The annual Consumer Technology Exhibition CES (January 7-10, 2020) held in Las Vegas, US, has officially ended on January 10, 2020. CES is a global leading platform for all those who thrive on the business of consumer technologies and innovative products, also a significant opportunity for next-generation innovations to be introduced to the global marketplace. It has witnessed the release of more than 700,000 products worldwide over the past 50 years on the field of Chinese innovative technology.
The number of CES exhibitors this year has reached 5,187, surged for 12 percentage points to set a historic high, according to CES official statistics. 5G, AR / VR, wearables, smart homes, health care, robotics, and electric vehicles are the core highlights of CES 2020. CES is regarded as the world’s most forward-looking technology vane.
CES is a prominent platform and steppingstone for Chinese innovative tech businesses to lay a solid foundation for expanding its business globally, including the United States, while providing the most updated electronics industry insights and trends. The world’s most innovative companies, including Haier, Hisense, Changhong, Huawei, Lenovo, TCL, Royole, DJI, and Huebsch, have exhibited their latest products at this year’s CES, attracting a huge flow of visitors. The number of Chinese brands has been increasing steadily as the notable active participants of CES every year, occupying more than 30% of the total exhibitors since last year.
Callnovo has noticed a number of Chinese overseas innovative technological brands that are expanding its sales and gaining brand recognition in the industry. A significant proportion of Chinese overseas brands participated at CES are founded in Shenzhen, the home for research, development, and manufacturing of electronic products in China.
Callnovo has recognized that Chinese innovative technology SMEs, especially overseas startups, have entered the US and European international markets through crowdfunding or cross-border e-commerce enterprises. From the perspective of global customer service, through the on-site interviews, and thoughtfully observed the trend and evolution of Chinese overseas innovative technological enterprises, Callnovo has addressed the following 3 points to those planning to expend or currently expending their business overseas:
1. The Inevitable Localization Services
Callnovo has noticed an intriguing phenomenon that 60% of the Chinese brands have hired either American or foreign-looking concessionaires to distribute brochures in the booth at CES, making it uneasy for visitors to recognize whether it is a Chinese or foreign brand.
Callnovo believes that this is an astounding strategy and smart arrangement for Chinese brands that are prepared to increase market shares globally, especially under the current US-China trade war. It is easy to locate Chinese overseas brands with Callnovo’s global customer service outsourcing team in the United States, including Hohem, Zosi, Emeet, Lepaw, TPlink, etc. In order to consolidate and localized the brand image overseas, both the CEO and Overseas Operation Division of the companies are clearly aware that they must provide friendly and thoughtful customer services, including International Toll Free Numbers, 5 days / 8 hours or even 7 days / 24 hours of manual customer service, and instant reply messages. Outsourcing customer services to a professional company can effectively reach the target market, creating no time differences, and no language and cultural barriers.
Take Shenzhen Haohan (Amazon brand Hohem) as an example, an extendable selfie stick tripod has an average selling price of US $100 per item. The majority of monthly online returns are due to insufficient guidelines for properly debugging and operating the product. The customer service team with International Toll Free Numbers, native English speaking ability and no time differences, has successfully prevented a massive amount of online returns by guiding the US customers through product commissioning or offering product replacements in the beginning. Hohem, being one of the top sellers on Amazon, this may create unnecessary waste caused by returned logistics, increased number of negative feedback, and ultimately leaving a faulty brand impression and reputation.
Mr. Chen Min, the founder and CEO of Hohem who has participated in the CES 2020 conference, said excitedly, “At least 100 US customers are holding the Hohem-branded selfie stick at our Hohem booth in the past few days. They are all our consumers on Amazon. We have successfully served American consumers through Callnovo ’s customer service, allowing our brand to effectively reach the market of the United States.”
Recommended by the customer of Hohem CEO Mr. Chen Min
2. The Instant and Efficient Overseas Customer Service Consultation is an Essential Arrangement in Brand Localization
AeroBand is an innovative music and electronics company from Beijing, which successfully attracted a high flow of visitors and distributors around the world at CES 2020.
The founders of AeroBand, Niu Yafeng and Mo Ye, are both millennial band players, specialized in music and electronics. They have successfully launched 2 products in the US market that are pocket electronic drums and pocket guitars, also coming-soon pocket pianos. The electronic pocket drum, guitar, and piano are easily packed in a small backpack, enabling music lovers to perform a remarkable musical event.
“We have sold over 8,000 sets in the United States through crowdfunding in a short period of time. We have nearly reached our maximum work capacity for processing emails from US customers in China in this current stage. To handle a massive amount of emails from foreign customers effectively, we are going to completely outsource our customer service to professional and English-speaking customer service team. While we aim to sell our products globally via distributors and e-commerce channels, it is vital to reply to emails instantly, without making customers in another time zone to wait until the next working morning in China. Callnovo is the best choice for our overseas customer service.” said Niu Yafeng.
3. The Customer Service Team Needs to Carefully Study the Product Manual to Provide the Most Reliable Service
Chinese smart home solutions and hardware manufacturers, including Tuya and TPlink, are extremely enthusiastic at this year’s CES. In order to strengthen customer services, the customer service team are necessary to study the product manual seriously and carefully.
The above image illustrates a business representative of the Callnovo South American team is studying TreatLife’s smart switch seriously.
Through physically debugging and operating the smart switch, customer service representatives have deepened their understanding of the product characteristics and common troubleshooting techniques. When US customers dial the given International Toll Free Numbers, they can then effectively and accurately provide assistance, further gaining positive feedbacks on Amazon, and promoting a strong local brand image!
The 2020 Las Vegas Consumer Technology Exhibition has officially ended. Following the success of the first-time Chinese overseas exhibitors, a number of them have indicated that they will definitely participate in the exhibition next year. The founder of Shenzhen Emeet Mr. Chen and representative Amy indicated, “We have already registered for a booth at the center of the exhibition next year, as we are confident that our Smart Conference audio and webcam products will be highly competitive, along with our successful English-speaking customer service through Callnovo. We look forward to getting the best possible return for the investment of renting a better spot at CES next year.” Looking forward to more leading technologies, higher artificial intelligence products, and stronger localized customer services of Chinese brands at CES Las Vegas 2021!