Magento for China: Is Magento the Best Solution for the Chinese Market?

Magento for China is a strong choice when you need a complex, fully customized store, but a store for Chinese shoppers needs adapting first: Chinese language, sign-up by phone number, WeChat login, Alipay and WeChat Pay, and a checkout built for Chinese names and addresses. This article lists the pros, the cons and what to adapt.

In the world of web design and e-commerce, the Magento platform needs no introduction. It is one of the biggest and most powerful e-commerce platforms on the market, developed by Adobe since it acquired Magento in 2018. If you need a complex, fully customized online store, Magento is a strong candidate to build your China e-commerce website.

The Boom of E-commerce in China

This article is about Magento in China. China has the largest e-commerce market in the world, and more and more people buy through e-commerce platforms. But is Magento the best solution for the Chinese market? Let’s dig in and find the answer.

Does Magento Fit the Specificities of the Chinese Market?

First, we could say yes, since it is a global solution used all over the world, but that is not totally correct. Magento brought a global solution to China, but every country is different, which is why some parts need to be adapted to the local market: this is what we call glocalization (global and local).

When we first wrote this article in 2017, what we heard from local users was that Magento was failing to deliver China-specific features to meet local needs.

Magento Localization for China

Certain aspects of Magento need to be adapted to the Chinese market, such as:

• Language: if you want to sell in China, your e-commerce website needs to be in Chinese. Bad translation and poor writing make a website look untrustworthy and unprofessional.
• Style and design: Chinese tastes are different, and the perception of colors or the layout of elements on the screen need to be adapted to local taste.
• Payment gateways: to operate in China efficiently, you will have to integrate Magento with Chinese payment providers such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay and others.
• Social network integration: to promote your business, we recommend integrating your e-commerce website with the most popular social networks in China: WeChat, Weibo, QQ, etc.

If you are interested in doing e-commerce in China, don’t miss our article about the new China cross-border e-commerce rules.

How to Adapt Magento for the Chinese Market

We first listed the adaptations below in 2017. Magento versions and extensions have changed since then, so check each point against the version you run.

Mobile Sign-Up

To sign up on a website, we usually have to use our email address. That is how it works in the Western countries that use the Magento platform. If you have never been to China, you might think it would be the same here as well, but it is not! In China, we do not use email addresses very much. It is better to let users sign up with a phone number and receive a confirmation code by SMS.

WeChat Integration

WeChat is the largest social platform in China, and it keeps evolving with features such as Mini Programs. Integrating WeChat with a Magento store brings Chinese shoppers much closer:

• WeChat login: users can register for a Magento account with their WeChat identity. At the time, this also gave companies client information such as gender, country and city; the user information API of WeChat Official Accounts no longer returns gender and region since October 2021.
• WeChat messages: a way to send promotions, or order updates, directly through WeChat.
• Account binding: users sign up with their phone number, then link their WeChat account if they want to. In the end, it is simpler, because each user has only one account.

Chinese Payment Methods

When you buy online in Western countries, you usually pay with a credit card, a debit card or even PayPal, and you might think that it is the same in China. If you have ever lived in China, you know that it is not the case.

The trend in China is to pay with Alipay and WeChat Pay, so a Magento store aimed at Chinese shoppers should integrate Chinese payment methods such as these. In 2017, we also suggested other options such as UnionPay, Mi Pay or Baidu Wallet.

Checkout Flow

As you may have already noticed, the difference with China is not only about the language but also about the culture and local trends. Other points of the checkout can be adapted:

• No billing address required, because credit and debit cards are not often used.
• A single “full name” field instead of “first name” and “last name”, because the format of names is different for Chinese people.
• An address format in this order: province, city, district, detailed address.
• For a cross-border e-commerce website in China, an ID number is required for cross-border products.
• Product reviews with pictures.
• The ability to track the shipping status after logging in to your account.
• A back office in Chinese characters to export orders and invoices.

QPSoftware is a Magento Agency in China

As you can see, many features of the Magento platform need to be adapted for use in the Chinese market. China has the largest e-commerce market in the world, so it would be a shame to let a store that is not adapted make you miss important opportunities. To see Magento at work, read how four international brands used Magento e-commerce in China.

If you need more information about this subject, or help implementing any of these suggestions, we would be happy to help: discover our e-commerce website development in China, or do not hesitate to contact us.

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