Tag Archives: Xiu.com

China Awards First Foreign E-Payment License, PayPal Waits

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PayPal watches a China licenses first foreign e-payments firm

China has issued so many electronic payment licenses by now that I mostly ignore the steady stream of announcements about new licensees, who now number more than 250. I was getting ready to ignore the latest report of a new batch of such licenses, when my attention was attracted by a news bit deeper in the story saying the fifth batch of awards included the long-anticipated first license for a foreign-backed company. The move looks promising for a number of foreign companies that have been waiting impatiently for years to enter the market, led by eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) PayPal online payments unit. Read Full Post…

eBay, Xiu: A Smart Partnership eBay牵手走秀网为明智之举

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A couple of weeks after news first leaked out of eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) return to China through a new partnership with an online fashion seller (previous post), we’re getting more details about the tie-up with Xiu.com. My major takeaway is that this looks like a smart, well-conceived arrangement that could have a strong chance of success. EBay seems to have learned some important lessons and is applying them to this new tie-up, following its previous Chinese foray that began nearly a decade ago and ended in a failure costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

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News Digest: November 13 报摘： 2012年11月13日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Jingdong Mall Raises $400 Mln in New Fund Raising Round – Source (Chinese article)
  • eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) Joins with Xiu.com to Bring Global Style to China (Businesswire)
  • SouFun (NYSE: SFUN) Announces Q3 2012 Results (PRNewswire)

eBay Returns to China With Xiu eBay联手走秀重返中国

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After failing badly in its first attempt in China, US e-commerce giant eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is preparing for a second try at the market by teaming up with a local player online apparel seller named Xiu.com. Media reports are citing an unnamed knowledgeable source about this latest tie-up, but from my perspective it seems quite credible as eBay has been reportedly looking for a new China partner for much of the last year. (Chinese article)

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News Digest: November 1 报摘： 2012年11月1日

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 1. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) to Re-enter China B2C Market With Xiu.com – Source (Chinese article)
  • New Extension Likely For CNOOC (HKEx: 883) Nexen (Toronto: NXY) Review – Sources (English article)
  • HiSoft (Nasdaq: HSFT) Reaffirms Q3 and Full Year 2012 Guidance (PRNewswire)
  • Jingdong Mall, LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) Partner on Video Shopping (English article)

New Regulatory, Competitive Waves Hit E-Commerce 监管和竞争冲击电子商务领域

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Turbulence continues to pelt China’s e-commerce sector, with new reports showing how rampant competition is pushing up costs as an industry regulator gets looks into anti-monopoly claims against top online mall operator Taobao Mall. A new foreign media report cites the top executive at luxury e-commerce site Xiu.com saying that rents for the massive warehouses required by most online merchants have soared in the last year, as players like 360Buy and Wal-Mart-invested (NYSE: WMT) Yihaodian all vie for facilities near major cities where they can store and then ship their goods. (English article) Global e-commerce leader Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has joined the fray, announcing last week that its China operation was opening a 120,000 square meter facility in the city of Kunshan, not far from Shanghai, quadrupling its warehouse space in the affluent Yangtze River Delta region. (previous post) The soaring warehouse rents are just the latest headache for the overheated e-commerce sector, where most major players are already hemorrhaging money as the industry heads for a much needed consolidation that is likely to come by the middle of next year. Meantime, domestic media report the Commerce Ministry is entering the e-commerce fray by launching an anti-monopoly investigation into Taobao Mall, Alibaba’s B2C operation, in response to merchant complaints that the online mall operator used its dominant position to unilaterally force a massive fee hike on its merchants, leading many small- and mid-sized sellers to rebel. (English article) I personally think this latest Commerce Ministry investigation is a bit misguided, as there’s plenty of competition in the e-commerce space though less so in the online mall sector. If the ministry really wants to chase someone for anti-monopoly violations, it should focus on online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), which controls nearly 80 percent of the market.

Bottom line: Soaring warehouse rents are the latest sign of overheating in China’s e-commerce space, which is also facing the threat of increasingly heavy-handed regulation by Beijing.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Amazon Name Shift Signals China Ramp-Up 亚马逊改名背后折射中国野心

◙ Albaba Faces New Assaults From Merchants, 360Buy 阿里巴巴受到中小商户和京东商城的双重夹攻

◙ China Regulors Threaten E-Commerce, Group Buying 官方监管威胁到电子商务与团购业务

Xiu.com Funding Puts Glamor in Online Fashion 服饰类网站前景看好

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Intensifying competition will mean a tough road ahead for broader e-commerce in China, but one area that still looks attractive is apparel, as reflected by a nifty $100 million in new funding for online fashion house Xiu.com. (English article) The tidy amount follows a smaller $20 million funding in March, and this latest round includes such venture capital giants as Warburg Pincus and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The funding comes less than a month after online footwear seller Yougou.com received a rumored $450 million in funding from a group that included online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) (previous post), and as another leading online apparel seller, Vancl, gears up for an IPO that should be one of the hottest China offerings in the second half of the year. Apparel is also one of the best selling areas for Alibaba’s Taobao Mall, testifying to the strength of this product category that enjoys strong demand and is relatively less competitive due to higher barriers of entry. By comparison, more general merchandise e-commerce firms like Dang Dang (NYSE: DANG), 360Buy and Wal-Mart-backed (NYSE: WMT) Yihaodian seem to be locked in an increasingly bloody battle where marketing and distribution costs are markedly higher due to the broader array of products and customers they cater to. Of course, it may only be a matter of time before apparel makers get caught up in their own bloody battle for market share. But unlike general merchandise, these companies can more easily find their own niches due to the wide variety of clothing available, which may buffer them somewhat from cutthroat competition. Either way, the group certainly looks like a strong bet for now, and I would expect Vancl to see strong demand when it finally moves ahead with its IPO after broader market sentiment improves.

Bottom line: A new $100 million funding round for Xiu.com testifies to the strength of online apparel, and bodes well for Vancl’s upcoming IPO.

竞争加剧意味着中国电子商务业前路难一帆风顺，但服饰类领域看似仍具吸引力，时尚购物网走秀网（xiu.com）新一轮融资1亿美元就是例证。走秀网今年3月曾获2,000万美元投资，而本次又获美国华平投资集团（Warburg Pincus）和Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers等风投巨头投资。不到一个月前，鞋类销售网优购网（Yougou.com）据传获得4.5亿美元融资，投资方包括网络搜索巨头百度<BIDU.O>。凡客诚品正在准备首次公开募股（IPO），有望成为下半年最热门的中国上市企业。服饰也是淘宝商城最热销的领域之一，证明此类产品需求强劲，由於进入门槛较高，竞争相对没有那麽激烈。相比之下，销售日用百货的电子商务企业当当网<DANG.N>、京东商城和沃尔玛<WMT.N>投资的1号店似乎陷入激战，由於其产品和消费者范围更广，市场营销和渠道成本也明显更高。当然，服饰类企业激烈争夺市场份额或许也只是早晚的事情。但与一般商品不同，服饰类选择众多，企业更容易找到其小众定位，为其竞争提供了缓冲空间。目前看来，服饰类电子商务前景光明，我认为，市场情绪提振後，当凡客诚品最终进行IPO时，有望获得积极认购。

一句话：走秀网新一轮融资1亿美元证明，网络服饰销售颇具潜力，对凡客诚品即将IPO也是吉兆。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Belle, Baidu See Beauty in Online Shoe Store 百度和百丽投资优购网或为明智之举

◙ 360Buy — More Details But Still Pricey 京东商城值多少？

◙ Wal-Mart Buys Into China E-Commerce 沃尔玛进军中国电子商务