[photopress:taobao_1_2.jpg,full,alignright]Chinese e-commerce site Taobao.com has nearly tripled transaction volume in the first half to RMB15.7 billion ($2 billion), as people get more used to shopping online with improved payment systems.
According to figures released by Shanghai-based IT consultancy iResearch, the site, which has beaten eBay in the market over the past four years, also expanded its market share to 72.2% in the first quarter from last year’s 65%.
Fu Xinghua, an analyst with Analysys International, a Beijing-based consulting firm, said, ‘Many companies have started to use Taobao as an important sales channel to reach consumers, which helped boost transactions.’
In the first six months this year, nearly 8,000 companies applied to open an online store on Taobao in its business-to-consumer channel. Nearly 2,000 have been approved, including Motorola, P&G and computer accessory maker Logitech.
The number of its registered users increased by 80% in the first half to 39.9 million, as ‘some older people are beginning to try shopping’ online under the influence of their children.
Taobao, based in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang Province, was founded in 2003 by Alibaba, the nation’s largest e-commerce company that helps match Chinese suppliers with overseas buyers on its platform.
The site beat eBay’s China business, eBay EachNet, by charging no fees for traders, and forced eBay to handle control of its Chinese operation to a local partner in December last year.
Source: Jongo News