'daigou' suitcase shoppers decrease substantially, page-8

Second half of the article is interesting too, less doom and gloom view on the situation.


However....the phenomenon is far from dead. In Sydney and Melbourne last week, special “China ecommerce expo” events targeting daigou were held to coincide with the Chinese holiday period. And for some Australian companies, these sellers still represent a new route into the vast Chinese market.

“What they definitely do is offer a different network to the one that we would be able to access,” says Laura McBain, chief executive of Bellamy’s Australia, which sells organic food and formula for babies and toddlers.

Ms McBain estimates that a “significant proportion” of the company’s more than 300 per cent surge in revenue from China and Hong Kong in the financial year to June 30 came from sales to daigou.

The growth of a daigou supply chain into China is a throwback to the personal network-style selling that characterises Tupperware parties or Avon ladies offering make-up. Daigou offer the security to their clients of a product bought overseas by someone they trust.

But while Australian companies recognise daigou as a significant source of sales, their efforts to court them have been patchy.

“I would like to see more events held by companies, such as seminars on product and marketing, as well as new product releases targeting only daigou,” says Coco, a full-time daigou shopper in her thirties who did not want to use her full name.

She said that most of her customers were middle-class buyers and so the increase in costs following the new ecommerce laws in April had not had much of an impact. But she acknowledged that some companies were seeking their own route to market.

“I hope that these companies can keep a consistent relationship with us, rather than reaching out to us when they want, and avoid us when they have other channels,” she said.