Website will take on group-buying giants via China

LightInTheBox.com OrderWithMe.com AliExpress DinoDirect.com chinadaily.com.cnWebsite will take on group-buying giants via ChinaUpdated: 2012-02-04 07:48 By Su Zhou (China Daily) Danielle and Jonathan Jenkins HANGZHOU - Jonathan and Danielle Jenkins, a young couple from Texas in the United States, want to challenge Jack Ma's e-commerce empire. Even though they speak little Mandarin, the Jenkins' started OrderWithMe.com in July in Hangzhou, the cradle of Ma's Alibaba Group. The group-buying website allows small and medium-sized Western companies to buy high-quality products in bulk from Chinese factories. In turn, this allows the retailers to save money and earn greater profits. OrderWithMe competes with AliExpress, a similar platform operated by Alibaba, but the Jenkins' said they can do better. "Most small businesses cannot order directly from Chinese factories because they cannot meet the factory minimum quantity. Small businesses are also wary of buying a product from China without seeing it first," said Jonathan Jenkins. By grouping orders from multiple small businesses together, OrderWithMe gives retailers the opportunity to meet the minimum order requirements. In six months, OrderWithMe has already handled $100,000 in transactions. Businesses log on to the website, browse products and pre-pay for the items they want. If the order is worth more than $250, the items are delivered free of charge. "I once met staff members from Alibaba at a trade show in Las Vegas. They were very interested in our idea," said Jenkins. Alibaba uses a third-party payment system called Alipay. Buyers pay for the items upon ordering, but Alipay places the money on hold until the buyer confirms the order has been received. OrderWithMe, on the other hand, pays factories directly, eliminating the payment delay. "Alibaba is a great company, but small businesses need more than just an e-mail contact with a factory." Jenkins is fully aware of the growing competition and has decided to move faster to gain an advantage in the group-buying platform. After securing $3 million in angel funds from the Sino-Japanese Infinity Venture Partners and the US firm SOSventures Investments, the company's website is undergoing a face-lift, which will be unveiled on Feb 20. Because of its six-month growth spurt, the company has expanded from a 100-square-meter (sq m) office to a 2,000-sq-m warehouse. And in three month's time, the two hope to look at business opportunities in Japan. Beyond simply growing in size, the company also plans to offer more products and more categories. "We only started from a niche of fashion and home decor. But our customers need more," said Jackson. OrderWithMe is currently researching products ranging from home-and-garden supplies to electronics. "Our US buyers work with the pre-qualified factories to select their best products. Our customers will give us feedback on which items they like. Our buyers will then select the top products to be available for deals (posted on our website)," said Danielle Jenkins. "After the deal runs, we group the small-business orders together and place one large order with the factory." OrderWithMe plans to branch out beyond Chinese brands and offer its own products this year, starting with fashion accessories and home decor. In-house employees will design the products, and production will be outsourced to Chinese manufacturers. "A lot of Chinese factories don't know how to market their products in a way that captures the attention of Westerners. And their Chinese brand names may not make any sense in English or don't sound appealing, such as Yang Hangzhou Leather Company Ltd," Jonathan Jenkins said. He added that new products will debut online each week once the new website is up and running. Unlike Chinese foreign-trade websites, OrderWithMe is the combination of "foreign trade" and "group buying". It integrates the demands of small businesses all over the world and offers the same prices offered to large retailers. Its business model is simple: by allowing the retail stores to buy directly from the factories, they can save up to 70 percent of the price offered by a US wholesaler. "We are cutting out so many middlemen and providing the best prices to the small businesses," said Gao Yang, co-founder of OrderWithMe. Jonathan Jenkins said the company helps small Western businesses connect with the Chinese e-commerce world. "Everyone knows that it is cheaper to buy directly from China, but most people are overwhelmed by the number of factory options," he said. The Jenkins said their team simplifies the process of buying overseas goods. OrderWithMe finds the products customers are looking for, takes pictures and video, and interacts with customers via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and the phone. "We take care of our customers and treat them like family. And with our money-back guarantee and the ability for them to talk to our buyers, they learn to trust us," Jonathan Jenkins said. He conceived the idea of purchasing goods in China and bringing them to the US while touring the Middle Kingdom. He graduated from Abilene Christian University in Texas in 2005 with a degree in political science and took a teaching job in Shanghai soon after. During his travels, he noticed how inexpensive items were in Yiwu in Zhejiang province, a town known for its wholesale small merchandise market. "In the US, a handbag may cost you $50, but in Yiwu, it will only cost you $4," Jonathan Jenkins said. "I thought it could be a successful business if I bought goods from China and sold them in the US." So he opened two shops in Texas under the name of 'Zida", a Chinese word which means to be arrogant or conceited. "We picked the name because the American women thought it was funny, because they like to buy fashion accessories to feel better and look cooler," Jonathan Jenkins said. He purchased a variety of items from China. However, because he was required to order at least 100 of each item from factories in Yiwu, he was overloaded with inventory and his business ultimately failed. "I was thinking that if I could create a group-buying platform that would allow small businesses to buy together, then we would remove the inventory risk," Jonathan Jenkins said. "Small businesses