Forbes Magazine
Courtesy Forbes
The Shanghai Bureau Chief for Forbes, Russell Flannery, sat down for a dinner of fried yak recently with Export Now founder Frank Lavin. This is Flannery’s report: Export To China On The Cheap.  A key conclusion:
China is emerging as the world’s largest ecommerce market, and Lavin is teaming up with “Tmall” under the country’s most popular ecommerce site, Taobao. Taobao, run by Chinese e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma and partly owned by Yahoo, boasts more than 300 million registered users. “It’s the world’s largest store, and Jack Ma has made it accessible to everyone across China,” Lavin says. “We are making it accessible to people outside of China.”
One question Flannery asked was about the categories of consumer products likely to do well with e-commerce shoppers in China. Lavin listed automotive items and anything for babies:
Lavin thinks one of the most promising industries in China for U.S. exporters is baby items. “People are willing to pay a premium for safety,” he says. Another: auto accessories.  China has become the world’s largest auto market, and has a growing number of car aficionados.
The Export Now launch partners recognize that items with broad appeal, from Lion Brand Yarn to Feelgoodz Flip-Flops, will also draw shoppers seeking quality goods.