The Design of Digital Information Management System for Chinese Optical Stores and the Promotion and Application of Digital Marketing Management System Marketing in Retail Market
Background to the main issue:
The establishment of China’s first e-commerce sector signaled the beginning of a new era in the country’s economy. Digital economy created more than a third of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, according to (Karine, 2021). During the same year, more than a quarter of China’s physical product retail sales were conducted online, a figure that was far higher than the global average of 18 percent. In 2020, China accounted for more than half of all e-commerce retail sales worldwide, dwarfing the total amount of sales in Europe and America combined (Couture et al., 2021). With a total population of over 780 million people using e-commerce services, China has the world’s largest number of digital purchasers today (Yu & Cui, 2019). A movement in customer purchase behaviors is driving a shift away from brick-and-mortar businesses and toward online retailers, with China, the world’s largest e-commerce industry, projected to grow at a quick pace of 17.2 percent in 2019 as a direct result of this shift in shopping patterns (Li, Frederick, & Gereffi, 2019). As a consequence of these advancements, it is anticipated that the value of e-commerce will increase in the near future. Chinese e-commerce has grown rapidly as a result of widespread Internet and smartphone usage, improved consumer confidence in online purchases, e-commerce platforms, and a diverse variety of alternative payment solutions such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.
E-commerce in China is very developed, and the country’s Internet economy is quickly developing as a result of the country’s demographic dividends and traffic. In addition to the enormous Taobao, JD.com, and other online integrated retail platforms, WeChat, which offers instant messaging services, has started to construct micro-shops and introduce adverts into the circle of friends of those who use the service (Li, Frederick, & Gereffi, 2019). Douyin, which began with music-related creative social short films, has now expanded to include e-commerce models such as live streaming and online celebrity advertising as well as other services. Aside from that, they offer a number of financial services, such as payments and loans. In addition to banks, Chinese consumers may use online marketplaces Taobao and WeChat, as well as meal delivery services such as Meituan and Ele.me. Users are able to get funding. China has around 900 million internet users (Luo, Wang, & Zhang, 2019). China’s Internet is reliant on its large population for its quick growth, acquisition of market share, and ability to continue to gather funds.
Due to industry change and e-commerce behemoth domination on the C-end market, we choose to concentrate on the B-end market. The world’s biggest maker and exporter of optical products, China, has just surpassed 90 billion dollars and is on course to surpass 100 billion dollars in the next two years. According to the latest estimates, China presently has 31,000 optical establishments. A few large corporations dominate the UK, where four giants control the market: Specsavers, Boots, Vision Express, and David Clulow. These four businesses have over 1,000 stores in the UK, and they focus on crowds, pricing, and eyewear categories (Jin & Shin, 2020). These four giant eyewear brands are almost identical in terms of strategy, production, target markets, and corporate culture. As a consequence, the B-end side only has an insignificant amount compared to the C-end.
Few well-known names, such as Tyrannosaurus and its sub-brand Mosen, Mu Jiu Shi, aojo, and other quick fashion enterprises popular with youths, disguise the fact that China is the world’s biggest maker and exporter of eyeglasses. The presence of these local Chinese brands and their mediocre performance against international brands covers up the fact that China is the world’s largest manufacturer and exporter of eyewear. This has happened in part due to the global glasses business being controlled by behemoths and operating as a near-monopoly. Affecting the value of China’s large eyewear market, huge firms use techniques like mergers and acquisitions to hinder the country from growing its brand. As a consequence, the Chinese eyewear industry has a wide range of brands, but just a few well-known names. Famous brands’ items look and feel great, but they are 1-3 times more expensive than other eye brands’ products since they have their own stores and distribution networks. Our clients are not household names, but rather methods and processes. We also opted not to manufacture optical glasses since the world’s most well-known brands of optical lenses are likewise monopolized. Jiujiumu chose to develop and promote the company’s digital marketing management system based on China’s WeChat applet to carry out brand promotion and marketing services for China’s glasses industry and develop an APP in this context instead of using WeChat applet all the time.
Research Question(s):
How can Chinese optical store owners improve awareness reduce training costs?
What approaches can be used to maintain the trends in the glasses sector as a fashion attribute?
How can store owners adapt to the demands of a post-Covid world?
Can the time taken by the SaaS system be reduced to have efficiency?
What methods can be applied to increase store owner adoption of digital marketing system and apps to promote products?
Method and Approach:
In order to answer the research questions, this study will use a qualitative research strategy that will incorporate case study methodology and interviews. The qualitative approach will be used in this research since it will be concentrating on the generation of knowledge rather than numerical representation of data. The goal of using a qualitative technique is for the researcher to be able to generate in-depth material (O’Connor & Joffe, 2020), as well as descriptive information in order to get a deeper understanding of the subject at hand (Shenton, 2004). Beginning with published research on digital marketing in China and other conventional marketing tactics, as well as their most recent developments in the financial industry, which are causing China to make headlines on a global scale, we’ll look for, investigate, and evaluate the findings of this research. The paper will look at why the rise of the e-commerce sector is speeding the development of foreign brands at a faster rate than the development of Chinese companies, particularly in the eye wear industry and market. Specifically, the researcher will make use of the resources available through the University of Leeds Library and on-line resources such as Google Scholar and EbscoHost in order to locate relevant articles, journals, and publications on digital marketing and how it relates to the Chinese eye wear industry as compared to the UK, Japan, and the United States.
