When people can participate in the financial systems, they are better able to start and expand businesses, invest in their children’s education, and absorb financial shocks.

Sub-Saharan Africa has a population with most lives being at the economic downstream, and most likely underdeveloped. The financial inclusion gender gap and income gap persisting just like in other continents, though higher in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Population estimates based on the latest estimates released on June 21, 2017, by the United Nations, shows Africa continues as the second largest continent with a population of 1,256,268,025 (16% of the population of the world) and by the end of January 2018, 40.2% living in urban areas.

The continent has the highest fertility rate of 4.7% (Oceania 2.4%, Asia 2.2%, Latin American and Caribbean 2.1%, Northern America 1.9% and Europe 1.6%) compared to the other continents with a yearly population rate change (increase) of 2.55% – the highest among all continents. Most of its people (59.8%) have lived downstream (rural areas and villages) sometimes out of the mainstream economy. Policy targeting could be difficult in such scenarios, and identifying people who lack access to financial and economic inclusion comes with a huge financial cost in itself, though the benefit in doing so outweighs the cost in mere numbers and requires commitment from leaders and managers of the respective economies. Coupled with a universal phenomenon of non-perfect, untrusted, and in some cases non-existing data on the continent, that could make decision making imperfect and data unreliable, affecting plans, policies and the potencies to resolve stated challenges or improving the economic and social fibre of countries.

The struggles of the financially excluded come from barriers and reasons as access, social and cultural factors, income, education and many possible lists of others. Financial exclusion arguably is one of the reasons some economic policies lack potency to effectively target well on the citizenry with its results in persistent poverty and inequality. Lack of access to basic needs like an account either at the bank or mobile money could mean significant possibilities of opportunities untapped. Globally countries have realized the importance of achieving inclusive societies and supports efforts at maximizing financial inclusion. Sub- Saharan Africa has made some strides over the years in financial and economic inclusion in this regard at individual country levels.

Efforts ongoing in Ghana include a commitment to promoting and prioritizing financial inclusion. The country made specific and concrete commitments to further advance financial inclusion under the “Maya Declaration“ since 2012 and has an ambitious target of achieving 75% Universal financial inclusiveness of its adult population by 2020. Ghana currently has 58% of its adult population having access to financial services and is also finalizing its National Financial Inclusion Strategy which will become the guiding document and reference for inclusive actions, stakeholder roles and responsibilities spelt out for all.

Kenya, however, has earned global recognition in leading the all others in the world in mobile money account penetration, and with twelve other sub-Saharan African Countries following, researchers show. The rate at which African countries are projecting innovation technology for digital financial inclusion is impressive. The country has made giant strides in its financial inclusion commitments, especially under the Maya Declaration.

There has been some paradigm shift in Information and Communication Technology and its importance which is being considered as a factor of economic growth. ICT has the ability to provide services with minimal cost, improve innovation, and provide infrastructure for convenient and easy to use services, it can also provide a route to access many auxiliary financial services.

At the macro level, digital innovation influence economic development and economic policy effectiveness.The benefits ICT enabled financial services include the possible creation of employment- mobile money vendors, increases in revenue receipts of government, helps firms productivity (both private and public), aid in cost control and efficiencies, and Could contribute to rural development and governance: Governance and revenue mobilization efforts, especially at local government levels, can be enhanced through ICT which aids in overall improvement in corporate governance. Importantly, Innovation Technology can help in the deepening of financial inclusion either through access, usage, reducing risk and improving quality of services, thus, per formula for Financial Inclusion (FI), thus, FI = (Unlocking Access + Unlocking Usage + Quality) – Risk.

Access to financial services can generate economic activities-Sophisticated use of financial services even presents bigger economic and social possibilities for the included. In Mexico, a research by Bruhn and Love revealed that, there were huge impacts in the economy in Mexico, that is, 7% increase in all income levels (in the local community) when Banco Azteca had rapid openings of branches in over a thousand Grupo Elektra retail stores when compared to other communities that branches were not opened. Also the savings proportion by those households in the local community reduced by 6.6%, a situation attributed to the fact that households were able to rely less on savings as a buffer against income fluctuation when formal credit became available.

Here, it must be noted that through savings is encouraged, the reduction in savings by 6.6% means more funds can rather be channeled for investments into economically viable entities or services. As the cycle continues, and in sophisticated use of financial services along the financial services value chain, they will need to save however for other investments later. Similar or even more positive correlation is observed if the medium of access and usage is through innovative technology.

Using Digital Financial Inclusion Strategies in Humanitarian Services

Despite the use and usefulness of financial services in crises situations, financial exclusion is particularly acute among crisis-affected countries. 75% of adults living in countries with humanitarian crises remains outside of the formal financial system and struggle to respond to shocks and emergencies, build up productive assets, and invest in health, education, and business.

Researchers continue to show the growth in acceptance of electronic payments especially through the use of mobile phones. There is growing evidence supporting digital financial inclusion. GSMA in its reports revealed that there were 93 countries between the periods of 2006-2016 of with 271 mobile money operating service providers which had registered over 400 million accounts globally. They give some evidence in some countries – which have been receiving humanitarian assistance- where there is growing acceptance of digital financial inclusion through use of a phone.

In Rwanda significant numbers of refugees used phones for mobile money services whiles some do so commercially for service fees. In Uganda, Refugee communities are noted for use of mobile money service as per the report. This has necessitated MNO Orange Uganda, a telecommunication firm to expand mobile money service to refugee communities by building a communication tower to improve access and usage of the services. In Pakistan, one of the largest refugee communities- third largest- has the government using mobile money for cash transfers to refugees. The evidence abounds and this calls for humanitarian agencies to rethink and reconsider digital inclusive financial services beyond the current numbers. In Lebanon (The largest refugee community) those on humanitarian assistance uses ATM issued by aid organizations to access their cash transfers.

Sarah Bailey, however, observed that humanitarian areas that were receiving cash transfers through mobile money could increase the use of certain services but does not automatically lead to widespread or sustained uptake. People may prefer to continue using informal financial systems that are more familiar, accessible and profitable. Her study revealed that that, the provision of humanitarian e-transfers, even when combined with training, was not sufficient to enable the vast majority of participants to conduct mobile money transactions independently.

The findings are certainly acceptable in the short run per our knowledge. However, on a long-term basis and with financial capability activities – not just training- the results could possibly be different. Financial capability activities deal with not just training and education, but the overall financial health and well-being of the people. And this should be done in a hierarchy- bits-by-bits- and not at a one leap jump approach. This seems to have been echoed by the United Nations. According to Ban Ki-moon as cited in advised that we must return our focus to the people at the centre of these crises, moving beyond short-term, supply-driven response efforts towards demand-driven outcomes that reduce need and vulnerability. Financial inclusion strategies may not lead to widespread uptake within a few days, but evidence abounds that in a long-term, it could.

