I was fortunate enough to attend New Zealand’s first Alibaba E-Commerce Expo and Conference this month. This was a fascinating event launched by Alibaba, a giant Chinese conglomerate focused on e-commerce. The event had two main aims:

• To help educate small New Zealand businesses looking to export to China via their platforms Tmall and Taobao; with a number of presentations and panel discussions providing a wealth of information and feedback.
• To showcase New Zealand brands to Chinese buyers known as “Daigou” (professional shoppers that buy goods in other countries, mainly in Australia and New Zealand, to deliver to consumers in China). Thousands of Daigou attended the event, browsing and promoting the exhibitors via chat forums, with over 100 New Zealand brands on show.

The overriding message I took away from this event, that was reiterated by most of the speakers at the conference, was not to underestimate how quickly Chinese consumers are evolving and maturing. Like consumers the world over, Chinese consumers want products that are authentic, cutting edge and offer a point of difference.