march expo

By Rieva Lesonsky

Our last stop in China on the Alibaba.com Discover Today video series is Yiwu, a city of about 2 million people. Yiwu is located in central Zhejiang province about 125 miles south of Shanghai. The city has a long history as a hub for commercial trade.

Find it all in Yiwu

In the last two decades the international trade market has grown to be the world’s largest small commodities market, boasting 62,000 vendors and covering 46 million square feet. It houses the world’s largest sock factory and the largest can manufacturer in China. Forty percent of the world’s electronic watches are sold here. Products from Yiwu are sold in 200 countries around the world. In other words, the small commodities or essential goods or just plain stuff consumers love and buy—things like baby bottles, and jewelry and Christmas ornament and zippers and more can be found in Yiwu.

Yiwu is like a town that’s a mall. And its powered by the young entrepreneurial generaton who plan to take China to the next level.

Bag it

Tote bags have become a vital part of many consumers’ lives these days. Many cities and states now charge for plastic bags given out in stores, so consumers have started bringing their own shopping bags from home. Others depend on totes to carry yoga clothes, books, laptops, etc.

Canvas, cotton and other lightweight bags have become so popular many businesses give them out at trade shows for promotional purposes.

There are so many businesses that would benefit from selling these types of bags. If you’re interested check out Qetesh Trading Company. The company has been around for five years and the U.S. is its biggest market. The company attributes its success to the quality of their products, their ability to communicate faster, which is partly due, they say, to working with Alibaba.com.

The bags, made of canvas, are customizable, making them perfect promotional products. Many come with double straps, or rope straps (making them  perfect for the beach). Clients send their images and Qetech prints them on the bags.

For March Expo (which ends tomorrow, March 31) Qetech is offering six tote bags, and a cosmetics bag with fun brightly colored designs, that come with a promotional refund.

Shiny objects

One of the most popular gift items in the world is jewelry. By 2022, jewelry will be a $41.7 billion market worldwide. U.S. sales will reach $20.3 billion by the end of 2024. Yiwu’s Shangjie Jewelry Company is one of the premier sellers of fashion jewelry.

During March Expo Shangjie is offering great deals. For instance this vintage ring is available for 35% off. Customers can choose from white, yellow or rose gold, or black plating. The CZ stone (cubic zirconia) comes in a choice of four colors.

Another product being featured during March Expo is the 2-piece luxury ring set, also available in white, yellow or rose gold, or black plating and different colored stones. There’s a 25% discount being offered through March 31st. Shangjie also sells a convertible ring, which features two different stones.

David from Shangjie attributes a lot of their success to selling on Alibaba.com. In fact 70% of their sales come from there. The U.S. is their biggest customer.

The pampered life

The bath and shower market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2019 and Ruochang Art and Craft Co. is a part of that. The company started in 2007 and continues to grow. They sell a variety of bath products, including this bristle bush set which is on sale for March Expo. They also sell a fancier bristle brush set with interchangeable heads.

Ruochang also sells loofahs, for kids and adults. These come in a variety of color and sizes and companies can have their logos imprinted, making them perfect giveaways in spas and hair salons.

Rose, Ruochang’s CEO, says their most popular item is a basket with six products inside it, including a towel, pumice stone and bath sponge. The company was started in 2007, and sells their products in 30 countries and have shipped more than 3 million products.

Act now—March Expo ends tomorrow!

The suppliers mentioned in this article are participating in March Expo which features many deals, promotions and discounts. To take advantage of the deals, check out the action on Alibaba.com and the Alibaba.com mobile app (sign up here) today and tomorrow.

One of the special incentives being offered during March Expo is 15% off LCL shipping (less than container load) from China to the U.S. It’s all part of Alibaba.com’s new logistics service, which lets small businesses take advantage of Alibaba.com’s existing infrastructure to save time, save money and simplify shipping.

Look into Alibaba.com’s Secure Payment services. Alibaba.com is also introducing a new T/T transaction service during March Expo. This service allows buyers making Trade Assurance orders to make initial payments into a U.S.-based Citibank account. Previously Trade Assurance orders were processed through a Hong Kong-based Citibank account. This speeds up processing time to 2 to 3 days from 3 to 7 days. It also reduces fees, on average, by $15.

Stay current on all the great opportunities at March Expo by following @AlibabaTalk and the #DiscoverNewMarch hashtag on social media.