The thirteen countries in the world with the most mobile money penetration today had some being on humanitarian support just a few years back-. Sustained access and use of innovative technology for inclusion then would have a better impact on them the more today.

Undertaking a case study on the use of digital means for humanitarian transfer will show that in the short term run there may be lack of interest or even rejection. Coupled with regulatory barriers and other barriers mentioned, people during a humanitarian crisis may not really be thinking much of connecting to the economic system on the whole or how their support comes (This is the business of policymakers on humanitarian service) but rather be much interested in survival within a short run. The psychology of that period of need is centred on – What is needed is the urgency of support – money – physical cash in most cases to enable them to get the basics of security and food with the most liquid instrument. Humanitarian communities have needs just as all other communities within the financial services need a framework.

Indeed evidence suggests there have been few instances only worldwide where the use of digital transfers in humanitarian transfers has led to widespread use of services. Digital transfers in humanitarian services must be a process and done within the particular context of time. In this sense, the digital strategies must be humanitarian, and must embed in the social and behavioural change financial capability activities capable of two-way communications with practices on usage and the benefits it brings in the long term- It must be in a hierarchy. Simple financial needs should be met before sophisticated needs. Any deviation will of course results in lack of interest in the services.

Howard Thomas observed that “Financial technology still leaves out swathes of people, and this means missed opportunities for development,” And in some cases, community structures may not be innovative or agile enough to allow new technologies to spread, he adds. “Savvy entrepreneurs are not necessarily from established authorities. Sometimes it’s a matter of identifying individual leaders, networks or pathways through which to promote new technologies.”

Indeed there have been some lessons however on how to manage humanitarian remittance, the parameters, however, are that financial inclusion is a continuous and sustaining effort of providing access and usage of financial services in a sustaining and responsible manner which meets the needs within a reduced risk – it is not just one time project of implementation policies at speed but rather concentrate on meeting the basic before sophisticated needs. Within a humanitarian certain, a complex multiplicity of issues may serve as barriers to using digital financial services including location and urgent needs; however those barriers when managed within a considerable period and coupled with financial capability activities (the act of complete financial well-being), then favourable results would be achieved.

The use of behavioural change financial capability education, training and practice into humanitarian communication on digital transfers would help in improvement in the uphill acceptance over a period of time. sub-Saharan African countries have been realizing some tremendous gains in the use of innovative technology, and expansion of ICT services and infrastructure on the continent. Its study time past points out those countries on the continent totally made revenues amounting to 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from telecommunication related services as compared to European countries where revenues from the telecommunication services represented 2.9% of their total GDP.

Sub-Africans Countries need repositioning and further investment in the “digital economy” in order to open up and benefit fully inclusiveness of their economy. Here our interest is in mobile technology and innovation which is the critical avenue that Africa could use mostly in achieving financial inclusion within the short to long term.

Kenya is making giant strides and leading the way in digital innovation for mobile financial services globally. Researchers have shown that sub-Sahara Africa countries are leading the technological innovation drive in the usage of mobile financial services.Kenya and other Sub-Saharan African nations are making the greatest strides in mobile money accounts penetration and with lots of opportunities foreseen. Globally the thirteen countries that mobile account penetration has been over 10 %, all 13 are from Africa -Botswana, Cote d’ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe (ranging from 10%-58% for the 13 countries).

Kenya is leading at 58% mobile money account penetration, with Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda “following closely” reporting around 35%. Namibia out of 13 countries has the least of mobile money penetration of about 10% (still higher than all others in the world except the other 12 African countries). Mobile money account is recorded to be widespread in East Africa (20% and 10% of adults have mobile money accounts and mobile money account only respectively) than any other region.

Firms providing financial services, be it services or infrastructure is the most important and unique set of stakeholders who should be encouraged to take the lead roles in financial inclusion activities and implementations. Financial services firms are uniquely positioned, to use their existing infrastructure and leverage to creating access, and usage of digital financial services.

They do so effectively and at a lesser cost as compared to government agencies because they can do so through their already existing departments as the marketing and customer service departments. Financial services firms are driving innovation for digital finance across the globe. Firms as GCAP have been investing in solutions to accelerate financial inclusion. It announced that in its call for proposals on innovative digital technology with huge potential to advancing the financial inclusion drive in sub-Saharan Africa, out of the over 200 applicants and proposals submitted, Financial Technology (Fintech) firms submitted (56%), Financial Services Providers (18%), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (13%) and Technology Services Providers (9%).

Growing evidence from other similar calls suggests that there is a trend, that the journey of using innovative technology and financial inclusion in the sub-Saharan African is not only picking up but even shows a rather promising outlook for the future, the opportunities for countries in the region are enormous for nations in advancing financial inclusion.

The call now is for countries at their policy levels to position themselves, armed with policies and willingness of governments to support and collaborate with the private sector to drive financial inclusion activities. However, to further enhance financial and economic for much better gain is a continues process and does not take just a few days but undoubtedly without collaborations between public-private role and decision establishment and support, it will take us rather too long. Collaboration is therefore important for financial inclusion drives and actions.

For governments or the public sector, their support in creating the needed supportive framework and regulations for the industry is important. Regulations and environment that supports innovation and drives whiles customer rights are supported are so much needed in this sector. In providing support and helping in creating an environment for financial inclusion activities to make the required impacting effects, government policies must have some balance of care. By doing so, any policy by a government on financial inclusion that does not take views from other important stakeholders may be implemented at last, but not without difficulties and in some case unreasonable delay in implementation.

This can be attributed to a variety of reasons: more importantly, policies may be concluded, but if Financial services providers are not ready or not able to implement those policies, then, problems of “distressed“ policies then begin to show. In financial inclusion drives, success depends mostly on collaborations for improvement between the public-private sectors.

The Opportunities for sub-Saharan African Economies

The opportunities exist for groups of people who need access and usage of financial services yet unable because of the barriers they confront mostly. Sub-Saharan African governments and private stakeholders can improve on the regulatory constraints and allow for the tap in technology innovation respectively to design solutions that will open access and usage of financial services

An important Segment of organized groups usually out of the formal financial economy thus, the “Savings Groups” always have their common values and beliefs most often deeply rooted with cultural and social entrenchment that must be considered when targeting with financial inclusion products and designs.

The groups usually common in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American come together for social and economic benefits and supports. They have different specific objectives but commonly among reasons are for group savings, group insurance, good trading and all kinds of group support systems. At best design of product and services for “savings groups” if the top is successfully accepted can only be through a consultative process, sometimes customized or tailor-made services (most appropriate where possible) and winning the genuine interest of the groups.

There are over 14 million members of “Savings Groups” across 75 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, representing a promising platform for financial inclusion in under-served markets. Savings Groups offer an entry point for financial service providers to isolated communities; they are organized, experience and disciplined; they aggregate demand across many low-income clients, and they have identified needs that financial service providers can address. Also, these groups are very goal oriented and purposeful but lack certain financial services- Some basic needs like accounts and payments and others sophisticated needs like saving platforms. Tailoring products to meet these segments who lack access to some financial services and are in need of those financial services would create opportunities for financial inclusiveness.

