CECMOL joins hands with Alibaba to explore new opportunities in e-cigarettes
As the e-cigarette industry continues to thrive, more and more companies are entering the sector, and an increasing number of Chinese businesses are seeking to expand overseas with their own products. A good product alone is not enough — the challenge is
At a time when the e-cigarette industry is booming, more and more companies are joining the sector, and an increasing number of Chinese businesses want to expand overseas and capture foreign markets with their own products. No matter how good the product is, the key question remains: how can it quickly go abroad and become known to overseas customers? To help solve this urgent challenge for Chinese e-cigarette companies, on March 15, 2018, Alibaba International hosted the Shenzhen Bao’an E-Cigarette Salon at the Qixing Creative Factory in Bao’an, Shenzhen, with CECMOL invited to participate in depth.
This event invited Alibaba headquarters e-cigarette industry specialists Xiaozhen and Jiyang, Huang Guihua, Chairman of Green Sound, Feng Haitao, Sales Director of CECMOL, and Song Mingjing, Senior Supervisor for Alibaba International Station’s Shenzhen Bao’an region, as guest speakers. From the perspectives of channels, exhibitions, and company experience, they discussed with more than 100 e-cigarette companies how to help products go overseas faster and connect with high-quality international buyers. Heavy rain could not dampen the enthusiasm of e-cigarette entrepreneurs. At 2:00 p.m. on March 15, the Bao’an e-cigarette salon began on schedule. The first session was presented by Alibaba headquarters e-cigarette specialists Xiaozhen and Jiyang. Drawing on Alibaba’s March New Trade Festival, they analyzed buyer psychology, platform operations, key product categories, and merchant requirements one by one, providing new directions for e-cigarette companies formulating export strategies. The audience listened attentively and gained plenty of practical insights. The third guest speaker was Sister Hua, Chairwoman of Green Sound, who has been in the e-cigarette industry for 10 years. During her speech, she shared the company’s development journey, focusing on themes such as the challenges of transforming the company by embracing the internet, building a brand, repositioning products, and developing corporate teams. As a successful female executive, she spoke with calm confidence and strong insight, winning warm applause from the audience. After her presentation, attendees actively asked questions and sought advice with great humility.
As the fourth keynote speaker, Feng Haitao, Sales Director of CECMOL, began with experience in organizing overseas exhibitions and used the New Zealand E-Cigarette Expo held in December 2018 as an example. He carefully analyzed overseas buyer purchasing behavior for e-cigarette entrepreneurs, described profiles of different B2B buyers, and shared methods for finding buyers. He also analyzed the degree of buyers’ reliance on channels across four stages: research, purchasing, decision-making, and logistics and QC. In addition, Feng introduced CECMOL’s 2018 exhibition plans, among which the Shanghai International E-Cigarette Expo to be held on July 20–22 that year drew strong attention from participating e-cigarette companies.
Toward the end of his speech, Feng Haitao also previewed the “Chinese Companies Overseas Expansion Seminar,” to be held by CECMOL on April 13 at the Shenzhen Kingkey Hotel, using the New Zealand market as a model. Interested e-cigarette companies were encouraged to follow the CECMOL public account for timely updates on the seminar details.
In the salon’s final session, Song Mingjing, Senior Supervisor for Alibaba International Station’s Shenzhen Bao’an region, shared the latest developments from Alibaba International’s New Trade Festival, the future operational timeline for e-cigarettes, and practical implementation plans aimed at supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, while encouraging e-cigarette companies to seize opportunities and meet challenges head-on.
With the host’s announcement, the salon concluded successfully. Although the event has ended, the pace of Chinese e-cigarette companies moving toward the global market will not stop. In the future, CECMOL will continue working hand in hand with Alibaba, using richer formats and more effective methods to build a faster and better bridge for Chinese e-cigarette companies to reach the world and expand into overseas markets.