are too busy to sort through thousands of handbags, so our buyers can help them quickly find the best products." Although they learned from their mistakes, the couple did have encounter some problems in the beginning. It took at least four months working with the local government to get the company fully operational. "There are limitations on foreign-funded companies, but I think things are getting better now," Gao said. But the most trying time might be the next three months, as the company looks to expand as well as debut a redesigned website. Jonathan Jenkins wants the company to grow quickly to squash competitors, but at the same time, doesn't want to lower its service standards. Many websites in China, such as LightInTheBox.com and DinoDirect.com, are jumping into the e-commerce market for foreign trade, but it's not as easy as it looks. "Foreign-trade websites will face the problems of brand recognition, cultural differences as well as the high cost of tax and delivery," said Chen Shousong, an e-commerce analyst at the market-research firm Analysys International. "It is not easy for small- and medium-sized businesses to succeed in this sector. China Daily (China Daily 02/04/2012 page10) Copyright By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved OrderWithMe.com in July in Hangzhou, the cradle of Ma's Alibaba Group (American Run)China's e-commerce giant Some online markets and websites were also included on the list. China's e-commerce giant Taobao was reported to have engaged in piracy and counterfeiting, and two Chinese music websites, Sogou MP3 and Gougou, were cited for providing services deeply linked to music copyright violations. "I will admit that some of the websites provide rights-infringing products or services," said Fang Xingdong, board chairman of the Beijing-based IT think tank Chinalabs.com. "But it is unfair to label these websites 'notorious markets' since other online stores registered on the websites will be affected by the list," Fang said. China has made great efforts to crack down on piracy and counterfeiting in recent years. Statistics from Taobao show that the company had addressed a total of 62 million items of information regarding trade in rights-infringing goods during the first 11 months of this year, and 570,000 of its members have been punished. Some U.S. brands have already shown their confidence in China's markets. Nike, Benefit, and Coach have all opened online stores on Tmall.com, the business-to-consumer (B2C) website owned by Taobao. Arabic software and animation production: build state-leveled Arabic software animation base Arabic software include Arabic Linux operating system, Arabic office software, Arabic antivirus software, Arabic electronic dictionary, business integrated service platform etc. Xinjiang has gained the upper hands on Arabic software industry. Ningxia should encourage software enterprises to look further to Arabic software for business and investment opportunities, should encourage the production of Islamic animation. Actively hold technical seminars and presentations in Arab countries, meanwhile, encourage the translation of Arabic animations. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/07/c_131112558.htm Qinghai YIJIA BUHALA Group Co. began humbly with only 70,000 yuan in northwest China 13 years ago but has now become the largest Muslim traditional cap and clothing manufacturer in Asia, with total assets of nearly 420 million yuan and a global market share of 40 percent. Unlike many other Chinese small enterprises, YIJIA discarded sales agents and established its own distribution outlets in its overseas markets such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria. http://news.xinhuanet.com According to the MIC, about 14 percent of global mobile phone users are also smartphone users in 2011. Therefore, the industry aims at emerging market such as Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African countries, and plans to develop mid- and low-end smartphones to be sold at less than 300 U.S. dollars in 2012. Such low-end smartphones will account for 17 percent of mobile phone sales in 2012 and nearly 50 percent in 2016, the MIC said. As a global IT hub, Taiwan produces half of the world's chips for computers, mobiles phones and other electronics, according to the Taiwan Semiconductor Association (TSIA). The MIC estimated the rapid growth of low-end smartphones will boost the island's semiconductor sector and relevant Taiwanese companies will further expand investment on the Chinese mainland. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/index.html Yang Hangzhou Leather Company Ltd Tekxon Tekxon Z68 2.0" LCD 5.0MP CMOS 12MP Max 8x Digital Zoom Camera Tekxon DV7000 HD 720p VIVIKAI DV-558 RICH HD-A75 Full HD 1080p 10. Tekxon may not be a name you've heard of and indeed the camcorders are not quite so easy to get hold of, but the VZT8000F is the Taiwanese company's latest addition to its full HD range. Tekxon DV7000 HD 720p VIVIKAI DV-558 RICH HD-A75 Full HD 1080p 10. Solar Camcorder 2.4" TFT 12.0 Mega Pixels Digital Camera DC530 Vivikai DV568 MPEG4 LCD Winait Winait DC540 2.7in TFT LCD 5.0MP CMOS 12MP Max Ressolution 8X Digital Zoom Digital Camera ORDRO ORDRO HDV-Z30 HD HD-A70 1080P ChinavasionBack in 2005 when Chinavasion opened, this was the first and only website you could find shipping consumer electronics direct from China to your door. You could always take our speed and efficiency for granted…These days … there are literally hundreds of Chinese copycat websites and you need to BEWARE that NONE of them are TRUE WHOLESALERS. In our view, to be a wholesaler means to have stock on the warehouse shelf of what you are selling, and ship it out ASAP when you receive the order. In our experience here on the ground in China, and testing the services of many similar-looking websites, we’ve realized that we are still the only company which actually believes in that service standard. Despite the hundreds of copycats, Chinavasion.com is still the only place you can go for true, honest "what you see is what you get" direct online ordering. If you want certainty and speed – your choice is Chinavasion. Click here to read more… http://www.chinavasion.com/stock-and-speed Yiwu-based Langsha Group the country's largest producer of socks and stockings.