"Missing the Wave of Online Commerce" on NewFrontierChina | developing & marketing rural resources in China

Not that I am surfer, since we do not exactly have the waves for it in Texas and Oklahoma where I was raised, but the analogy seems to fit well for the occasion. Too many companies see the great successes of business in China and try to bring in their foreign company, foreign name, and foreign prestige and pull of big business in China. For many, the wave has passed.

Recently, I have commented on how online commerce, co-op sites, and such are making a difference in China, even out in rural villages. Though many Chinese eagerly seek foreign products, Chinese are still proud of using their own products and services, especially when it comes to what websites they frequent.

I just read an article at the Financial Times site entitled "Ebay to shut down its China site." I remember well all the advertisements on Chinese television to let people know about the coming of eBay to China. Sounded interesting to me, but evidentally it was nothing big for Chinese people.

They do not want to admit to "pulling out" of China, but it sure looks like that is what is going on. Similar Chinese sites were already popular and riding the wave to online commercial success when eBay tried to jump in. Alibaba, which is frequently used to market many rural resources, had already started TaoBao. It is a Chinese name and already had the Chinese ear before eBay tried to bust in.

The waves are already coming in, and Chinese companies have already figured out how to ride them to their fullest potential. Since Alibaba has both English and Chinese language sites used around the globe, Chinese farmers can sell their goods to businesses around the globe, easily browed in both languages. And if sites like Alibaba are already known to rural regions of China, then some new foreign site is going to have a rough ride trying to pull off their idea, especially since it will look like a foreign copy of a Chinese original. As far as the Chinese are concerned, Alibaba and its TaoBao came in first.

On top of that, the established China-sites really are better when it comes to the buying and selling of China's resources and products. Everyone from China's rural companies to rich yuppies are buying and selling raw minerals, handheld computers, shipping services, and Chinese medicine. The Chinese sites have proved to be better for Chinese, mainly because they are made by Chinese. Foreign companies most certainly can make it here, but they need some good research about what is out there already, the Chinese people already using it, and a clear picture of the battle they have ahead in the Chinese context.