As my country’s foreign trade industry and cross-border e-commerce take the lead in the mitigation phase of the epidemic, facing other former partners who are still in the quagmire of the epidemic, and the drastically changing global trade rules and layout, where is the way out for foreign trade companies?
"International cooperation is the best strategy to fight the epidemic." Dr. Zhou Lu, chairman of the UK Beyond Labs, said at a series of online training sessions for SMEs to improve international business capabilities organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (China Chamber of International Commerce) training center. The epidemic is in the future. There may be many counterattacks in 1-2 years. It is a general trend for China and Britain to strengthen trade cooperation in the medical field.
To understand the opportunities in the field of Sino-British medical trade, we must start with the market environment of British medical and health services. At present, the United Kingdom is accelerating the use of artificial intelligence and other digital technologies in the British National Health Service (NHS). In February last year, the British Ministry of Health announced the establishment of a special agency NHSX to promote the digital transformation of the NHS. "The help of digitalization for cross-border trade in the medical field is mainly embodied in medical big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, 5G technology and telemedicine. Among them, the application of blockchain in the traceability and testing of overseas pharmaceutical trade is very important." Zhou Lu believes that this creates opportunities for domestic suppliers. Coupled with the huge medical markets in the UK and Europe, China-UK medical trade has major benefits. But he believes that after masks and ventilators, what is the next hot spot needs to be observed.
Zhou Lu also reminded companies that the UK has strict requirements on product quality, and entering the UK market requires a professional team and years of accumulation. "China-UK cross-border trade needs to pay attention to the laws and regulations, regulatory changes, product declaration requirements, GDPR and data confidentiality requirements, tax regulations, logistics requirements, etc. in the later period of the epidemic, and also to estimate obstacles to employee travel."
Patty McCas, a British business culture expert, analyzed the possibility of transnational trade in the post-epidemic era from the perspective of "building cross-cultural communication capabilities to enhance sales in the international market". She suggested that companies with the intention of "going out" should determine the market as the first step. She took Starbucks’ defeat in Australia as an example to explain that Australians who are keen on the taste and culture of coffee do not like this fast-food coffee, but prefer to buy coffee from independent small coffee shops, so Starbucks has become a commonplace for foreign tourists in Australia. Visited attractions. The same failed case is the AncherBox power bank, which is very popular in the Chinese market. Americans will actively communicate with their peers for daily entertainment such as going to bars and restaurants, and do not need to charge their mobile phones at any time. Therefore, the audience of this product in the US market is not wide. .
So how to make the brand go out, the correct "chemical reaction" occurs between different cultures? "When entering a foreign market, the first thing to consider is not the price but whether the product is attractive locally." Patty mentioned KitKat. KitKat chocolate, which was first born in the United Kingdom, has been introduced to Japan. In order to cater to the needs of local consumers and promote Japanese culture to tourists, it has developed more than one hundred flavors, including various seasonal restrictions and special items for Japanese cities and airports. , Not only popular in Japan, but also a must-have product in the shopping list of tourists to Japan.
The second step is appropriate marketing behavior. "It should be noted that the time point for successful sales in one country may not apply to other countries." Patty mentioned, such as China's grand Double 11 shopping carnival, which is actually Veterans Day in the United States. The memorial day is therefore a very solemn day and is not suitable for businesses to carry out large-scale promotional activities. Nowadays, cross-border digital marketing, websites and advertisements are replacing offline scenarios. Companies should pay attention to the release and timing of website promotions, as well as specific layout and page design, such as colors, page blanks, and from the left. Reading habits to the right, etc.
The third step is to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. Just as the British and American colleges and universities need to send delegations to the local area for cooperative enrollment when recruiting international students, companies often need to hold talks when conducting cross-border trade, and they must respect each other's country in choosing the right target for introduction and dealing with decision makers. custom. At present, the world is still under lockdown due to the epidemic and traffic is blocked. Most communications are conducted via email. Enterprises should pay more attention to email etiquette to avoid ambiguity, so as not to add unnecessary trouble to foreign exchanges after trade normalization.