Fifty-five per cent of Chinese online shoppers purchase goods from the UK as goods are perceived to be “of premium quality”.
Ahead of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day event this Saturday, which last year achieved $17.8 billion of sales in 24 hours, Royal Mail have released research suggesting the UK is in prime position to cash in on the event.
Singles’ Day – now formally known as 11:11 – is the world’s biggest online shopping event, seeing Alibaba process around 170,000 orders a second at peak times.
Alibaba’s UK managing director David Lloyd recently told Retail Gazette “32 per cent of customers were purchasing from international brands.”
According Royal Mail’s Delivery Matters report, over half of Chinese shoppers spend an average of £104 on British items a month.
This is largely due to their perception of British brands, with 76 per cent of consumers trusting UK items not to be counterfeit.
“UK brands are really clicking with China’s shoppers and have a unique advantage as their goods are perceived to be of premium quality,” Royal Mail Parcels managing director Nick Landon said.
“UK retailers should feel confident that exporting to China can deliver benefits to their business.”
The report also says 44 per cent of Chinese shoppers discover British brands through search engines, compared to 30 per cent through advertising and a further 30 by social media.
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