1 What We Learn From UK E-commerce Sun Guoqiang (Paul)

What is e-commerce?  Electronic or digital commerce, commonly known as E commerce, is where the buying and selling of products or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks (e- mail, mobile devices, social media, etc ). 2

3 Historical perspective of China trading overseas.  China was one of the most prolific trading countries in the old world due to the Silk Route. Then – after centuries of being highly successful – around the 15 th century, China became increasingly isolated under the Ming Dynasty.

4 China’s isolationism  The Confucian system discouraged mercantilism.  The imperial system considered itself the centre of the world and the focus of the heavens, there was no need to go out.  China was (and is) a huge country and was self- sufficient;

China is the largest e-commerce country in the world  2013 China surpassed the US as the world’s largest e- commerce retail market.  Three largest e-commerce countries in the world are China (€ 405.1bn), the USA (€ 363.3bn) and the UK (€ 127.2bn)?  “Go East”! 5

The world’s leading e-commerce companies 2014  Amazon.com, JD.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., eBay Inc. Otto Group, Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Cnova N.V.,Tesco PLC, Rakuten, Best Buy Co.. 6

Alibaba.com’s IPO 7

Made in China  The world’s factory.  China is a super powerful consuming power 8

Historical perspective of UK  The UK was the world's first industrialized country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.  The UK is still a great power 9

UK leads the world for E-commerce.10

Government support of e-commerce development  Data Protection Act 1998  Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000  E-Commerce Regulations 2002  The government set up East London Tech City 11

The English language provides a competitive advantage  The UK has a natural advantage in terms of the speed of adoption of the latest technology.  Globalization 12

The size of the UK provides logistical efficiencies  The UK has a universal pricing system for postage  The cost of shipping is lower and provides a greater incentive and a multichannel shopping experience to buy and sell goods online. 13

Early and widespread use of debit cards  The UK has had cards since 1966 beginning with the launch of the Barclaycard.  Today over 48% of UK retail sales are paid for using debit cards.  The existing prevalence of plastic has given the UK a strong first-mover advantage. 14

Lower the barriers to ecommerce  High rates of technology adoption and low costs of internet services  UK consumers pay the least for their communications services and use the most mobile data.  The UK has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world. 15

Poundland and Marks & Spencer 16

17 Thanks for watching