. Therefore, influencer marketing is big on Weibo.

Online Reputation Management for brands in the Chinese Fashion Market

There are a few reasons why fashion brands in China need online reputation management. First, Chinese consumers are increasingly influenced by online reviews when making purchasing decisions. In a recent study, nearly 90% of Chinese respondents said they read online reviews before making a purchase. This number is even higher for luxury goods, with 97% of respondents saying they read reviews before buying luxury items.

Second, negative online reviews can have a significant impact on businesses in China. A recent study found that a one-star decrease in a business’s rating on the review site Dianping can lead to a 9.5% decrease in sales. Given the high level of influence that online reviews have on Chinese consumers, it’s important for businesses to have full control over their online image.

Conquer the Chinese Apparel market with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)

Influencers have magic power, especially in the fashion scene

The power that Chinese fashion influencers have over millennial consumers’ purchasing habits has been shifting from traditional public media to individual brand ambassadors. These ambassadors are defined as key opinion leaders (KOLs) or influencers. They have a huge influence on Chinese purchase demands and can be recruited on behalf of a brand for promotional purposes.72% of brands in China indicated that they would continue to focus on social media marketing.

Public Relation: the art to seduce Chinese Consumers

Earning positive media exposure is instrumental to building your visibility and increasing your credibility. Getting content placed in top-tier or niche publications is a powerful way to get in front of a wider audience and open more doors for your business. The same is true of press mentions and quotes.

Publishing sophisticated articles is one the best ways to boost credibility and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. In China is important to communicate through posts and issues, because people always look for stories and new information.

Your company should be ranked on top of Baidu. If what comes up is negative or irrelevant, it is like putting leads in a leaky bucket. No med off by what they find. On the other hand, an impressive online presence will help to reinforce and expand upon the positive experiences you have offline with stakeholders.

Paid advertisement for fashion brands

To reach specific consumer brackets, paid advertising is probably one of the most time-efficient methods. Pretty much every Chinese online channel offers paid advertising to brands and companies. If not every marketing strategies need to incorporate paid ads, it certainly can help you boost your visibility and support your other channels in the biggest fashion market in the world.

In short, China has a Bright Fashion Future

China is home to a large and burgeoning middle class that is increasingly interested in luxury goods and international brands. China has become a consumer market. In addition, China is quickly becoming a leading global center for fashion and design, with major industry events like Shanghai Fashion Week drawing increasing attention from the international community.

Meanwhile, Chinese consumers are becoming more open to spending on discretionary items like fashion, as evidenced by rising sales of both domestic and foreign brands in recent years. And with e-commerce booming in China, it’s easier than ever for fashion brands to reach Chinese consumers directly.

Of course, expanding into any new market comes with some risks and challenges that you will have to face.