Video shopping service launched

Updated: 2012-02-28 13:26

By He Wei (China Daily)

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SHANGHAI - The e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has launched a video-shopping service that will start next month.

Customers of Tianmao, Alibaba's business-to-customer arm, will be able to obtain information about items from video clips in Tianmao's own buyer-friendly player.

The pilot program, set to make its debut on March 6, marks Alibaba's latest attempt to translate its successful sales volume into an optimized user experience, said market insiders.

Tianmao plans to test the water for video sales with underwear and ladies' clothing, because these items are the most eye-catching and best-selling categories on the B2C marketplace, said Zhong Da, head of the website's apparel unit.

More than 100 types of female underwear and clothing from 27 brands were demonstrated during a show featuring live models on Monday. A recording of the show will be posted on Tianmao's homepage on March 6, and users will be able to purchase items displayed in the show with the click of a mouse.

The move is not Alibaba's first attempt to combine video technology and online shopping. In 2009, Taobao, Alibaba's customer-to-customer marketplace, struck a deal with Youku, a US-listed video-sharing site, to provide services for sellers to allow them to display their goods on video.

In 2011, 194 million Chinese made purchases online, accounting for 37.8 percent of the total number of Internet users in the country, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center. The center said that the number of purchases was 20 percent higher year-on-year than in 2010.

"Alibaba is using Taobao's user base of 370 million to feed traffic to Tianmao, accelerating the takeoff of the three-year-old site. The move underscored Tianmao's desire to provide a service for shoppers who are concerned about the authenticity of the goods they buy," said Chen Shousong, an e-commerce specialist with the Chinese research company Analysys International.

"In the past, consumers cited cheaper prices as the major reason they went online. But a large number of consumers are now motivated by convenience and user experience," said Serge Hoffmann, a partner at the consultancy Bain and Co.