How to Set Up a Cross-Border Shop in WeChat | Frankfurt

The EU SME Centre, the China Competence Center of the IHK Frankfurt and Darmstadt and the Diplomatic Council, are pleased to invite our members to attend a half-day training workshop on how to set up a cross-border shop in WeChat.

Selling directly to Chinese consumers is very high on the wish list of EU SMEs. This has been hindered by the harsh reality of finding a competent importer or distributor, or the high costs of setting up a subsidiary in China. Certain alternatives, such as listing the products in well-known Chinese e-commerce platforms, reveal as too expensive or cumbersome for the small and medium European enterprises.

Join the workshop to find out how to reach directly to the Chinese consumers. After attending this training, you will grasp the process of setting up a cross-border shop on WeChat, its cost, the return on investment, and how to operate it.

Agenda

08:45-09:00 Registration

09:00-09:15 Greetings by: DC, IHK, EU SME Centre

09:15-09:30 – Background

• Cross-Border is Booming
• WeChat’s Unparalleled Success in China
• Pilot Free -Trade Zones
• Consumption as the Lever to Lift China’s Economy
• Reaction to the Negative Effects of Inefficient General Trade
• Making China Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ)Part of the Solution
• A More Discerning Middle Class

09:30-10:00 – The Supply Chain

• The Upstream Flow of Goods to the Chinese Consumer
• The downstream Flow of Payments to the EU Shop Owner
• Returns

10.00-10:30 – The Building Blocks

• The WeChat Account
• The WeChat Shop
• Consumer Payment Options
• Warehouse and Logistics Operator at the FTZ
• Foreign Gateway to China’s Payment Providers

10.30-10:45 Coffee Break

10:45-11:30 – The Procedure

• The Cross-Border Authorized List
• Trademark Registration
• Selecting a Pilot Free Trade Zone
• Select a Logistics Operator
• Registering the Product at China Inspection and Quarantine
• Open a WeChat Official Account
• Set up the WeChat Store
• Integrating a Payment Method with the WeChat Store
• Open a Bank Account in China
• Selecting a Payment Gateway

11:30-11:40 – The Pros and Cons of a CBEC Shop in WeChat for EU SMEs

• The Missing Piece: Digital Marketing

11:40-12:00 – Regulatory Aspects

12:00-12:30 – Real Cases in Action

• Baby Care Category – SME from Ireland

12:30-13.00 – WeChat Shop Solution

• Costs
• Return on Investment
• Q&A

Registration

The training workshop is free to attend and by invitation only.

Places are limited and first come first served. Please register before 4th June 2018, here.

About the Expert

Rafael Jimenez

Business Development Advisor, EU SME Centre

China expertise: market entry strategy, start-ups, SME business planning, streamlining costs, new business channels and local partners

With more than six years’ hands-on experience in managing a business in China, Rafael offers advice for European SMEs in developing practical market entry strategies in the country. Following a career at a senior level within the F&B and ICT industry, he arrived in China in 2009 as Director of a Spanish F&B company involved in the restaurant and trade business. He helped the company set up a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE) in China, ran operations for three years and led a team of more than 100 employees. More recently he was Shanghai Office Director at a Management Consultancy Firm.

Felim Meade

WeChat Expert of the EU SME Centre & Co-Founder of Emerald Green Consulting, Ireland

For the last 4 years, Felim’s entire focus has been on establishing an export business from Ireland to China. The retail export business (Emerald Green Baby) has allowed him to forge not only a strong working knowledge of the Chinese market but grow an extensive network of Chinese contact. While based in Dublin, Ireland Felim’s whole focus is the domestic Chinese market and our local Chinese logistic oppression is based in Shanghai.

After 4 years Felim was building up his Cross-Border E-Commerce retail presence in China, he is now in a unique position to bring practical experience to other European companies who wish to access China.

Felim also still owns and runs 12 food operations in Dublin employing over 100 people and has 10 years work experience with Coca-Cola, Guinness and Irelands largest retailer Dunnes stores. The core of his success in China is bringing his retail experience managing projects with Chinese partners.

While he lives in Dublin, Felim travels every 8 weeks to China as well as extensively in Europe assisting companies to access the Chinese market.

Kristine Horbach

Manager of international business advisory, Dezan Shira & Associates, German Desk-Shanghai

Kristine Horbach is a heading the German desk, located in the Shanghai office of Dezan Shira & Associates. Kristine assists foreign-invested companies from Europe with their investments in Asia. Kristine’s areas of expertise include setting up of enterprises in Mainland China, Hong Kong and ASEAN and advisory regarding related implications. She also specializes in legal consultancy in European jurisdictions, with focus on recruitment and corporate law. Prior to joining Dezan Shira & Associates, Kristine Horbach worked for several years in Shanghai as a consultant for different legal, political and economic companies, with a German background. After this experience, she moved to Hong Kong to a consultancy company where she was part of the Business Advisory Team with focus on foreign investment. Before returning back to Shanghai to join Dezan Shira & Associates, she worked for two years as a Senior Legal Advisor for a BPO firm, based in London, UK. Kristine has a Bachelors degree in Marketing with a private University in Cologne, Germany, and German Law Diploma, with Friedrich Wilhelm University Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany. Kristine is fluent in German, English and French.