Vancl to Focus on Mobile Business in 2013
TechWeb, 4/24/13
Chinese B2C clothing website Vancl announced today that it has established a mobile innovation business division to oversee the expansion and implementation of innovative mobile client-based services. Vancl's two main mobile clients at present are its Vancl mobile app and its public account on Tencent's (0700.HK) WeChat (Weixin) mobile messaging application. According to Vancl assistant president Luan Yilai, mobile internet sales so far this year have accounted for a 25% greater share of 2013 sales than the company's internal sales projections from last year had predicted. In Q1 2013, orders placed from mobile handsets accounted for 30% of all orders. The company has more than 10 mln active purchasing mobile client users at present. Luan predicted that this would drive growth in mobile sales in second- and third-tier cities, noting also that iOS users and female customers accounted for a large proportion of activity.
Luan said that WeChat conversion rates, customer loyalty, and customer activity figures were all significantly higher than those for traditional web-based customers, owing to the opportunities for one-to-one interactivity and marketing afforded by mobile clients. Conversion rates can reach 8% or higher via WeChat, as compared to the 1% or 2% typical for web conversion rates.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Vancl Details 2013 Restructuring Plan" MD 4/08/13 issue.
Keywords: strategy Vancl female wireless B2C Tencent 0700.HK iOS WeChat Luan Yilai mobile application e-commerce mobile IM m-commerce
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