How to sell on Vip Shop? – China’s biggest flash sales marketplace

As China’s e-commerce market continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, more and more e-commerce platforms are vying for a piece of the pie. Among these is VIP Shop, which has quickly become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms on the Chinese market.

Fortunately, it also offers its services to foreign brands looking for a more fresh and trendy cross-border e-commerce marketplace that could be an alternative to saturated Tmall Global or JD.com. What makes VIP Shop stand out from the competition? Is it a suitable online marketplace for your brand? Let’s take a closer look.

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China’s E-commerce landscape

The Chinese e-commerce market is one of the most dynamic and exciting markets in Asia. Thanks to cutting-edge technologies developed by internet giants like Alibaba, JD or even SAP (a company better known for its software than anything else), opportunities have increased exponentially for companies wanting an international presence as well as consumers looking for unique products online.

The Chinese e-commerce market is booming, with sales expected to exceed $3.6 trillion by 2025. This growth can be attributed to several factors, including the growing middle class, the rising popularity of online shopping, and the increasing availability of high-speed internet.

Chinese E-commerce market

Chinese consumers are avid online shoppers, and they are increasingly turning to the internet to purchase everything from clothes and cosmetics to cars and real estate. In fact, China is now the world’s largest e-commerce market, accounting for more than half of global online retail sales.

Cross-border e-commerce opportunities in the Chinese market

When it comes to cross-border e-commerce marketplaces available in Mainland China, there are numerous platforms for small through medium-sized to huge enterprises, depending on their industry and goals. Tmall Global and Kaola from Alibaba Group are undoubtedly the leaders in cross-border e-commerce in the Chinese market. JD Global takes the second place and the third place is occupied by the recent star – Vip International.

What is Vip Shop? – understand the phenomenon of this leading online discount retailer

Vipshop (Wei Pin Hui) is a Chinese company that operates one of the e-commerce flash sales websites VIP.com. As the third largest online retailer on the Chinese market, VIP experts in genuine brands, while offering discounts and limited time-based world’s largest flash sales. For the third quarter of 2022, the Company expects its total annual net revenue to be around 22 billion RMB.

Vipshop cooperates with well-known domestic and overseas brand agents and manufacturers, offering lower prices, high quality, and in-great-demand goods to mainland Chinese consumers. So far, there are over 10 thousand brands to collaborate with the platform and over 1600 brands that have authorized Vipshop to run special sales on its official website. Chinese customers can select from different product categories, such as clothes, shoes, skincare products, luggage, home textiles, leather product, accessories, and perfume.

Vip Shop featured on New York Stock Exchange

Following its great success, Vipshop has been awarded the No.1 spot on DTT 2012 High Tech and High Increase list, and has been granted the honour to receive the top prize of “The best E-Commerce Company of 2012”. Following Tmall and JD Worldwide, it is now the third-largest e-commerce site in China. In 2012 it was even listed on New York Stock Exchange. Today it’s the third most visible digital agency, offering products at a significant discount from many domestic and foreign brands and more than a dozen countries.

Vip.com

Vip.com Homepage

Vip.com is a Chinese eCommerce company that operates an online store for consumers in China and elsewhere across Asia, with nearly all its revenue coming from Greater China as well–making it one of the fastest-growing retailers on earth! The total number of active customers for the second quarter of 2022 accounted for 41.7 million and the total orders were 186.3 million RMB. There is more than 20,000 brands on the platform.

Vip Shop International

The Chinese government is warning websites and service providers to ensure that e-commerce websites do not sell fake products. This has caused many E-Commerce businesses, like Taobao or VIPshop, to move sourcing activities overseas in order to avoid being shut down by the authorities.

Because of that, to ensure that Chinese buyers get authentic products from abroad, Vipshop decided to open a Vip International website in 2014. It’s a similar move of all the e-commerce giants, as you can also see cross-border e-commerce websites from other marketplaces, like Tmall Global or JD Worldwide.

The site is different from Vipshop because all of its goods come from foreign companies while you can find Chinese products on the domestic Chinese website. VIP International is one of the cross-border e-commerce solutions provided by Vipshop Holdings to foreign merchants and Chinese consumers.