The research will follow and document business practices for 99 eye wear stores regarding Jiujiumu brand promotion and marketing service provider in China’s glasses industry in China. In addition to the above, the research will introduce new strategies to business owners. The most difficult thing for normal shop owners to deal with is having a lot of mixed-brand goods that need to be sold. As a result, an inventory system that can be used on both mobile phones and computers. Because it doesn’t require the use of an extra tool, it is easier to use than the traditional method of inventorying things. Merchants can use their phones to scan the code, which lets them quickly update and write off their inventory. Because of technological limitations, stores can’t use digital management and collect customer information preferences data together because they don’t have enough space. As part of the system, it is easier to keep track of customer sources digitally and make unique files for each one. By looking at the store’s database feedback, store owners can figure out what people in the neighbourhood like to buy and how much they use. This includes people of all ages and genders. It will be possible to gather information about the most popular styles in the area, as well as improve and improve existing products, in order to come up with new glasses for OEMs to make.
In order to address some of the research questions, current developments in the FinTech business, as well as its marketing channels and potential disruptions, will be critically examined from a critical point of view, as will some of the research questions themselves. A critical qualitative analysis will be conducted with the goal of developing a long-term digital marketing strategy for Chinese eye wear stores and evaluating the impact on the optical industry. All of this will be combined to form a long-term digital marketing strategy for Chinese eye wear stores and evaluate the impact on the optical industry. Interacting with persons working in the Chinese optical wear business, including as shop managers, owners, manufacturers, and consumers, will be very beneficial to this research’s outcome.
Throughout the course of this study, the researcher will conduct a minimum of 12 interviews with eye wear industry professionals and members of the industry network. The general goal is to record the interviewee’s responses in order to utilize them in the future (with their consent and thorough explanation of purpose, consent signing, anonymity, and privacy issues addressed). The information and insights acquired via this technique will be used to enhance and criticize the overall study project as a whole. Every aspect of this qualitative study, analysis, and conclusion-drawing will be carried out utilizing theme analysis, which will make use of coding to integrate and explain the information gathered.
Timetable of Project Activities and Key Deliverables:
The most important deliverable is a 12000-word dissertation to be submitted to the Leeds University School of Business. The complete document will have chapters with the following headings: Introduction (chapter 1), Literature Review (chapter 2), Case Study Review (chapter 3), Results (chapter 4), Discussion (chapter 5), Summary and Recommendations (chapter 6). Additionally, the report will include a references and appendices section in accordance with the University’s specifications. Others include a quick summary paper sent to the participants and weekly drafts of chapters to the supervisor who will be reviewed and commented on.
Resources:
My experience and lessons gained throughout the course
The University library and access to high quality academic journals and materials:
•Journals and textbooks that are available from the university’s library either online or offline
•Web search engine Google Scholar
•Other relevant authentic websites accessed through Google
Interviews and case study revelations from eye wear industry stakeholders
Software- Microsoft Excel and NVIVO for qualitative analysis.
Supervisor input and faculty members
References
Couture, V., Faber, B., Gu, Y., & Liu, L. (2021). Connecting the countryside via e-commerce: evidence from China. American Economic Review: Insights, 3(1), 35-50.
Jin, B. E., & Shin, D. C. (2020). Changing the game to compete: Innovations in the fashion retail industry from the disruptive business model. Business Horizons, 63(3), 301-311.
Karine, H. A. J. I. (2021). E-commerce development in rural and remote areas of BRICS countries. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 20(4), 979-997.
Kwak, J., Zhang, Y., & Yu, J. (2019). Legitimacy building and e-commerce platform development in China: The experience of Alibaba. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 139, 115-124.
Li, F., Frederick, S., & Gereffi, G. (2019). E-commerce and industrial upgrading in the Chinese apparel value chain. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 49(1), 24-53.
Luo, X., Wang, Y., & Zhang, X. (2019). E-Commerce development and household consumption growth in China. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (8810).
Ma, S., Chai, Y., & Zhang, H. (2018). Rise of Cross‐border E‐commerce Exports in China. China & World Economy, 26(3), 63-87.
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: debates and practical guidelines. International journal of qualitative methods, 19, 1609406919899220.
Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for information, 22(2), 63-75.
Tang, W., & Zhu, J. (2020). Informality and rural industry: Rethinking the impacts of E-Commerce on rural development in China. Journal of Rural Studies, 75, 20-29.
Wang, Z., & Kim, Y. (2018). How marketing factors influence online browsing and sales: evidence from China’s e-commerce market. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 34(2), 253-264.
Yu, H., & Cui, L. (2019). China’s e-commerce: empowering rural women?. The China Quarterly, 238, 418-437.