Prioritization of digital payments is one way of minimizing corruption within expenditures, be it the private or public sector. Digitizing payments means better tracking of records of payments throughout the value chain of spending and transfers. In the Agriculture economy, it means that when the government pays 1 million dollars ($1.000.000.00) directly through “mobile money` to its citizenry for goods and services, then its most likely that, subject to cost of the transaction, farmers will receive their funds intact and same. The vulnerable citizen would then have value for money in dealing with the government whiles having to benefit from the opportunities that having an account and using it comes with. Such is not the case when physical cash changes hands in payments.

The adoption level of digital financial inclusion with mobile money is generally high for sub-Saharan African. Stakeholders in the Public in the region can leverage its strong foundation and application of mobile money services to scale up the use of digital payments, but courses they must be the backing infrastructure to expand access as well. Increase in account ownership as a foremost financial inclusion indicator has primarily been through financial institutions except those recorded in Africa where mobile money accounts drove the growth in accounts ownership from 24% to 34% in 2011 and 2014 respectively.

An area Africa is making giant strides – Mobile money account penetration. Accounts ownership and its definition have changed over just three years when Global Findex Database launched its first data for comparable indicators among countries on financial inclusion. In 2014 it considered mobile money accounts as recognized accounts in their right, hitherto in 2011 that wasn’t the case. The opposite was rather the accepted case, and rightly so. Today the digital disruptions in the financial, telecommunication and economic arena are having is impacts.

For policymakers and private sector stakeholders, more keenly important is the fact that 5 of the thirteen sub-Saharan African countries (The only five in the world) – Somalia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have an adult population with more mobile account than they have from a formal traditional financial institution. What this means is that, in those five countries, an ordinary man on the street is more likely to have, use, trust and save in a mobile money account or wallet than saving with a traditional formal bank account. This comes with enormous opportunities and breakthroughs. Digital payments are comfortable, fast and less expensive than physical cash payments platforms.

Tailoring products to meet these segments who lack access to some financial services and are in need of those financial services would create opportunities for financial inclusiveness. Prioritization of digital payments is one way of minimizing corruption within expenditures, be it the private or public sector. Digitizing payments means better tracking of records of payments throughout the value chain of spending and transfers. In the Agriculture economy, it means that when the government pays 1 million dollars ($1.000.000.00) directly through “mobile money` to its citizenry for goods and services, then its most likely that, subject to cost of the transaction, farmers will receive their funds intact and same. The vulnerable citizen would then have value for money in dealing with the government whiles having to benefit from the opportunities that having an account and using it comes with. Such is not the case when physical cash changes hands in payments

The adoption level of digital financial inclusion with mobile money is generally high for sub-Saharan African. Stakeholders in the Public in the region can leverage its strong foundation and application of mobile money services to scale up the use of digital payments, but courses they must be the backing infrastructure to expand access as well. Increase in account ownership as a foremost financial inclusion indicator has primarily been through financial institutions except those recorded in Africa where mobile money accounts drove the growth in accounts ownership from 24% to 34% in 2011 and 2014 respectively.

An area Africa is making giant strides – Mobile money account penetration. Accounts ownership and its definition have changed over just three years when Global Findex Database launched its first data for comparable indicators among countries on financial inclusion. In 2014 it considered mobile money accounts as recognized accounts in their right, hitherto in 2011 that wasn’t the case. The opposite was rather the accepted case, and rightly so.

Today the digital disruptions in the financial, telecommunication and economic arena are having is impacts. For policymakers and private sector stakeholders, more keenly important is the fact that 5 of the thirteen sub-Saharan African countries (The only five in the world) – Somalia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have an adult population with more mobile account than they have from a formal traditional financial institution. What this means is that, in those five countries, an ordinary man on the street is more likely to have, use, trust and save in a mobile money account or wallet than saving with a traditional formal bank account. This comes with enormous opportunities and breakthroughs. Digital payments are comfortable, fast and less expensive than physical cash payments

Recommendations

1) Regional and sub-regional bodies in sub-Saharan Africa should take up the financial inclusion drive as a priority and ensure peer-to-peer commitments of its members based on individual country socio-economic dynamics.

2) Each sub-Saharan African country should develop a National Financial Inclusion Strategy in a highly consultative manner at their country levels to guide their efforts.

3) Sub-Saharan African governments should continuously support ongoing literature and research work on Financial and Economic inclusion to provide reliable data will guide the policymakers developmental aspirations and economic policies. Therefore countries should set up Financial Inclusion Research Fund as part of their National Financial Inclusion Strategy to support continues research on financial inclusion issues for their jurisdiction.

4) Sub-Saharan African Countries should commit a percentage (at least 1%) of their annual GDP as the budget for Innovative technology for the support of the digital economy stimulus for sectors like financial service and other industries to perform.

5) Efforts should be made at country and regional levels to make the use of financial services delivered electronically cheaper – best practice is Wechat and AliPay payment solutions in China. Wechat specifically has no cost build up for use of its platform for payment of goods and services, therefore promoting the use of mobile phones and users can transfer cash and make purchases digitally for goods costing as low as half a dollar. It is practically possible to pay for an item bought at an amount which is less than a dollar with no additional fee except the cost of item only. These are some of the readily felt benefits of Innovation Technology within the banking space.

6) African government set up support investment funds and partner firms which can design innovative technologies in the area.

So, you have taken the monumental decision to expand internationally. Over time, this may very well prove to be one of the best business decisions you have ever made. And with almost 200 countries to choose from, there’s no shortage of new markets in which to expand.

But given this abundance of choice, where to start?

Well, to begin with, perhaps it might be easiest to start by reaching out to the 34 million Hispanophones living within the United States itself. Doing so will make the job of expanding into South American countries that much easier – plus of course Spain and its numerous territories itself.

Given that neighboring Canada shares the same language and continent as the United States, it is perhaps unsurprising that it is usually the first choice for US companies with international aspirations.

For those looking further afield, Great Britain is a logical choice for US companies looking for a European home. Over and above sharing the same language, the United Kingdom is conveniently located between North America and Asia, making communication with both possible during a normal working day. Its capital London is arguably the world’s only truly global City. The most common form of legal entity is a limited company, in which the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Establishing such a company usually takes less than a day.

Another attractive market to consider is Europe’s largest and richest one, Germany. However, as Walmart’s failure to break into this lucrative but demanding market demonstrates, size and money are not prerequisites for success. One elementary error they made was to hire a CEO that could not speak German. To avoid making the same mistake, make sure you hire someone that does! An additional beneficial side-effect of expanding into Germany is that is makes the job of developing your business in Austria and Switzerland easier. This is commonly referred to as the ‘DACH’ market, which comprises of some 100 million inhabitants.

