In 2017, the Mexican government said it had signed an agreement with Alibaba Group to sell Mexican products and services, especially those made by small and medium-sized companies, on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform.
Mexico: Big Opportunities in China
In Mexico, 99.8% of enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises, which generate 50% of Mexico’s GDP. But direct exports by small and medium-sized Mexican firms are small, at just 6%. At present, Mexico exports more than 20 kinds of agricultural products to China, including avocados, tequila, and so on.
In this agreement, Alibaba will work closely with the Mexican government to help Mexican small and medium-sized enterprises expand their market in international markets, especially in China. Alibaba will also share logistics and payment platform capabilities to empower small and medium-sized enterprises in Mexico in order to enhance their ability to globalize and attract Chinese tourists to Mexico. At the same time, Alibaba will train small and medium-sized enterprises in Mexico and share experience in rural e-commerce, third-party payment, and logistics. By leveraging e-commerce and Alibaba’s experience in China, we have helped small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs better benefit from globalization and create a more inclusive world.
As the agreement went forward, the exports from Mexico are spreading rapidly in China. For example, Mexican avocados are rapidly becoming popular in China, with sales in the first half of this year outpacing those in all of 2017. Sales totaled 9,368 tons from January to June this year, with a growth rate of 7.1% from a year earlier. Not only has demand increased, but producer prices have remained stable and output has increased, which ensures adequate exports and domestic market supply, according to Agricultural Consultants.
“When the Chinese first saw Mexican avocados 10 years ago, they thought they were a grenade, a bomb, and they wondered what it was. Today, Chinese people eat 15 million kilograms of avocados every year. We like this healthy food, we want to import more Mexican healthy produce, and we want to import more Mexican products because Mexico has a good reputation for producing high-quality products. Mexico needs to export not only to North America but also to China. Because China has a 300 million middle class, in the next 10-15 years, the number of the middle class will reach 500 million. This is a big market” said Jack Ma, the found of Alibaba.
As we all know, the Chinese market is a market worth exploring with great potential. So if you want to grasp this chance, you need to understand the Chinese market and Chinese consumers.
How to export Mexican products to China?
Press Release To Gain Reputation and Awareness
The media, as a powerful means of communication, can reach many people in China. If Chinese customers have little knowledge and awareness about your business, the first thing you need to do is to allow them to understand your brand.
As the official voice, press releases can help enterprises communicate well with the public and convey the value of enterprises to them. People are also more likely to believe in the authority and power of the media, so you can get a good reputation in their hearts this way. At the same time, it will also increase the public awareness of your brand, because of media exposure. But remember, don’t overstate the value of the brand, or the performance of the product. Delivering the benefits you can bring to your customers in the right way
Cooperate With E-commerce Platform To Gain Selling Channel
For many small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, direct investment in China is costly. So these companies have to find other ways to solve the problem of selling channels. Fortunately, with the rapid development of the Internet in China, most Chinese people would choose to shop on the Internet, and they’re also three main e-commerce platforms in China, Tmall, JD.com, and Netease KaoLa. You can sign agreements with these companies and use these platforms to export your products, which can help you dramatically reduce cost and improve convenience.
On the other hand, you can get rich data of consumer behavior, which can help you further to analyze their needs and wants, thereby promoting your products and services to them.
Create Buzz Through Social Media Platform
This method is kind of like word-of-mouth marketing, and the best way to promote your brand is not to spend any funds on advertisements, instead of making customers voluntarily talk about your products and services, share and recommend your brand to their friends and family. You can launch a viral marketing campaign on social media platforms because this kind of platform is the fastest place to spread information and it is convenient for Internet users to share with their friends. Once you have established a hot topic about your brand, you will be able to get the most benefit with the least cost.
This is a wise choice, but also you need to pay attention to the communication process which needs to control the negative comments to ensure the right direction of brand value transmission.
Read also: