China E-Commerce Market: Baopals helps non-Chinese speakers shop online

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02:17

China is the world's number one market for online sales. But for years, many foreigners have struggled to buy things due to language barriers on sites like Taobao and Tmall. Three American expats have come to the rescue. Lin Nan has the story.

IAN SATO EXPAT IN SHANGHAI "I don't speak Chinese, so it was very difficult when I first came here to order anything online. But lately I would say, almost everything in this apartment or in this room at least is purchased online."

What changed Ian Sato's shopping experience in China is a website called Baopals. It helps non-Chinese speakers to shop on Taobao and Tmall, two Chinese sites powered by e-commerce giant Alibaba.

IAN SATO EXPAT IN SHANGHAI "It is definitely convenient. But also the cost is really much better as well as the convenience."

The website was co-founded by three American expats in Shanghai in 2016. In less than 3 years, it has sold over 2 million products and generated over 14 million dollars in revenue.

JAY THORNHILL CO-FOUNDER, BAOPALS "China is arguably the best place in the world to shop online. We are a massive platform. We sell everything from this watch to clothing apparel, electronic appliances, you name it."

Baopals' success also put a big smile on the face of Huang Jinhe, whose Christmas accessories business has been affected by the uncertainties of international trade.

HUANG JINHE, OWNER ZHANBANG CHRISTMAS "Most of our products were exported in the past, but it has been badly impacted by the complicated international politics in recent years. Nowadays our products now sell very well domestically through e-commerce platforms."

Baopals says its next step will be to put better-quality and more affordable Chinese goods online.

CHARLES ERICKSON CO-FOUNDER, BAOPALS "We think we have done a really good job here domestically serving expats living in China. But really the next step is how can we bring it global. So we have something in the work, we hope in 2019 start shipping all over the world."

Lin Nan, CGTN, Shanghai.