However, this market is quite small when compared to the country which according to the IMF has overtaken the USA to become the World’s largest economy – China. Home to some 1.35 Billion people and more than a million millionaires, clearly this colossal country is too big to ignore. But given the enormous cultural and linguistical differences that exist between China and the rest of the World, establishing operations there can be fraught with difficulties.

One relatively quick, cheap and easy way to gain a foothold in China is by establishing a virtual office there first. An assistant will be assigned to you, will act as your point of contact in both an inbound and outbound capacity. When not taking inbound calls via the Chinese telephone number allocated to you, they can be tasked with making outbound ones or with spreading the word about your particular product or service on the Chinese Social Media networks Sina Weibu, Renren, Tencent & WeChat. Moreover, having a presence in China will smooth the way for expansion into other countries located in the Asia Pacific region.

No one said that going global will be easy. International expansion seldom is. But the potential rewards for enterprising enterprises that seize on the opportunities afforded by so doing will have a distinct competitive advantage over those that do not. The world is indeed their oyster, and assuming that you follow through on your decision to do the same, it can be yours too.

Edible bird nest soups are prepared with nests of Swiftlets birds and are mostly consumed in Asia and several other parts of the world. But why exactly would anyone consider taking such soup? The answer is simple. The nests are nourishing and contain nutrients that act as medicines for general well-being.

Bird Nest Soups are Nutritious

It has been scientifically proven that bird nest is made up of several minerals. However, glycoproteins which contain a combination of carbohydrate and protein properties are the major nutrients it contains.

The nests contain all the important amino acids which are the primary building blocks of protein. Specifically, six different types of Amino acids are found in bird nest which are amide, humin, arginine, cystine, histidine and lysine. The entire level of mono-amino acids found in it is about 6 percent.

The entire protein in the nest constitutes about 85 percent, and fat of 0.3 percent. Also, bird nest contain 2.5 percent ash, nitrogen of 10.3 percent, and carbohydrate that is up to the level of 17.4 percent. Furthermore, it contain a significant level of vitamin B1, sulfur, arsenate and phosphorus.

During consumption, the energy value per 100g portion is placed at 345 kilocalories. Other minerals found in the nest are iron and calcium. Calcium can build strong bones and teeth in children and adults.

Natural Source of Food and Nutrition

Bird nest is an absolute source of unique food and nutrition and it is 100% natural. They are the nests of Swiftlets which are built mostly during breeding seasons to raise their young ones. The nests are made up of the bird's saliva which contains several nutrients that is beneficial to humans.

Swiftlefts nests are absolutely safe to eat for anyone: babies, kids, and teenagers, adults male or female, young and old. The soup is absolutely safe for pregnant women too.

Also, the soup is strongly recommended for those convalescing. The nutrients in the nests can speed up the recovery process and makes healing faster. Since the soup is a rich source of food and nutrition, it is important to carefully examine all the nutrients that it contains.

What Your Body Benefits When You Consume Bird Nests

The following are some of the major benefits of consuming the soup:

Renews Cell

Several research findings have strongly indicated that it contain collagen (an active protein molecule). Collagen stimulates the renewal of cells in the epidermis. Also, collagen bolsters cells immunity and boost resistance of the body toward harms that are caused by exposure to X-rays. Collagen speed up the healing of wound, stimulates healthy hair growth, improves development of the brain and prevents bone diseases.

Improves Body Wellness: one of the first major benefits of the soup is that it improves general body wellness. It strengthens every aspect of the body, bones, tissue and cells. Regular consumption of the soup will make you feel absolutely healthier. It energizes the immune system and leaves you with lower risk of contracting any disease.

Also, the soup fortifies the entire human immune system, makes the weak and old stronger; improve respiratory system in children and adult. Also, it helps children and adult learn better and faster by boosting their level of concentration. Additionally, regular consumption of the soup boosts libido.

Balanced Diet: it contain major nutrients that can replenish the body as balanced diet. It contains water, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, fat, nitrogen, protein and all the major amino acid necessary for proper functioning of the body. As such, the soup are considered a balanced diet that can be eaten by anyone.

Builds Healthy Beautiful Skin: it stimulate healthy growth of the skin which results in a radiant and adorable skin. This was one of the first nutritional benefits of the nests that were discovered. The wives of ancient Chinese Emperors were known for consuming bird nests soup in order to maintain their beauty and dazzling skin.

Several research findings have further revealed how the nutrients in bird nests stimulate healthy skin growth and appearance. Bird nests prevent and treat premature skin aging. Bird nests incite cell division, build tissue, controls the endocrine system, clear off wrinkles and makes the skin glitter with beauty and youthfulness.

Reliable Source of Nutrients for Pregnant Women: it has been scientifically proven that bird nest is a rich source of nutrients for pregnant women and their unborn children (fetus). During the pregnancy (pre-natal) period, eating the soup will replenish and strengthen the body of the pregnant woman.

Women that consume bird nest during pregnancy always recover faster and better after childbirth. Such women experience lesser or no loss of hair, become stronger, and experience better sleep after childbirth.

As a rich source of calcium for pregnant women, bird nest fortifies liver and lungs and enhances metabolism. The unborn child too also benefits from the soup the mother consumes. Pregnant women that eat the soup give birth to healthier babies with beautiful smooth skin

Aid Digestion: the soup is a strong solution for indigestion. The nest contains several nutrients one of which is enzymes. Enzymes can easily act on food in the stomach to quicken the digestion process. Digestion releases the nutrients in food so the body can absorb and benefit from such nutrient. Also, bird nests accelerate the rate of metabolism.

Supplement to Other Food: it can be taken as supplement to other food mostly for children suffering of malnutrition. People placed on a particular diet for health reasons can consume bird nests as a supplement to their recommended diets. The nutrients in bird nest can supplement nutrients in other foods and replenish the body better and faster.

Source of Traditional Chinese Medicine

For many centuries, bird nests have been a unique source of traditional Chinese medicine. It has been used for the treatment of several ailments, diseases and during convalesce. It is widely believed that the nest acts as anti-aging and anti-cancer properties.

Also, the bird nest soup is strongly recommended for the treatment of asthma, cold, cough, influenza, weak blood, and cancer. Also, it has been found to be potent in boosting libido, enhancing physical strength, and absolutely effective as a health tonic. Also, the soup is taken in order to increase lifespan and for the treatment of cough and asthma.

The smart watch is a good alternative to the smartphone, which features portable carrying. If you have no idea in choosing which smart watch, I recommend the ZGPAX S99 to you. It has a nice appearance design and it supports 3G talk. I will show you more information about it next. The article involves three parts, including appearance design, function, battery and specifications.