Vip International took on some initiatives to ensure the best service for Chinese customers and foreign brands. Vipshop started a flexible logistics network with warehouses abroad and in China, so as to be able to send goods as fast as possible. They also set up professional buyer groups in more than 10 countries to guarantee that the products sold on Vip International are not fake. Additionally, they formed close relations and long-term partnerships with many well-known brands across the world.

Vip Shop’s Sales Model

According to I Research, Vip.com’s online flash sales model is one of the three mainstream e-commerce models in China (as mentioned before, the other two are the marketplace model of Tmall and the general B2C model of JD.com).

The company’s business model is to purchase products from excess inventory, add a markup and sell at deeply discounted prices. This can be up to 80% off during certain periods when they’re in high demand (for example during shopping festivals like 11.11).

Vipshop platform is increasing brand awareness among existing and potential customers through various marketing campaigns and promotional substantial e-commerce activities such as sponsoring high-profile events. The company makes great efforts to become a global first-class e-commerce company. In order to help the south China area to become the International e-commerce hub, the platform will interact in developing a framework of “thousand years urban business” and “Urban Business Website”.

What can you sell on Vip Shop?

Vipshop is no different from other e-commerce marketplaces, with a big variety of product categories to select from. Chinese consumers can select from domestic brands on Vip shop and many foreign brands on Vip International.

There’s a huge range of product categories available on VIP Shop and VIP International. You can buy anything from clothes and accessories to beauty products and home goods. As the website is operating on a flash sales model, it is impossible to find products at retail prices there, as everything is always on sale. The biggest category is fashion, with a lot of notable brands like Calvin Klein, Armani, Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger to select from.

It’s important to take into consideration, that Vip and Vip International are not suitable for small companies, as they mainly sell cross-border brands that Chinese consumers know very well and are willing to buy instead of Chinese products. If you’re a small company and are looking for any China contact platform to sell your products, it’s better to consider opening a Store in the WeChat mini-program.

Benefits of selling your products on Vip Shop

Although Vip Shop and Vip International are still relatively small in comparison to Tmall and JD which are giants in the Chinese market, it has already become a go-to website for all customers interested in flash sales of well-known domestic and international brands. As the third-largest e-commerce company in China and one of the largest online fashion sellers, Vipshop provides many benefits for brands to sell their products on this platform.

  • Vipshop offers an effective marketing technique to all brands entering the platform, building brand awareness, reaching new customers and increasing their demand for specific products
  • Because of the business model, Vip Shop boosts customers’ desires for products, by offering them special discounts and limited offers, which results in huge sales in a short period of time.
  • Vip Shop and Vip International offer excellent customer service, which is a huge help, especially for foreign brands. Vipshop is the industry leader in inventory management, merchandise delivery, and customer service.
  • VIP Shop and VIP International offer competitive commission rates that make it easy to maximize your earnings potential.
  • Vip Shop offers a unique opportunity for brands and retailers to gain insight into the habits, trends in shopping behaviour as well as transactions made by their customers. This data can be used by companies so that they may better understand what is working or not with current product lines and what is their market share.
  • Vip Shop can be accessed from WeChat Wallet

How to sell on Vip Shop?

Before you start selling on VIP shop, it’s important to build your brand’s awareness in China. Chinese consumers visit the marketplace to check and purchase products from brands that they are already familiar with. Therefore, it’s crucial to start your presence in the Chinese market by gaining trust through social media e-commerce platforms and a Chinese website on the .cn domain, that is localized for this specific market.

When you decide it’s time for you to establish your presence on Vip International, you need to provide several documents to the Chinese entity. You need to provide Vip Shop with the following information:

  • Company Name
  • Email
  • Contact Number
  • Company’s description
  • Website of the company
  • Product classification

The procedure takes around a week and after this time, you will be able to start uploading your products in the pop-up store of Vip International and start to sell cross-border items in China.

How much does it cost to enter the platform?

