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Are you still wandering around shopping malls struggling to find your daily essentials or gifts for your nearest and dearest？ Then it would appear you’ve been stranded in the past.
One in four Chinese shop on a mobile phone or smartphone at least once a week， compared with 9 percent for global respondents， according to a report released this April by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.
According to the prospectus it filed to the U.S. securities regulatory body on May 7， Alibaba Group， China’s largest e-commerce company， alone had a staggering 231 million active monthly buyers and 8 million active sellers by the end of 2013. These buyers and sellers transacted more than 1.54 trillion yuan （$251.22 billion） on its three major trading platforms in 2013， equivalent to the total GDP of Finland in the same year.
A world of choices
Yang Xiaomin， a 33-year-old white-collar worker who works for a multinational company in Beijing， is a veteran online shopper. She said online shopping has pervasively changed her life. She browses shopping websites every day and almost all items she needs at home are purchased online.
“Shopping online is not just about buying the things you need， it’s also about information sharing， communication and a way to keep up with the times，” she said. In Yang’s eyes， almost every daily necessity can be taken care of through shopping websites， from home appliances to clothes， plane tickets to automobiles， and even things people would never have thought of buying， such as novelty items.
As the pace of city life grows ever more furious， it would appear the people of China， especially its younger contingent， no longer wish to spend so much time trawling their local shopping mall. “I would rather spend my weekend reading or meeting with friends than waste it in shopping malls，” said Yang. She believes online shopping saves her a lot of time and energy.
In 2011， Yang bought an apartment in Chaoyang District. When the time came to decorate her new abode， she turned to the Internet for help. All the materials used to furnish her flat， including the wooden floors， kitchen cabinet， furniture and electric appliances， were purchased online.
“I heard many people say decorating an apartment is an excruciating process， but it was exciting for me because all the things I purchased online were specifically tailored to complement the style of my apartment，”Yang said. According to the Ministry of Commerce， total e-commerce transactions in China， including retail sales， are expected to exceed 18 trillion yuan （$2.94 trillion） by 2015 with online retail sales making up to 10 percent of the country’s total retail sales in the same year.
Mao Ajing， an e-commerce analyst with Analysys International， said the ability to provide tailor-made and creative gifts is one of the unique selling points that online platforms possess， compared with their traditional brick-andmortar counterparts.
To celebrate her nephew’s first birthday， Yang decided to buy the little boy a gold necklace. But she found there were none carved with a snake to signify the symbolic animal of her nephew’s birth year available in shopping malls. After a brief negotiation with an online shop， the seller promised to make a new one with a snake.
Big-ticket items such as cars were once considered beyond the scope of Internet marketing. But that perception is rapidly changing. Yang ordered a car online in 2012 as she was too busy to visit car dealerships. “The car I wanted was right there on the Internet， just waiting for me to snap it up，” Yang said with a sense of accomplishment.
The car she referred to was a Smart， an ultra-minicar manufactured by German auto major Daimler AG. In February 2012， Daimler teamed up with online shopping platform JD.com to promote online sales of Smart. On the first day， Mercedes-Benz， Daimler AG’s luxury car unit， received bookings for all of the 300 Smarts it offered online in the first 89 minutes.
During the Singles’ Day promotional sale on November 11 last year， China’s three biggest online car retailers—Tmall.com， Autohome. com.cn and Yiche.com—received orders for a jaw-dropping 170，000 cars valued at 23.5 billion yuan （$3.83 billion）.
“The digitally-enabled environment is fast changing consumer shopping habits. The Internet will continue to increase in importance globally and in China， as both a marketing communication vehicle and a sales driver，” said Jonathan Seliger， President and CEO of Coach China， a unit of Coach， a leading American designer and maker of luxury lifestyle handbags and accessories.
The weird and wonderful
For those of an eccentric bent whose tastes run to the outlandish， Chinese online marketplaces， especially Taobao.com， are never short of bizarre services catering to rarified niche markets.
During this year’s Tomb-Sweeping Day in April， Taobao.com， a customer-to-customer platform of Alibaba， provided tomb-sweeping services for those who are too busy or unable to pay their respects at the graves of their lost family members or friends. The annual tradition of Tomb-Sweeping Day is intended to allow people to remember their departed loved ones， but the congestion of people and vehicles at cemeteries has made it an arduous experience for most visitors during the brief period.
On Taobao.com， more than 20 online stores offered tomb-sweeping services. People who wished to vicariously pay their respects could pay an average 500 yuan （$81.57） for a flower basket and three bows. Videos or photos of the ceremony would be sent to the clients to show that services had been rendered. Additional services cost extra money.