Appearance Design

It has a 1.33-inch round shape screen with an HD 360*360 resolution. Made of armored glasses material, it has a scratch resistant ability. Besides, point controlled screen brings excellent user experience. Except for that, it comes with a silicone TPU strap. It offers 6 colors for options, including white-gold, black-silver, white-silver, black, red-black, and orange-black.

Function

First of all, it supports 3G talk, which brings a new way to communicate. It enables you to use 3G WCDMA 850/2100 GPRS/EDGE/HSPA+ networks. Built-in GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth functions, it brings you more conveniences when you use it.

Moreover, it comes with a high-definition 5.0MP camera, which can be used to take high-quality photos. Also, it can complete video recording. It enables you to record your daily life anywhere. Very conveniently!

Additionally, with the configuration of 512MB RAM and 4G internal storage, it allows you to install a lot of pop Android apps. By the way, it supports various applications, such as SMS, MMS, Facebook, Google Play, Google Map, Google Voice, etc.

Battery

It is built in a 450mAh large capacity battery, which supports long time use. It allows the 48 hours normal use, so you have no need to charge it frequently. This is convenient for us.

ZGPAX S99 Specifications

Model: S99

Color: white-gold, black-silver, white-silver, black, red-black, orange-black

Screen: 1.33-inch full round touch screen

Pixel: 360*360

CPU: 1.3G four core

RAM: 512MB/ 1G ( optional )

ROM: 4G/ 8G ( optional )

Camera: CMOS HD 5.0MP camera

Network: 3G WCDMA 850/2100 GPRS/EDGE/HSPA+

Battery: 450mAh

Bluetooth: 4.0

Dimension: 53.2x47x15.9 mm

Weight: 65g

Basic Functions: SMS, MMS, Record, Profiles, Themes, Alarm, Calculator, Memory, Schedule, Notes, Weather, Calendar, WIFI, Bluetooth, Camera &Video, Media, GPS navigation, QQ, Wechat

Summary

To sum up, ZGPAX S99 is an outstanding smart watch, which features nice appearance design and 3G talk. However, it has a shortcoming that it does not support waterproof function. So, you have better not wear it when you do some underwater sports.

If you do not mind this small flaw, you can have a try!

Bird nest soup is one of the nutritious delicacies in South-East Asia and some other parts of the world. If you own a bird nest restaurant, or you intend to buy large quantities, you need to understand how to identify authentic ones. The following are relevant tips on how to buy:

Make up your mind on the type you want

There are three major types of bird nests, and all are built by Swiftlets. Before you set out to buy, you need to make up your mind on the type you want. Here are the three different types you can choose from:

Red Nests

These are nests that have a bright red color. They are usually harvested once or twice in a year. About 50% of all bird nests are Red nests. However, Red nests are considered the most expensive type due to its nutritious value and demand.

White Nests

White nests are built by Swiftlets that have never mated. They are seen as the highest quality of all nests and the most common in South-East Asia.

Yellow Nests

Yellow nests are produced by the same species of Swiftlets that produce the White nests. But unlike the White nests, the Yellow ones are produced by Swiftlets that are already mating. They are often creamy in color and one of the most sought after.

Ask if the nests are endorsed by the appropriate authority

Genuine bird nests are often endorsed by the government. Before you buy any, ask if it is endorsed by the appropriate regulatory agency. The market is flooded with several fake nests. As such, the government of countries where bird nests are available for sale often approves genuine ones in order to protect the public, and curb the activities of fake sellers.

Inspection

See the nests you want to pay for before you buy. Physical inspection is a crucial part of buying authentic ones. Genuine ones are made from the saliva of Swiftlets birds and you can easily perceive the smell of eggs in the nest. The birds use the nest for raising their young ones and sometimes you may find feathers in them.

Fake bird nests are made of several different materials. They are unhealthy and harmful. If you’re absolutely new to buying it, you may need to go with an expert who can easily tell the difference between fake ones and real ones. Don’t fall into the trap of buying a replica instead of an authentic one.

How to verify nests authenticity

Avoid buying prepackaged bird nests, they are extremely difficult to verify. furthermore, take note of the following whenever you intend to buy:

Size

The birds (Swiftlets) that produce the nests do not have exactly the same size. Some are bigger while some are smaller, as such all their nests cannot be exactly the same size. However, on the average most nests have a diameter of 6-7 millimeter. It weighs about 10-15 gram. It has a thick base and thin wall. Nests that are all in the same size are not authentic. They are man-made. Authentic ones sizes may be similar but not exactly the same. Watch out for the size before you buy.

Appearance

The color of a bird nest is a strong signal of its authenticity. The color of authentic ones are not absolutely white or reflective. Some fake nests are chemically bleached to change their color; such ones are often very white and reflective. Some of such bleaching chemicals are harmful to human and can cause severe health problems. Appearance is one easy way to tell the difference between fakes ones and authentic ones.

How to spot fake bird nests

Fake bird nests are often made of fungus, gelatin, glue and flour, pigskin, sea gum or tree weed. But fake makers are smart, and they know how to make the fake ones look authentic. But there are some loopholes, and you can easily take advantage of that to identify fake ones.You can spot fake ones via the following ways:

Scent

Authentic ones often have the scent of eggs because they are used to raise the offspring of Swiftlets birds after hatching. Whereas, fake ones often have a fishy and bleach chemical smell. Do your best to perceive the scent of the ones you intend to buy.

Flexibility

Authentic bird nests are made of Swiftlets saliva. As such, they are fragile and break easily. Fake ones are often elastic, they are bendable and do not break easily. Fake ones are often made of glossy surface and feels like plastic when touched.

Water Experiment

Here is a simple experiment to verify if a bird nest is fake or authentic. Soak a small portion in water for few minutes, and then gently pull its strands. If it loose instantly and easily then it is fake. Authentic ones are made from Swiftlets saliva and the saliva solidify like cement. It takes almost 48 hours or more to fully soak authentic ones for its strands to pull loosely.

Conclusion

The bird nest market is constantly expanding, and competition is fierce among sellers. While many sellers focus on selling genuine nests, others are making huge profits by selling fake nests to buyers who can’t tell the difference between fake and genuine nests. But if you intend to buy a bird nest wholesale or in large quantities, the several tips mentioned in this article will guide you to the right seller.

The lack of professionalism in sourcing agents is a big concern for all global buyers, it has been a so controversial issue that people have heated debate over the pros and cons of hiring a sourcing agent. Numerous buying offices and sourcing agents themselves tend to accuse the conduct of taking kickbacks, and after doing so they shift the buyers’ attention to their own services and advertise that they will never resort to this unethical behavior. However, it should be admitted that all of them are in essence agents, and they are all likely to fall into this lapse, but few of them shed much light on solutions to this issue. The difficulty is simply due to human nature. For example, some of them may have mixed feelings when they offer the quotations to their clients, they may ask themselves, “I found so amazing a supplier for my client, and they get so good price, shouldn’t I deserve something more?” “The packaging and shipping cost me so much, and it took me a quite a bit of effort in talking to this supplier, do I work for my clients simply to make ends meet?”

A common practice is that some suppliers willingly give sourcing consultants or translators an amount of hidden commission in order to win the order or the latter asks for kickbacks from the suppliers, however, this practice is not only unethical and unprofessional, but also practically unsustainable, because although unlikely some day the suppliers could tell the truth to the buyer, the sourcing agent would find himself a mere tool for the suppliers and, even worse, end up being no long trusted by the client.

The best and very likely the only solution is to facilitate a sustainable system that enables the sourcing agent to be fully integrated into the buyer’s virtual office. The client should treat the sourcing agent as a colleague or employee with absolute sincerity, while the sourcing agent should treat his client as his employer with absolute loyalty.

The sourcing agent can try some of the methods below:

1. Provide payment proof for each and every transaction with the suppliers and shippers. This may include photos of receipts, Alipay/Wechat transfer screenshots, bank slips, etc. In this way, the original total cost in procuring the goods can be easily tracked and calculated.

2. Present detailed contact information of all the suppliers and shippers to the client. Moreover, when the client needs to communicate with them for any clarification purposes, if the suppliers do not understand English, the sourcing agent should offer translation help to facilitate the clarification process.

3. Say no to any form of hidden commission from the suppliers, stay impartial and objective in choosing suppliers for the client’s requirement.

4. Always stay answerable and open to the suppliers, deliver the buyer’s requirements to them in a timely manner, show to the suppliers that the buyer’s interests are physically and constantly represented.

5. At the client’s request, make tours to the suppliers for quality checking, pre-delivery inspection, trouble shooting, technical support, etc and make sure the suppliers fix all issues concerned with the goods before and after the delivery of the goods.

The buyer can try some of the methods below:

1. Offer a reasonable sourcing fee.

2. If possible, help the agent create an Email ID in the name of the employer’s company so he can more convincingly represent the buyer in dealing with the suppliers, likewise, the creation of a business card can also do the same purpose.

3. Cover the expenditures including costs generated in packaging, domestic shipping cost, traveling expenses, etc at the agent’s end.

4. Motivation measures: As the cooperation reaches a highly stable and mature level, it could worth consideration to offer retainer fee or performance bonus to the agent based on savings achieved.

If you’ve never heard of the term “omnichannel”, it’s time for you to sit up and take notice. It’s one of the trends that has been picked up on the radar of huge companies such as Salesforce and Zendesk, becoming part of decks of consultants like McKinsey, and and being practiced by social channels like Twitter.

The reason behind omnichannel engagement stems from the exploding numbers and types of devices, and channels, available to customers to reach and interact with brands and businesses. When these channels become available, customer expect companies to honor their commitment to those channels by actually engaging with them extensively on them, no matter what the causes are.

Read on to learn more about what omnichannel engagement is about, why it’s important to you, and how you can capitalize on it to improve customer satisfaction and employee happiness.

1. You’re probably doing it wrong

Omnichannel engagement is about providing consistent experiences to customers and stakeholders across the whole gamut of possible mediums they could reach your business on.

Interactions with someone at a company is probably one of the most personal and value-creating touchpoints for a customer; frustrations or inconsistency among the different channels will potentially turn these touchpoints into ones that generate dissatisfaction instead of higher customer equity. As such, it’s extremely important for you to understand each channel your customer reaches you on, and how to keep it a pleasant experience every time.

If you think about your own business, what are some of the efforts that have been put in place to help everyone on your team respond consistently to customers? Have you conducted training sessions, set up priority lists, created a task force, and empowered your team with the right replies?

2. It’s changing the way businesses are run

It used to be that having a storefront was all you had to tend to. Eventually came the telephone. And SMS. Then email. And now you have all of the above plus everything from Facebook and Twitter, to Google search, to WeChat and WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Snapchat and new channels that seem to pop up every other day, that customers try to reach you on. Now, if you’re running a business in 1995, you could get away with trying to force your customers to call or email you with queries. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), you’re in 2015 and you need to be ready for this multitude of channels.

Having these channels doesn’t only impact operations and customer service. It also impacts your marketing and branding, sales, finance, and human resource allocations, among other things. Think about the potential of turning each of these touchpoints into a brand experience for the customer; about how you could upsell your other products based on channels; how you need to now hire “social media managers” on your team… The impacts are big, and you need to consider all of them as a whole when evaluating how your business is going to thrive in this era.

3. It’s about value, but not just about profits

When we talk about engagement, it’s not necessarily pointing only to sales. Sales for your company can only come when you provide enough value to customers. Back in Marketing 101, you may have heard of the 4Ps – Your Product, Place, Promotion elements need to be in place and providing value before you can even think about Price and how to get back the value as a company from customers.

For many companies, omnichannel engagement may well be integrated into the product (for example, you have an app on phone, tablet and site), the distribution (you try to sell in multiple channels like social and other eCommerce deal stores), and promotions (blasting your ad on offline and online media). Now, it’s even more critical that you have all these channels at hand because it’s highly likely that your customers will vet you across various channels before finally deciding to choose you.

So if you think about it, unless you’re offering enough value such that people want to pay you for it, you can’t be pushing purely for profit anymore – because people will find out. And while you’re there, you’d best be providing great customer service and support – because since you can sell them on those channels, you better be willing to help them there too.

4. Emerging trends in chat, wearables & IoT are impacting it

The buzzwords of our time are probably all in the point you just read above (other than artificial intelligence, a topic for another day). However, they are trends for a reason, and you need to be aware of them as they progress into more mature consumer-ready technologies.

Chat is already pervasive among consumers, riding on the coattails of the mobile trend. Most likely, you’re reading this on mobile while chatting with your friends on one of the nine chat apps on your phone. With chat apps being the most used, highest-engagement apps in customers’ lives, be prepared to engage them where they already live. In countries like China, where channels such as WeChat and QQ are prevalent among vocal consumers, it’s become necessary for companies to hang around on those channels to handle service and sales queries around the clock. Looking at eCommerce players like Qoo10 and Taobao, you’ll also find that chat has become indispensable in the transaction process.

Wearables, as popularized by watches like Apple Watch and Pebble, as well as fitness trackers like FitBit, are also becoming part of consumers’ daily lives. Notifications and interactions have become even more personal and private, which means that you can either be closer to the customer, or alienated from their digital life. IoT (shortened from Internet of Things) follows as connected devices (many that are linked to interfaces on wearables and mobile) that may also send you configuration logs and help messages, to which you then must have even more of a plan to figure out how exactly to address them, and attribute them to a single customer.

5. Your becoming-mobile workforce needs to know it

From the point of your team, it is also important to understand that all of these new channels and trends can be confusing. With so many more channels to monitor, it will get more chaotic and tiring to manage. Without the proper training and empowerment, you could be leaving your team to simmer in increasing unhappiness as they struggle to deal with new channel responsibilities without centralized repositories of responses or visibility into how others in the team are responding.

