Running E-Commerce in China from Shanghai, with a Splash of Fashion with Tiffany Ma

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I have been doing some serious traveling in China, was just in Chengdu last weekend for Startup weekend there, back to Shenzhen for a day to spend time w/ my Chinese family and newborn baby and then to where I am currently in Shanghai, China for conferences, meetings, and Startup weekend this weekend. Next week once back down in South its off to Guangzhou for more baby paperwork (certificate of birth abroad pickup) and then Hong Kong for some business deals. Just feel like life in China is so much more intense!

I always like the vibe I get in Shanghai, and today’s episode I recorded with Tiffany Ma – a fashion e-commerce entrepreneur who also works at an incubator here in Shanghai helping companies enter the Chinese market. I always bump into her at startup and business events while in Shanghai and I’m excited to ask her some tips and tricks for getting into the Chinese e-commerce space and some overview of the fashion and creativity scene – let’s listen up!

Topics Covered in this Episode

• Introducing Tiffany Ma to our listeners
• we’re in a in a tech incubator here in Shanghai, can you explain a bit more about it
• You’re doing your own business , Gutora.com – your personal closet – can you tell us the story about it?
• So I know tons of listeners are so interested in e-commerce in China – what are some high level tips?
• Basically – selling in China is a totally different world than selling internationally – payment, shipments. Tips on doing both?
• do you need your own website when doing chinese ecommerce
• the importance of relationships in china business
• alibaba (TaoBao) is more mainstream , tencent is for younger generation
• I have no clue about fashion, can you give me and the listeners an idea on the fashion scene in Shanghai and what you’re doing
• They’re your own designs? I see you work with other designers?
• So you source your goods from a local market? Where can people source fashion goods?
• Steps to start on Chinese e-commerce, when starting from scratch
• where to source fashion clothes in Shanghai, the designs, not the products
• How can people contact you for more information and get involved with your business?

People / Companies / Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• gravity asia incubator
• gutora – your personal closet
• social video cam – license entertainment to china with Social Media for brands here in China
• taobao – Chinese eBay
• jd.com – Jingdong (formally 360buy)
• wechat (weixin) moments mall – basically where people share photos of products and to buy you must contact them (similar to posting a photo on facebook)
• weidian 微店 app (translated to micro shop) – allows shopping inside wechat with tencent payment
• zhifubao (alipay) – The Chinese equivalent of Paypal
• caifutong (Tenpay) – the Tencent payment method competing with alipay zhifubao (an Alibaba paypal like service)
• haiwai taobao 海外 淘宝 – allowing foreigners to buy off taobao in English with western credit cards
• xintiandi district – marketplace / district in Shanghai with lines of fashion designers from shanghai and all over China
• contacting Tiffany Ma on Linkedin

Episode Length: 18:39

Hope everyone enjoyed Tiffany Ma on the show – I am glad to get more women business people on the show – especially in China there doesn’t seem to be as many women on the business track than men – but I do see trends improving at meetups and events.

She got into a lot of acronyms and tools that even I hadn’t heard of, and I’m researching them now right now. I’ll put them in the show notes as well on GlobalFromAsia.com/episode39 !

Til next week everyone, keep up the international business hustle!

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