36Kr Research Institute | Research Report on Chinese Retail Brands Going Global in 2025
Driven by the dual forces of globalization and digitalization, Chinese retail brands going global are undergoing two strategic transformations centered around "integrated commerce" and "agent-based intelligent commerce." Based on an in-depth survey of 500 Chinese companies going global, this report systematically analyzes the key challenges, development opportunities, and future paths that brands face in the process of globalization, aiming to provide forward-looking strategic references for the industry.
1. Market Trends: Upgraded Consumer Demands Drive Omnichannel Integration, and Integrated Commerce Becomes the Core Competitiveness
As global consumers' purchasing behaviors become increasingly diverse, efficient, and personalized, retail brands urgently need to build a seamless shopping experience centered around consumers. Integrated commerce integrates multiple channels such as online and offline to achieve a unified service closed-loop of "one brand, one experience," which has become the key to enhancing user loyalty and sales conversion rates. However, the survey shows that although most companies going global have completed the omnichannel layout, they still face difficulties in achieving channel collaboration and operational closed-loops due to data silos, which has become the core bottleneck hindering the implementation of integrated commerce.
2. Technological Changes: Generative AI Catalyzes Agent-based Intelligent Commerce and Reconstructs the Retail Model and Growth Boundaries
The rapid development of generative AI is promoting the widespread adoption of "agent-based intelligent commerce." This emerging model reshapes the consumption process, expands sales scenarios, and significantly improves operational efficiency through AI agents. It is worth emphasizing that agent-based intelligent commerce does not exist in isolation but is deeply integrated with integrated commerce. Empowered by AI, brands can achieve a highly efficient and personalized seamless experience, creating a multiplier effect of "integration × intelligence" and opening up new growth spaces. However, currently, Chinese companies going global are still in the exploratory stage of applying AI agents, and the potential of AI agents in marketing recommendation, supply chain optimization, payment risk control, and other aspects has not been fully unleashed, indicating broad growth prospects in the future.
3. Core Foundation: Connecting Omnichannel Data Is the Key Prerequisite for Moving towards Integration and Agent-based Intelligence
Whether it is to achieve integrated commerce with channel collaboration or to build an agent-based intelligent system with situational awareness, both rely on the connection and integration of full-dimensional data. Among them, payment data, as the core hub connecting transactions, users, and scenarios, has become the key link to connect the entire value chain. By building an "integrated and intelligent payment" system, brands can upgrade the payment process from a transaction endpoint to a data center and a strategic node, laying the foundation for business integration and intelligent decision-making.
4. Payment Challenges and Solutions: Solve the Problems of Experience, Security, and Efficiency with Professional Payment Services
In terms of payment, companies going global generally face three core challenges: optimizing payment experience, managing security and compliance, and reducing costs and increasing efficiency in operations. For companies going global that are still in the growth stage, leveraging professional third-party payment services has become the most cost-effective solution. In terms of payment experience, professional service providers integrate global payment methods, support one-click payment, and use AI technology to achieve personalized recommendations and intelligent routing, significantly improving consumers' payment success rates and satisfaction. In terms of security and compliance, the intelligent risk control and anti-fraud system built on a large amount of transaction data can help brands effectively avoid data leakage and cross-border compliance risks. In terms of cost and efficiency, payment optimization tools such as intelligent currency exchange and dynamic settlement can significantly reduce currency conversion and payment processing costs, accelerate capital turnover, and improve overall financial efficiency.
It is hoped that this report can inspire and provide valuable references for Chinese brands going global and industry practitioners, helping Chinese brands achieve both performance and efficiency improvements in their global journey.
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