Workforces are becoming even more mobile these days, with distributed teams and telecommuting becoming more common over time. Not only could this save traveling time, it could increase productivity by reducing interruptions to the day and allowing team members to work whenever they are at their best. The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)trend also means that teams are now responsible for their own use of phones and other devices, and could herald a true 24/7 connected workforce – hence making omnichannel, always-on communications even more essential for businesses.

6. Your customers expect it

The most important thing about being omnichannel is that your customers now expect it from you. As summary of all the points listed above, we can conclude that because you have all these channels set up and are, perhaps, selling through them already, you will need to have a certain presence in servicing and supporting customers in these channels.

Customers don’t see channels as channels in themselves – hence the experience needs to be seamless across all of them. When you have an issue, for example, do you think of “X Company’s Twitter” as different from “X Company’s email”? Rather unlikely – you would see them as “X Company”, and you will judge them based on how responsive, comprehensive and consistent they are as they respond to you.

If you already expect this from the companies that you buy from or do business with, then you need to understand that your customers expect likewise from your business.

7. It’s not as hard as you think

All of these demands and trends may sound daunting, but recognize that they are there as part of your life as well. You may talk to different people on different platforms, and post different updates on different social channels. Treat customers as people – they are human, just as our friends are. While lines may blur across channels, that’s probably because you should be seeing them as a whole and not just as separate channels.

Omnichannel engagement is simply a way of thinking about your engagement in an ecosystem of channels that support your business strategy and customer needs. By taking the first step to recognize, detail and understand the big picture of all these channels in concert, you will be able to then strategize what needs to be done to move your business forward in this day and age.

Olivia, what is the story behind your move to China?

I started studying Chinese at St. Mary's Church Mary's High School. It was the first high school in Oregon to offer Chinese program. The summer after my first year of studying we had an opportunity to come to China and I was one of the seven students selected. We traveled all around China during the holiday, it was my first trip outside of the States. It was Summer 2007, and we went to Beijing, Henan, and the southern part of China, Kunming in the Yunnan province. It was so different from anything I had known or been exposed to before. After that experience, I started thinking that this is the path that I wanted to follow. I studied Chinese and business throughout college and I completed my final six months of college in Beijing, at Beijing Language and Culture University. I moved there by myself and enrolled in an intensive language program. The classes were only taught in Chinese and I was the only American in my class, with no other native English speakers. I think I cried a lot (laugh) and I was a little bit miserable for about five months, but by the sixth month I was loving it: I have this distinctive memory of riding in a cab and passing all these incredible buildings in Beijing. The energy from the city was electrifying. I went back to Oregon, graduated and found a job at an international adoption agency. I was helping prospective parents through the first 1 to 2 years of the adoption process. I was also helping to update the organization's website to drive more traffic and liaising with our Beijing office. While this role was a huge learning opportunity for me, I knew it wasn't my career path. I really wanted to move back to China and pursue a career in international business.

How did you do it?

The easiest way to be back in China quickly was through a teaching job. To the surprise of my friends and family, it only took me a couple of weeks to get one. The whole process of getting a visa took around four months. My parents knew I wanted to move back to China. Although it was probably hard for them, they never questioned it. They knew I could do it and I knew I was determined to make it work. I ended up in a city nearby Shanghai. The first time I visited Shanghai in March 2015 I totally fell in love with the city. I said to myself: I must move here. And to think, I didn't even know what I know now about the city!

How did you find your current job?

I was using LinkedIn, Smart Shanghai, E-China cities. I had quite a few interviews, but nothing really seemed to be the right role for me. I knew I was passionate about and storytelling and how brands design and market products. At that time, I didn't know marketing and branding were the answer until after I had an interview for a marketing position with a solar energy company. Although it wasn't the right fit I enjoyed working on several interview projects. It helped me to narrow down my search.

The position I am in now was posted on LinkedIn and I applied for it. I had fifty connections and an outdated profile picture, but I got called in for the interview. Now I have over 1,100 followers and have published several popular posts and articles, several of them receiving over 12,000 views. I was featured in Forbes because of a connection I made on LinkedIn. We began a conversation about getting qualified leads through HubSpot, and we ended up writing an article that was published on Forbes, in just over a week it surpassed 5,000 views.

I know people in my industry are using LinkedIn, but I don't see people, especially my peers, using it to its full potential. Nowadays building your personal brand is extremely important, it is the biggest thing you will carry with you from job to job. The reality is that my generation will be changing jobs at least a few times throughout their careers. LinkedIn is the platform to build your professional presence online. Twitter and Instagram are important too, but the LinkedIn is the ultimate professional space where people are going to go to search not only for talent but for thought leadership. How have you contributed, what do you have to say about your industry? Building and interacting with your network is important, and now is the time to utilize LinkedIn to do this.

Can you tell us about your typical day at work?

I work for Brandigo, a global branding, and marketing agency, with offices in Shanghai, Boston and Manchester. I'm based in Shanghai as our in-house marketing manager. I develop and carry out our inbound marketing strategy, this means I'm working with our marketing automation software, HubSpot, which helps to attract and track qualified leads. Each day I'm checking how are people interacting with our website, looking at which content is the most read and shared, what problems are people searching for that we can help solve, and what channels are they using? I develop our content strategy, keep our marketing collaterals updated and looking fresh.

What are the skills needed to succeed in marketing and branding in China?

You have to realize that the market here is unlike anything you have seen and experienced before. I cannot tell you how many conversations I have with professionals in this industry who will tell you that no matter what, you must be prepared to throw most of what you know out the window. China is changing incredibly fast, much faster than in the West. I see many international brands coming into China and they have no idea what WeChat is, but they want it. The fact is that marketers need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. China is massive, each city is like an individual country, and all these cities are very different from each other. A great WeChat will only get you so far, it's about finding the right way to localize everything. If you can roll with the punches, see 10 steps ahead, listen to what is happening, and be flexible, you can survive in China.

What is your advice for someone who's just relocating to China?

At the beginning, it seems like a massive life change. And it will be! But you have to be proactive and seek out groups and events that interest you. The unique aspect of being an expat is that you will almost always be able to relate to other expats on some level. You will share this common affinity for adventure and independence. There will be hard days, days, when everything seems to be working against you and nothing, makes sense. These tough days are amplified by the fact that you are another side of the world from everything you have ever known to be comforting. However, compared to other parts of China, living in Shanghai is easy, because most people speak English, and it is a modern, multi-cultural city. Find your community, find people who share the same values, interests, passions and surround yourself with people and projects which can expand your horizons and keep you grounded.

How did you find your community?

