Editor's note: With the rapid advance of the technology era, how and where to get a product or a service can be just at your fingertips. The latest innovation, which helps people to lease their homes to travelers on websites, is fast catching up on the mainland and could pose a threat to the conventional hotel business.

Xiaozhu.com is the mainland's answer to the San Francisco-based Airbnb - an online platform that allows people to lease their apartments to travelers to replace the conventional standardized hotel business.

The website enables landlords to publish information on the accommodation offered, including the location, rates, their preferred customers, as well as their personal information, while users can make their choice according to their needs.

Xiaozhu came into being after two rounds of investment - nearly $10 million from Morningside Ventures, and $15 million from Legend Capital and Morningside Ventures. Currently, it has apartments for rent in 160 cities across the mainland following its inception in 2012.

Chen Chi, a co-founder of Xiaozhu.com, is a gynecologist-turned businessman with more than 10 years' experience in the Internet industry. He saw the opportunities in the sharing economy made possible by the Internet, which allows individuals to trade their own services or resources directly with others.

"Companies like Uber and Airbnb are all products of the sharing economy. In future, many services will no longer require a team or a production line," said Chen. "Anybody can become a service provider with their unique skills and resources, such as vehicles, massage, hairdressing, manicure and apartments. As long as they have a profile on the Internet, they can contact them directly to make the trade happen."

The biggest advantage of such kind of home stay is that it offers more chances for personal communication. Apart from living space, the landlords can give their guests guidance on traveling or sightseeing.

According to Zhang Yin, Xiaozhu's senior marketing director, there are two girls living in Shanghai who are landlords on Xiaozhu.com. They have decorated their apartments with self-made handcraft and interesting furniture they bought through various channels. They make money from selling the objects that their guests fall in love with. The flats have become their workshop and a window for them to showcase their design.

"Every day, many people travel to large cities, such as Beijing, on business, for training and sightseeing, or visiting boyfriends, girlfriends or a doctor. The visits, ranging from weeks to months, could be too costly if they were to stay in a hotel," Zhang said. "With the Internet, these people are perfect customers for home stay. Moreover, such short leasing would not damage the interior decor that could cost landlords a fortune."

There are also people offering short-term leasing only for emotional reward. For instance, a Peking opera singer living in Beijing started renting out spare rooms in his apartment after his daughter left for Britain for studies. He treats his guests like members of his family - cooking grandiose meals for them and inviting them to opera shows. His expenses had, at times, exceeded the rental. But he feels it's all worth it because the guests have filled up the emptiness or loneliness created by his daughter.

Qiao Shi, who works for an Internet firm in Beijing, became a landlord himself on Xiaozhu.com in May last year. So far, he has received more than 40 guests renting two spare rooms in his apartment.

"The net average revenue per month is about 10,000 yuan ($1,605). The net profit would be 3,000 to 4,000 yuan monthly," Qiao said. "It has not only saved me my own rental, but also provided extra income."

Qiao offers tour-guide services to his guests. He once received a girl from Hong Kong who was traveling with her friend from Shanghai.

"They came here in August, an extremely hot month in Beijing. I gave them tips on their itinerary, like how to avoid the rush hours at tourist hot spots and where they could find air-conditioned cafes," said Qiao. "The Hong Kong girl asked me all sorts of questions about the mainland. I always get along with my guests by doing my best to meet their needs."

In the first four years of its opening, Xiaozhu focused on promoting the concept of home stay.

"When we started, there was no supply of short-lease apartments. It was like working in a desert where everything had to be built from scratch," said Chen. "The earliest landlords were the most daring in trying something new. The first guests were mostly young people used to searching information online."

Chen and his team began by persuading friends and relatives to try renting out their apartments to strangers. Chen himself had to offer his own apartment and has received more than 100 guests so far.

To guarantee the credibility of the information on Xiaozhu.com, the company has formed its own photography team to take pictures of landlords' apartments. They also provide basic training for landlords on pricing, interior design and the arrangement of furniture in their homes. Moreover, Xiaozhu offers a free insurance on property and personal security for both the landlord and guests.

"The biggest drawback in short-term leasing on the mainland is a poor credibility system. You won't be able to know a stranger's background information, such as the person's credit-card payment history, criminal record or occupation," said Chen. "Consequently, having faith in catering to strangers in one's home would take years of promotional effort. This is why this market is very hard to tap on the mainland."

The first home stay platform on the mainland, Airizu.com, went bankrupt in 2013 as a result of its aspiration to take up the market within a short period of time. At the moment, Xiaozhu has two key competitors - Mayi.com and Youtx.com.

Airbnb has also made its foray into the Chinese mainland market. Its three founders went on an expedition trip to China last year. Earlier this year, it introduced the website's mainland version, offering automatic translation services concerning information on overseas apartments.

"Our biggest difference with Airbnb is that we have to count on the chemistry of people-to-people communication to move our customers, both the guests and the landlords as well, because the mainland does not have that many exotic or fancy apartments as in the US," said Zhang.

"We also offer very efficient 24-hour customer services on the phone. Airbnb, which has its Asian headquarters in Singapore, is not easy to get in touch with. One may have to contact them by e-mail, which mainland people are not used to."

yangziman@chinadaily.com.cn

(HK Edition 03/19/2015 page9)