Global Ecommerce Trust Mark – Safe.Shop landed in China
Immediate Release
On 21 Dec 2017, the Guangdong Electronic Commerce Association (GDECA) together with Hong Kong Federation of E-Commerce (HKFEC) make a milestone at Ebrun 2017 Future Retail Summit to introduce simplified Chinese version of Safe,Shop, the global ecommerce trust mark in mainland China, which has been globally launched by Ecommerce Foundation early last month.
The goal of Safe.Shop is to enhance consumer confidence to shop globally and increase global digital trade. National ecommerce associations of amongst others Brazil, China, Croatia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Romania, Switzerland and the Netherlands are the first participants. The Global Trustmark will be operationally managed by the Ecommerce Foundation and both GDECA & HKFEC bring this trusted platform to China.
Cross-border ecommerce can grow faster
China’s ministry of commerce reported that cross-border e-commerce reached 6.5 trillion yuan in 2016, which accounted for nearly 20% of all of China’s foreign trade. It also projects that it will grow at annually at around 30 percent in the next few years. With nearly 41 million cross-border shoppers in 2016 this would mean nearly 58 million consumers will be shopping via cross-border e-commerce.
A survey in the China Daily reported that more than 15 percent of the Chinese population had purchased goods from abroad in 2016, and spent an average of $473 each on cross-border purchases. With the e-commerce market in China expected to double in the next 5 years, there is clearly a significant opportunity for cross-border e-retailers in China.
PWC’s Total Retail 2017 Survey shows that 69% of consumers in China have expressed concern of having their personal information hacked using their mobile devices. Maintaining consumer trust poses a key challenge to Ecommerce retailers in the area of cybersecurity and privacy from online payment.
More than 300 trust marks worldwide
To gain national trust, applying for a local trust mark provides a solution; however, companies that want to enter multiple markets need to be certified in each country individually. At this moment, there are 300+ ecommerce trust marks worldwide. Except for a few, all of these are national initiatives. Some of them focus on legal compliance, others on financial reliability, security, reviews or anti-counterfeiting. Others try to cover all or most of these aspects.
Having to be certified by many different trust marks takes a lot of time and effort. This complicates matters, especially for small and medium sized companies. Safe.Shop has the goal to lift the barriers of borders, giving consumers buying cross-border more trust, while simultaneously helping merchants sell more easily on a global level.
A global brand build on local trust
Wu Muzhen, Deputy Secretary General of the GDECA said: “China’s consumer and merchant have great demand for Cross Border Ecommerce, GDECA has over 1000 members across Guangdong province and work closely with each local cities’ Ecommerce Associations to build a better and healthier business conduct for the industry. The introduction of Global Trust Mark and the Safe.Shop in mainland China is a very good initiative to collaborate a Global platform in China market. We believe increasing consumer’s trust level is the one way to grow China’s Cross Border Ecommerce worldwide.”
Joseph Yuen, Chairman of Hong Kong Federation of E-Commerce said: “HKFEC has received a very high demand from all around the world after launching the Hong Kong Trust Mark scheme in Aug 2016, with the international position and one country two system in Hong Kong, there are lots of benefit for Hong Kong’s Ecommerce industry taking an active role between the east and the west. As Hong Kong Trust Mark now becoming a member of Global Trust Mark, HKFEC will bring Safe.Shop with local partners to create a safe online shopping environment to people in Asia. It is our honor to have the support of GDECA to bring Safe.Shop in mainland China.”
In the next three months Safe.Shop will launch in 12 countries, to optimize the new processes and systems. Web shops can apply via their national ecommerce association or directly via www.safe.shop. The goal for next year is to expand to 30 countries. Negotiations have already been started with ecommerce organizations in Canada, France, Mexico, Spain, South Korea the UK and the United States.
About the Guangdong Electronic Commerce Association (GDECA)
Guangdong E-Commerce Association is a nonprofit organization registered in 2003 and is one of the largest and most influential e-commerce industry organizations in South China. Currently, there are about 1,000 member corporate members.
The Organization is supported by: Guangdong Provincial Economic and Information Technology Commission and Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce. The association has eight professional committees including seven different departments, professional experts group, cross-border e-commerce, Agricultural Ecommerce group, Trust, policy and law, investment and financing, and set up branches office and labour unions. Since its establishment, the association has adhered to the tenet of “unite the industry, standardize the industry, promote integrity, exchange and development, and serve the community” and adhere to the principle of “innovation beyond, service with honesty and coordinated development”. Under the guidance and guidance of the business guidance unit, the member units and the strong support from all walks of life, we will make concerted efforts to innovate and develop the association and strive to build the association into a “member’s home, a friend of the enterprise, a window to the industry”.
About Hong Kong Federation of E-Commerce
The Hong Kong Federation of E-Commerce (www.hkfec.org) was established as a non-profit organization to bring professionals and all parts of e-commerce businesses together to share the latest news, technology and opportunities on a common platform. Their goal is to make Hong Kong a better place for e-commerce. HKFEC’s main objective is to encourage mutual benefits to all e-commerce players, from platform owners, online shops, online media, online service providers to logistics and couriers. HKFEC also closely cooperates with overseas e-commerce organizations to make Hong Kong the gateway for e-commerce in China. HKFEC is also the operator of Hong Kong Trust Mark since Aug 2016.
Media Contact
Guangdong Electronic Commerce Association
Wu Muzhen, Deputy Secretary General
Tel.: +86 020-83725072
Email: wumuzhen@foxmail.com
Hong Kong Federation of E-Commerce
Katherine Cheung, General Manager
Tel.: +852 91853680
Email: katherine@hkfec.org
