For foreign small medium-sized companies (SMEs), “where to grow their cross-border eCommerce in China” has always been a heated topic. As our previous article pointed out [SMEs Entering China eCommerce: 4 Possible Challenges You Will Face], big online marketplaces like Tmall surely look tempting, but multiple challenges are keeping SMEs away. Is there an alternative for a foreign SME to build up its own multi-channel commerce, while stay away from those obstacles?

The answer is yes. Based on our insights towards China’s digital world and years of hands-on experiences, our solution for SMEs is: To start with Wechat commerce and gradually expand to multi-channel eCommerce.

Wechat, the social media platform you said? For those you don’t know: WeChat is powering a mobile commerce boom in China now. With the huge user base and advanced technology of WeChat Pay, WeChat commerce is considered as the new trend of China’s eCommerce.

Here are four major advantages for SMEs to start WeChat commerce:

Big save on your time and money

We mentioned yesterday that Tmall will charge you multiple fees for Tmall store set-up, which seem a little too much for SMEs. Forget about all those fees now, since no longer they will be needed in WeChat Commerce. Besides saving your budget, the procedure and paperwork to start your WeChat commerce is much easier, comparing with Tmall set up. Above all WeChat commerce will save both your time and budget.

Cross-border payment integration

With the support of Tenpay, an integrated payment platform launched by Tencent, WeChat commerce keeps transactions secure and simple. The multi-channel eCommerce platform powered by Magento 2.0 will support up to 10 currencies, and fully support CNY(RMB) price for checkout. It is easily installed in your shop, without having to make any changes to the source code.

Also, payment functions like one-step checkout and QR Code payment will benefit your customers and your business in different ways.

Full customer behavioral Data

Unlike Software as a service (SaaS) platform, multi-channel eCommerce system can assure that you have full control of your data. More specifically, all the data will be stored at the back-end of your multi-channel eCommerce platform, which enable you to study your customer behavior and improve order management much easier.

For those SMEs who have stores on more than one channel, the eCommerce platform will also save your time on data sync. From that moment, there is only one database, with every piece of information from your customers via phone, tablet and desktop.

Let it be the start of your China eCommerce business

WeChat commerce is not your destination; it’s only a start. SMEs can easily set up their WeChat store as part of multi-channel ecommerce strategy. The fact is that WeChat eCommerce is considered as the step to test China’s market: SME owner can quickly react and improve their eCommerce strategy online whenever, wherever. Last but not least, If your SME is doing well on WeChat commerce, moving on to other channels (Online marketplace, offline retail shops) will be your next step to more success in China.

More about WeChat Commerce:

SMEs Entering China eCommerce: 4 Possible Challenges You Will Face

5 Vital Features your WeChat eCommerce Need in 2016

WeChat eCommerce Platform: The good, the Bad and the Solution

TMO Group Attended Digital Marketing Event; Explained WeChat eCommerce