I moved here in August 2016 and didn't know anyone in the city. I searched on Meetup.com and found Girl Gone International . This was the first community I got involved in and it gave me a gateway to many other friendships and relevant communities. The incredible thing about China is that we have WeChat, and WeChat groups. These groups can have up to 500 people in them, and when they are well managed, like the GGI (Girl Gone International) ones, they can be incredibly useful. After GGI I attended a number of networking events, and have since become actively involved in other groups such as IPWS (International Professional Women's Society), TedxPuxi, and FitFam. The community that I have grown the most with has been FItFam. I got involved with FitFam – a free fitness community in Shanghai, which started about two years ago. Currently, FitFam has 14 locations all over Shanghai with over 2,000 active members, and over 5,500 WeChat followers. I manage the FitFam WeChat account and communication strategies. The FitFam community is so special to me, everyone, foreigners and Chinese, are so supportive and always welcoming. This community has given me so much, especially because I have been able to combine my passion for fitness and healthy living with my passion for marketing and content creation. I truly believe that if I was back home I would not have pushed myself to get involved in so many different organizations, meet so many diverse people or challenged myself explore my passions. In Shanghai, you can meet so many incredible people from backgrounds you never imagined, try new things you didn't even know existed, and simply get out of your comfort zone. I believe Shanghai gives you the opportunity to become a much stronger, empowered person.

What is the question no one asked you about, and you feel they should?

"What can you do differently?" I made a huge, and hard decision to leave my family and my home to come to another country to work. There are some tough days; it can be lonely, and sometimes nothing makes sense, but the hard work and sacrifice should be for something much bigger. My initial decision 10 years ago to start learning Chinese was because I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. During this past year, I have tried to take in every experience, every opportunity that I possibly could. The more people I meet, the more I learn, not only about myself but also about the industry I work in. Today the world we live in is increasingly competitive, and I believe that to make an impact, not only in my own life but also to impact the lives of others in a positive way, it requires us to seek out opportunities and challenges that are outside of the norm. This is what I am looking to do.

Thank you, Olivia, we are looking forward our next interview: Everything About Branding.

If you or your clients are planning to expand into China or other growth markets in the Asia Pacific region, there are a number of issues to consider when offering contact center services.

The first of these is that of language. If you would like to cover all of China, agents should be able to communicate in both Mandarin and Cantonese. If you plan to reach out to the region as a whole, you should include Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and both Malaysian and Indonesian Bahasa too.

Second, it is important that customers can call in by means of a domestic regional telephone number. Making an international phone call remains a psychological and economical barrier not only in emerging markets, but in established ones like the United States too.

Next, consider the communications channels available to you.

Like us in the West, the Chinese are voracious consumers of social media. But Twitter and Facebook are irrelevant in China, whereas Sina /Tencent Weibo, Renren, Qzone and WeChat are not.

Of these, WeChat is fast becoming defacto the standard way to communicate in China, and already boasts a user base of 600m and growing. Furthermore, Its number of international users is also growing exponentially, so a WeChat Channel should be integrated into any contact center activity.

Whilst the concept of the virtual office is nothing new, for western companies looking to expand into China the benefits of a virtual office versus the costs and risks associated with establishing a real one are particularly attractive, and they instantly help bridge the cultural and linguistic challenges associated with overseas expansion.

Those involved in the contact center industry probably already have clients that are using their services as part of their globalization efforts. Rarely do such companies wish to focus on just one market. By offering multi-lingual voice and data solutions, or by teaming up with a company that does, you will be able to add value and help clients grow and prosper internationally.

Doing so will help customers grow domestically too. After all, there are over one million Chinese speakers in the UK and more than two million in the USA.

Mindful of the fact that the vast majority of the Chinese population worldwide cannot read or speak English, those companies that interact with them in their own native language stand a much better chance of benefiting from the enormous opportunities afforded by the Chinese market than those that do not.

Finally, when working with your clients with regards to promoting any new engagement channel, it is best to engage in the services of a native speaker for translating purposes, since automated translation tools can sometimes do more harm than good.

According to the IMF, China is now the World’s largest economy, with the US relegated to second place. Therefore North American, Australasian and European contact centers that look eastwards will be able to add value for their customers both now and in years to come.

In his bestselling book ‘The World is Flat’, Thomas Friedman describes it as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity.

That metaphor is particular apt for those involved in the contact center space.

The Pros and Cons of Conversational Commerce

Conversation is a core part of the buying process, whether you’re asking the wine clerk what red she recommends or messaging a store owner on Facebook to see if they sell gift cards.

I’m sure you’ve visited a website and had a chat box pop up, asking if you needed help or offering to start a conversation. Chances are, the “person” with whom you’re speaking isn’t human.

A chatbot allows business owners to provide responses and solutions – and even generate leads and sales – 24/7 through automated customer service live chat. According to IBM, up to 80% of routine customer service questions could be answered by a chatbot.

There are two types of chatbots:

1. Those that rely on rules and can only accept/respond in limited ways.

2. Those that use artificial intelligence to employ sophisticated algorithms to accept/respond.

One of the areas we’ll see this tech more and more in is healthcare. While nothing will replace a professional – especially in an emergency – it’s convenient and fast to ask a bot a simple question about a cold or what medications interact with breastfeeding.

Here’s an example: Florence is a popular online personal health assistant. “She” has become focused on two main features: health tracking and medication reminders. All users have to do is start a chat with her in Facebook Messenger, Kik or Skype and she’ll jump in.

Now, let’s take a look at three pros of conversational commerce:

1. Fast responses, multiple options. You’re able to answer queries ultra-fast and this type of interaction is possible on a wide range of platforms including Facebook Messenger, SMS, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Business Chat and WeChat.

2. Money, money, money. You don’t need to work late responding to questions and you don’t need to pay employees to respond to every interaction. If you want to sell through your bot people can purchase your product or service anytime, anywhere.

3. You automatically gather data. eCommerce chatbots collect data so you can offer a more personalized experience each time someone communicates with your brand. And, you gain lots of valuable insight on your users’ needs, pain points and buying habits.

Caption: Domino’s uses a wide variety of tools to allow pizza lovers to rapidly order, pay and track their food.

Let’s balance that out with three cons:

1. They can’t replace humans. Especially in the medical and legal fields, there’s a concern that patients may use these technologies instead of seeking professional help. Also, you shouldn’t use conversational commerce as your only form of customer service. Your clients should be able to connect with a live person, at least during your regular business hours.

2. Misunderstandings can happen. The problem is with natural language understanding, which is the ability to determine intent. Bots aren’t as skilled at understanding us as our fellow humans are – at least not yet. Customers will get frustrated with eCommerce chatbots that don’t work well and will take their business to a competitor.

3. They’re not right for every situation. It’s true that many companies can benefit from this ever-changing technology, but don’t try and force it. If your services are too complex to map out in AI chat or require thorough consultations, a chatbot probably won’t help lead-qualifying efforts or sales.

Chatbots are far from perfect, and while they’ll certainly advance going forward, you don’t want to alienate customers now. By understanding the pros and cons, you can ensure you’re making the best chat-choice for your business.