The idea of tomb sweeping by proxy has raised concerns about declining filial piety. However， Yu Jianrong， a professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， said it is acceptable. “Asking others to sweep tombs has been seen throughout our history. If someone is far away from home， he can ask friends or other family members to do it for him，” Yu said.
In fact， in terms of strangeness， the aforementioned service pales in comparison with the following one： boyfriends for rent.
This service popped up in recent years， during the Spring Festival period when young people go back to their hometowns for family reunions. There is a common phenomenon of their parents， especially those in small towns and rural areas， frequently trying to talk them into getting married as soon as possible.
In the face of mounting pressure， some singletons go as far as to rent a boyfriend or a girlfriend to accompany them home in order to make their parents happy. Such “rent-a-date”services have been popular on Taobao.com during holiday seasons. A rental boyfriend can do the following： accompanying the girl to visit friends and families as well as go shopping， shar- ing meals with her and even giving her a kiss out of courtesy. The service is usually charged by the hour.
“I offer such a service only because I’m bored and know fewer female friends at work，”said Xue Shuai from Qingdao， east China’s Shandong Province， who rented himself out as a boyfriend. At the time of the interview， Xue had offered himself for rent for two years， but had only had about six customers， with their ages ranging from 19 to 26. He accompanied them to meals， movies， or the seaside， charging 20 yuan （$3.22） per hour.
Gao Jianbing from Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province opened a store on Taobao.com， offering similar services. He said that it was just a part-time job. “Customers just want to relax. It’s a bit like psychological consultation and they like to pour out their hearts to strangers，” Gao said. Besides the above-mentioned services， there are many other strange items on shopping websites.
To give but one example， rebels in Syria announced they had shot down a drone operated by government forces in November last year. As soon as pictures of the drone appeared on the Internet， it was recognized as a product sold on Taobao.com by a Shenzhen-based Chinese company.
Another product that has become quite popular on Taobao.com is soap said to be made with breast milk by new mothers. One vendor explains on her page that she makes her soap with her own breast milk because her son cannot drink it all. “I used to pour it all down the drain， but it seemed such a waste，” she writes. The soaps are gentle， so can be used by both adults and babies， the vendor says. She also claims that the soaps are not only good for deep-cleansing adult skin， but also effective against nappy rash on infants.
Mao with Analysys International said Chinese online sellers are always creative. “With innovative ideas and products， they can grab shoppers by the eyeballs and attract more people to the online shopping realm，” she said.
One in four Chinese shop on a mobile phone or smartphone at least once a week， compared with 9 percent for global respondents， according to a report released this April by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.
According to the prospectus it filed to the U.S. securities regulatory body on May 7， Alibaba Group， China’s largest e-commerce company， alone had a staggering 231 million active monthly buyers and 8 million active sellers by the end of 2013. These buyers and sellers transacted more than 1.54 trillion yuan （$251.22 billion） on its three major trading platforms in 2013， equivalent to the total GDP of Finland in the same year.
A world of choices
Yang Xiaomin， a 33-year-old white-collar worker who works for a multinational company in Beijing， is a veteran online shopper. She said online shopping has pervasively changed her life. She browses shopping websites every day and almost all items she needs at home are purchased online.
“Shopping online is not just about buying the things you need， it’s also about information sharing， communication and a way to keep up with the times，” she said. In Yang’s eyes， almost every daily necessity can be taken care of through shopping websites， from home appliances to clothes， plane tickets to automobiles， and even things people would never have thought of buying， such as novelty items.
As the pace of city life grows ever more furious， it would appear the people of China， especially its younger contingent， no longer wish to spend so much time trawling their local shopping mall. “I would rather spend my weekend reading or meeting with friends than waste it in shopping malls，” said Yang. She believes online shopping saves her a lot of time and energy.
In 2011， Yang bought an apartment in Chaoyang District. When the time came to decorate her new abode， she turned to the Internet for help. All the materials used to furnish her flat， including the wooden floors， kitchen cabinet， furniture and electric appliances， were purchased online.
“I heard many people say decorating an apartment is an excruciating process， but it was exciting for me because all the things I purchased online were specifically tailored to complement the style of my apartment，”Yang said. According to the Ministry of Commerce， total e-commerce transactions in China， including retail sales， are expected to exceed 18 trillion yuan （$2.94 trillion） by 2015 with online retail sales making up to 10 percent of the country’s total retail sales in the same year.
Mao Ajing， an e-commerce analyst with Analysys International， said the ability to provide tailor-made and creative gifts is one of the unique selling points that online platforms possess， compared with their traditional brick-andmortar counterparts.
