Reopening The Economy: What Businesses Can Learn from China

As economies globally look to re-open, lessons learned from China, which was the first country to manage a post-pandemic environment, provide the only real precedent for a truly unique situation

Adam Knight, a renowned expert on China commerce and CEO of Tong Digital, recently outlined what business leaders can learn from that experience and how to leverage this new environment to better sell targeted products and services into the country.

Digital China: Powering the Economy

“We're seeing a broadly positive snapshot of Chinese consumer confidence. The percentage of people that believe that the Chinese economy will emerge stronger is greatly increasing. I think China is set to become a real engine of retail growth in the coming months. Considering the huge size of the Chinese market, it has a massive growth potential,” says Knight.

He says that about 44% of China’s total commerce is online, whereas in the United States it is 18%. This, points out Knight, creates a significant opportunity for the US market to catch up and reply meet the increasing demand for omnichannel experiences. And in fact, he notes, US consumers are accelerating adoption of digital channels coming out of COVID. As a result, most C-suite executives are looking to better position their companies to digitize through robust technical infrastructure, heavily investing in AI/AR analytics, digital product offerings.

Knight notes that despite the fact that China is a world leader when it comes to online shopping, many brands in the country were slightly hesitant about integrating digital initiatives and as a result have started to rethink their marketing strategy.

The Urgent Call for AR/AI Technologies

In both China and the United States, Knight says he has noticed during the shutdown how fast people switched to online shopping and contactless payments. “For all types of brands across the globe, this is a great opportunity to jump into the digital world. We see the tendency of companies experimenting with new, custom-driven ways to shop. For cosmetics stores, it might mean providing access to makeup artists online, virtual offerings and product recommendations and video consultations that act as a stand-in for in-person beauty appointments” adds Knight.

He notes that many brands and retailers who have been thinking about AR/AI technologies in the past are now trying to speed up the process of getting the setup. In China, on the contrary, most of the businesses that Tong Digital is dealing with have already invested in new technologies. But still, he says, the rush towards quick and easy wins remains.  

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About Dean DeBiase

Named a Growth Guru" by Inc. Magazine, Dean DeBiase is a Faculty Member at Kellogg School of Management and Silicon Valley serial CEO, where he has served in chief executive and chairman roles of more than a dozen emerging growth companies, CEO of Fortune 500 subsidiaries, and a director on public, private, family-enterprise, CVC, PE and VC boards. He is a Technology Fellow at Northwestern University, a Board Leadership Fellow at The National Association of Corporate Directors, and an Advisor to the National Science Foundation. A Forbes Contributor and co-author of the best-selling book The Big Moo, Dean, is working on his next book, Dancing with Startups. Connect with Dean here: www.linkedin.com/in/FollowDean.