China’s internet ecosystem model increasingly being copied globally
Initiatives taken by Chinese internet companies to create expanded online platforms and super apps, which support multiple services to offer more convenience to users, are now being duplicated by online firms based overseas
When Singapore-based e-commerce start-up ShopBack decided to shift its business strategy, co-founder Joel Leong looked to China for direction instead of Silicon Valley.
“When ShopBack first launched, we focused heavily on e-commerce via desktop,” Leong said. “But we later realised that companies in China were very focused on mobile apps.”
That led the company to adopt a mobile-first strategy by launching its own ShopBack app, which directs users to buy products and services from the mobile apps of partners that include Lazada Group, Booking.com, and Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao Marketplace and AliExpress.
ShopBack earns a commission for each order placed and shares that with users in the form of a cash rebate.
“Southeast Asia is more similar to China in the sense that there is higher mobile usage, compared to more developed markets like the US and Europe,” Leong said.
With a population of 1.4 billion people, China is home to 772 million internet users, the biggest online community in the world, according to the China Internet Report co-authored by the South China Morning Post, its tech news site Abacus and the San Francisco-based venture capital firm 500 Startups.