NX Creative, also known as NianXiang Branding & Design, is a comprehensive brand consultancy agency which has served more than 200 domestic and global brands, covering a wide range of luxury and FMCG brands.

One market, in particular, they see many of their products in, is e-commerce. We speak to them to learn more about the Chinese e-commerce industry and to look at some projects they’ve worked on to help brands stand out across the various platforms.

How did e-commerce begin in China?

E-commerce in China has become a very multi-dimensional and lucrative business market. When it first launched, the government didn't protect offline channels as much as other countries, which gave people the freedom to start their online channels quickly, building up a competitive market. 

The first e-commerce channel was Alibaba, a platform where small B2B businesses can sell their products and exchange information with the consumers. Learning from eBay on how to sell goods to consumers and become C2C model, after a while, Alibaba developed its own payment system Ali Pay.

Through Alibaba, people can set up their own shops online (known as Taobao), which can reduce cost and allow the owner to sell their products at a relatively low price. This in turn attracts a lot of consumers to the online shopping channel.

How has e-commerce changed marketing?

In the internet era, the younger generation are now the mainstream consumers. People are not only shopping but love to socialise and entertain an online community. Social marketing has become the most effective way, with live streaming the most efficient way for brands to promote their products among consumers. 

Shop owners can live stream online with their followers 24/7, just like a television shopping channel in the old days, but also interact with their buyers. As well as brands promoting on their own channel, influencers have become another emerging trend in the marketing environment.

From real estate to agricultural products, any product can be promoted by influencers to contact their fans and relevant audience. These influencers can help the buyers to negotiate lower prices with the brands, and to attract more consumers to follow them online. 

Left: Louis Vuitton official account and live streaming session, and right: Influencers live streaming sessions

How can a brand stand out in the e-commerce market?

With the widespread popularity of the internet in China, e-commerce has rapidly become one of the most popular shopping methods. China's e-commerce is not just a commercial outlet but has penetrated into all areas of people's daily lives.

As a result, consumers' contact with the brand image has shifted to online where the time and space of visual communication has been greatly compressed. This means it’s even more important to express all details, including aesthetics, emotional connection and usage scenarios, as efficiently as possible.

As an example, take a look at the work we've done with CHIOTURE, a vibrant and youthful makeup brand. CHIOTURE = CHIC + CAPTURE, which means ‘young fashion hunter for a simple life’. Factoring in the ‘simple, direct, and fun’ characteristics of the brand’s genes, we chose an intuitive and effective way to demonstrate the product’s features, as ‘a beautiful and adorable soft light camera’.

In terms of user experience, we focus our innovation on the product’s ceremonial unpacking. Step one: unscrew the ‘lens’; step two: pull out the ‘handle brush’ on the right; step three: if not at home, the handle can be placed on the ’Brand Icon Viewfinder’ in the upper left corner of the camera. Once unravelled, it shows a delicate and elegant base makeup kit.

Nowadays, no matter whether they see a product online or offline, when faced with these products they will already have an understanding of it based on social or other online content they will have seen. For the pure e-commerce brands, they have a very rare opportunity to concentrate their attention on the shaping the way products can be used, how it integrates into your lifestyle, rather than portraying it as a sellable in-store object.

Another example is Saselomo, a brand inspired by nature. With the support of natural and organic ingredients, and a sincere and reliable brand concept, it provides consumers with a full range of natural sense skincare experience. The product form is a cylindrical type that makes people feel calm.

We created a rounded concave shape on the product where the finger naturally touches, and the design of the concave is customized according to ergonomics on different products. The customers would always experience the care and love from the brand every time they use it, a rich sensual experience brought about by the shaping of the products. The natural surface texture is similar to clay, with the colour scheme a chromatogram taken from the colour of the rhizomes of natural plants, a colour that accumulates energy and transports nutrients.

During this coronavirus pandemic, we've been working with MEIKING to develop the packaging for its product. As a Chinese make-up brand that conveys the idea of ‘Rejuvenation of Oriental Women's Spirit’ to consumers, MEIKING responded fast and presented its limited-edition ‘Brave’ to cheer Chinese women up in the current coronavirus pandemic. We believe that, under the theme ‘Brave’, the verse ‘in me the tiger sniffs the rose’ provides a vivid interpretation of women’s bravery that is full of oriental wisdom.

Therefore, the limited edition uses the ‘tiger’ and ‘rose’ as the visual identity, which is artfully integrated into the packaging to bring surprise to user experience. As the case opens, a little tiger that symbolizes ‘Brave’ is unveiled, and it immediately leads to the exquisite rose pattern embossed on the lipstick bullet. An ‘Oriental Spirit Seal’ is also created, harmonizing with the brand's icon, as the ideological concept of our lipsticks.

Find out more about NX-Creative at www.nx-creative.com