To celebrate her nephew’s first birthday， Yang decided to buy the little boy a gold necklace. But she found there were none carved with a snake to signify the symbolic animal of her nephew’s birth year available in shopping malls. After a brief negotiation with an online shop， the seller promised to make a new one with a snake.
Big-ticket items such as cars were once considered beyond the scope of Internet marketing. But that perception is rapidly changing. Yang ordered a car online in 2012 as she was too busy to visit car dealerships. “The car I wanted was right there on the Internet， just waiting for me to snap it up，” Yang said with a sense of accomplishment.
The car she referred to was a Smart， an ultra-minicar manufactured by German auto major Daimler AG. In February 2012， Daimler teamed up with online shopping platform JD.com to promote online sales of Smart. On the first day， Mercedes-Benz， Daimler AG’s luxury car unit， received bookings for all of the 300 Smarts it offered online in the first 89 minutes.
During the Singles’ Day promotional sale on November 11 last year， China’s three biggest online car retailers—Tmall.com， Autohome. com.cn and Yiche.com—received orders for a jaw-dropping 170，000 cars valued at 23.5 billion yuan （$3.83 billion）.
“The digitally-enabled environment is fast changing consumer shopping habits. The Internet will continue to increase in importance globally and in China， as both a marketing communication vehicle and a sales driver，” said Jonathan Seliger， President and CEO of Coach China， a unit of Coach， a leading American designer and maker of luxury lifestyle handbags and accessories.
The weird and wonderful
For those of an eccentric bent whose tastes run to the outlandish， Chinese online marketplaces， especially Taobao.com， are never short of bizarre services catering to rarified niche markets.
During this year’s Tomb-Sweeping Day in April， Taobao.com， a customer-to-customer platform of Alibaba， provided tomb-sweeping services for those who are too busy or unable to pay their respects at the graves of their lost family members or friends. The annual tradition of Tomb-Sweeping Day is intended to allow people to remember their departed loved ones， but the congestion of people and vehicles at cemeteries has made it an arduous experience for most visitors during the brief period.
On Taobao.com， more than 20 online stores offered tomb-sweeping services. People who wished to vicariously pay their respects could pay an average 500 yuan （$81.57） for a flower basket and three bows. Videos or photos of the ceremony would be sent to the clients to show that services had been rendered. Additional services cost extra money.
The idea of tomb sweeping by proxy has raised concerns about declining filial piety. However， Yu Jianrong， a professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， said it is acceptable. “Asking others to sweep tombs has been seen throughout our history. If someone is far away from home， he can ask friends or other family members to do it for him，” Yu said.
In fact， in terms of strangeness， the aforementioned service pales in comparison with the following one： boyfriends for rent.
This service popped up in recent years， during the Spring Festival period when young people go back to their hometowns for family reunions. There is a common phenomenon of their parents， especially those in small towns and rural areas， frequently trying to talk them into getting married as soon as possible.
In the face of mounting pressure， some singletons go as far as to rent a boyfriend or a girlfriend to accompany them home in order to make their parents happy. Such “rent-a-date”services have been popular on Taobao.com during holiday seasons. A rental boyfriend can do the following： accompanying the girl to visit friends and families as well as go shopping， shar- ing meals with her and even giving her a kiss out of courtesy. The service is usually charged by the hour.
“I offer such a service only because I’m bored and know fewer female friends at work，”said Xue Shuai from Qingdao， east China’s Shandong Province， who rented himself out as a boyfriend. At the time of the interview， Xue had offered himself for rent for two years， but had only had about six customers， with their ages ranging from 19 to 26. He accompanied them to meals， movies， or the seaside， charging 20 yuan （$3.22） per hour.
Gao Jianbing from Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province opened a store on Taobao.com， offering similar services. He said that it was just a part-time job. “Customers just want to relax. It’s a bit like psychological consultation and they like to pour out their hearts to strangers，” Gao said. Besides the above-mentioned services， there are many other strange items on shopping websites.
To give but one example， rebels in Syria announced they had shot down a drone operated by government forces in November last year. As soon as pictures of the drone appeared on the Internet， it was recognized as a product sold on Taobao.com by a Shenzhen-based Chinese company.
Another product that has become quite popular on Taobao.com is soap said to be made with breast milk by new mothers. One vendor explains on her page that she makes her soap with her own breast milk because her son cannot drink it all. “I used to pour it all down the drain， but it seemed such a waste，” she writes. The soaps are gentle， so can be used by both adults and babies， the vendor says. She also claims that the soaps are not only good for deep-cleansing adult skin， but also effective against nappy rash on infants.
Mao with Analysys International said Chinese online sellers are always creative. “With innovative ideas and products， they can grab shoppers by the eyeballs and attract more people to the online shopping realm，” she said.