Selling products on Vip International is an amazing opportunity for foreign brands, as in comparison to Tmall or JD, it doesn’t require a huge investment. The products on Vipshop are available for pre-purchase, which means that you don’t have to pay membership fees, marketing costs, commissions or listing fees. However, the downside is there’s less exposure for smaller brands since they can’t compete with bigger players in terms of awareness when selling through this app.

Vip Shop’s Wechat integration

One of the greatest benefits of Vip Shop is its integration with Wechat. Vip Shop made a great move of integrating its service with WeChat Wallet, so whenever you want to check the marketplace for new offers, you can just do it through your Wechat Wallet. Thanks to this move, Vip Shop is more accessible to Chinese consumers, since they don’t need to download another app to access the platform. It works like any other mini-program within WeChat.

Vip in Wechat Wallet

Vip Shop also allows brands to have their flagship store built as a WeChat mini-program, which is a great help in building awareness and reaching out to new customers, especially for smaller brands.

Vip Shop is broadening its’ services through new features

Vip Shop is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce platforms in China. Due to its success, apart from e-commerce, the company started offering other services such as;

Financial Services

Vip.com is building a financial service platform to provide users with services of financing, payment, wealth management services, and insurance. Internet Finance Division itself was founded at the end of 2015, and a consumer finance product attracted 5 million new users for the first year. Currently, 15% of orders are paid via the “VIP Expense”.

Currently, the company offers warehousing, logistics, procurement, research and development, consulting, software development, and information technology support services.

Chinese websites creation and help with building the WeChat store

Vip Shop is a big marketplace with a lot of well-known brands, like Fendi, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas and so on. But the company also wants to give a chance to small and medium-sized enterprises that want to enter the platform. To do so, those brands need to establish their presence in the Chinese market first, to build brand awareness and trust among the Chinese audience.

The best way to do so is to start a Chinese website on the .cn domain in order to direct all the traffic there. A Chinese website in Mandarin helps build trust among the Chinese. Another important element is having a WeChat Official Account with a WeChat Store built in a mini-program. Vip Shop offers IT setups for foreign companies when it comes to both all these matters, which attracts attention from foreign merchants.

If you’re not working in any China marketing agency that can help you with those elements of a successful China entry to help you sell products on the Chinese market, you can make use of services offered by Vip.com.

Vip.com Alternatives: Cross-Border Websites 

There are similar sites like vip.com to cover the same segment of cross-border e-commerce. The most popular of them are listed below:

SMZDM

SMZDM is the leading shopping site where you can buy clothes, shoes, car accessories, and more. The website also operates on the system of online discount sales.

Efu China

EFU is China’s standard fashion media and clothing-related enterprise that offers info and prevailing trends in men’s, women’s, and kids’ fashion around the globe.

YHD

YHD is a well-known supermarket chain that offers groceries, clothes, shoes, daily wear, and more from different brands at a discounted rate.

Amazon China

And here is China’s best shopping portal – Amazon.cn to purchase gadgets, kids’ toys, books, and all on one platform with great client support.

Bite into China’s e-commerce industry by entering VIP Shop

Selling on Vip Shop and Vip International in China can be a lucrative endeavour, as these platforms are some of the most popular online marketplaces in the country. Vendors who want to sell on these platforms should make sure that they understand the requirements for doing so, including what products can be sold and how to set up an account. Selling on these platforms can be a great way to reach Chinese consumers and increase sales.

Need help with Vip Shop application process? Contact us!

The market in China is full of potential and there are many challenges that foreign brands should be ready to face. Entering the Chinese e-Commerce market can sometimes seem easier than it really is, so collaborating with an agency specialized in this subject will help your company grow tremendously while also being cost effective!

Gentlemen Marketing Agency consists of more than 70 professionals that can guide you through China market. We offer consultations, helping brands understand what solutions they need in order to succeed. We help with Baidu search engine optimization, China’s website and WeChat mini-programs building, marketing strategies, and public relations, we can help you budget your actions and campaigns. If you have any questions regarding Vip. com or would like to have a general talk of your possibilities on the Chinese market, do not hesitate to contact us!

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