Chinese students at an e-commerce school learn how to sell the garments to foreign TikTok users by performing in front of a smartphone camera while wearing floor-length abaya gowns and hijabs over shorts and tank tops.
Today marks the last day of a two-week seminar on using the short video app, which is becoming more and more popular among Chinese merchants even though it is restricted in China, to sell goods overseas.
Proficiency in foreign languages and techniques for getting over internet limitations are prerequisites for success on TikTok, issues that have led to an increase in the need for consultancy and educational services.
At the school in Guangzhou in southern Guangdong province, an instructor holds up the Middle Eastern-inspired garments to the camera and rattles off prices and sizing information for Muslim buyers in the UK.
“This is chiffon, it’s really breathable!” she gushes in English as her proteges model the goods and sort through racks of satin robes under stark studio lights.
“We teach people which products are selling better, and which markets are more suitable for their current stages,” 27-year-old Wang Yaxuan, another instructor at the school, tells AFP.
Thousands of industries producing an astounding range of goods, from abayas to parts for espresso machines to human hair wigs, can be found in Guangdong.
Chinese enterprises are increasingly trying to bypass the intermediary and sell themselves straight to foreign consumers at reduced rates, after decades of creating items for export.
Using this tactic, Shein, the massive fast-fashion company founded in China, has successfully dominated the lower-end Western market, with TikTok serving as a vital component of its distribution network.
Late last year, TikTok Shop made its US debut; e-commerce capabilities had already been made available in Southeast Asia and Britain.
A casual scroll on the hugely popular app’s “Live” tab can land users on multiple shopping livestreams within minutes.
However, smaller businesses there are at a disadvantage since TikTok isn’t available in China (parent firm Bytedance runs the more tightly restricted sister app Douyin domestically).
Programs such as the e-commerce course offered by Mede Education Technologies’s school assist by covering everything from managing shipping and processing sales data to the fundamentals of setting up a TikTok account.
A six-day course starts at about 9,000 yuan ($1,244) in fees.
Students frequently take classes for several foreign shopping platforms, such as Amazon and Shopee in Southeast Asia, and range in age from recent grads to factory owners.
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