Liba to Transform into Construction Material B2C
Netease Tech, 5/31/10
Chinese home-decoration and wedding e-commerce site Liba has begun its move into sales of construction materials, transforming itself from a platform for B2C e-commerce to a B2C vendor. Liba VP Xu Xiangtao said that the company has already invested more than RMB 20 mln in its transition.
Starting in the second half of last year, Liba's construction materials channel began to move from offering a sales platform to engaging in sales itself. Suppliers now need only be responsible for producing products in the amounts dictated by Liba; Liba will handle all other stages of the supply chain, including product samples for users, on-site testing, design, delivery, and installation.
Liba's construction materials channel has now grown from its former 80 or 90 employees to 120 or 130 employees responsible for drafting materials standards, brand selections, and quality control, among other tasks. Liba is outsourcing its storage and logistics services.
Xu said that after the transition, Liba's profits will "at least double." The company will also expand its services into several different cities. As of May, Liba began offering construction material services in nine cities: Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Hefei, and Beijing.
In 2009 Liba processed RMB 3 bln worth of transactions, and had more than 3 mln registered users.
Keywords: forecast Xu Xiangtao e-commerce Liba Internet B2C registered users profit HR
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