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What's the latest online fad? Fashionista chitchat!
By Ding Yining |
April 10, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
YOUNG online shoppers love to swap views about bargains they find and chitchat with friends online about how to apply cosmetics or match clothing accessories.
The trend has been captured by social shopping websites, including Mogujie, or Mushroom Street, and Meili Shuo, or Beauty Talks.
These websites differ from normal online retailers like Taobao, Dangdang or 360Buy because they don't actually sell products. Rather, they provide a forum for consumers to talk about products.
The front pages of these social shopping sites feature collages of fashion and cosmetics pictures put there by users who include comments about their experiences with the merchandise. The pictures also provide links to the websites of the sellers.
For example, on Mushroom Street one day last week, a consumer posted a photo of a tee shirt-style top featuring a panda design. The top, which came in both ivory and black, was selling for 39 yuan (US$6.2) on the online retailer Taobao.
The consumer said the texture of the cotton jersey top would be perfect for hot summer days and would look best paired with short pants. The posting drew dozens of comments from other consumers. Some said the panda design was very cute. Another rued the fact that she had bought the same item for 55 yuan in a street stall.
New model
It's not only consumers who like this fashion talk. Online retailer, too, benefit from the chatter.
"It provides a new model for online retailers to capture their potential consumers," said Sandy Shen, an analyst with iResearch Inc. "They can track the comments, the number of user clicks and the numbers of orders that result from the posting."
This kind of social shopping site is patterned after Pinterest, a US-originated website for users to share all kinds of pictures from other sites, including personalized bulletin boards of favorite subjects. The Pinterest model quickly spawned a dozen similar versions in China within a year of its launch.
However, Chinese sites took the model a step further by combining online purchasing with something akin to social networking sites. Users on the sites don't necessarily know one another. They can put tags on pictures, such as "80s," "cutie," "office lady," to show what their particular fields of interest.
For example, if a Chinese user wanted to redecorate her home, she might look at postings with tag such as "interior design." "Customers are now turning to social shopping sites to keep abreast of the latest talk and where to buy fashion," said Tony Chen, president of Interaction GroupM China. The trend enables retailers to manage real-time customers, collecting their reviews and comments and responding to their requests in a timely fashion, he added.
By receiving commissions from each transaction placed on Taobao, Mogujie and Meili Shuo are now earning more than two million yuan each every month. Li Yanzhu, chief marketing officer of Mogujie, said online shoppers post tens of thousands of pictures related to clothing and accessories every day.
Consumer goods companies are also giving out product samples on the social shopping sites, which provides additional revenue. Mogujie's slogan is "share the happiness of shopping."
Sharing tidbits
I think that pretty well describes how many young people feel about the site. It's fun to share tidbits and read what others say about particular merchandise.
Most of the postings on Mogujie, Meilishuo and other sites are linked to Taobao Marketplace, the biggest platform for online retailers in China. Commissions from Taobao vendors currently make up more than 70 percent of the revenue of social shopping sites.
Most of the users who visit the sites are women, who are fashion crazy and love to share their passion with others.
Internet industry insiders predict the social shopping site trend will continue to expand, with market heavyweights like Sina and Tencent also developing their own platforms.
As these sites create a more discriminating class of consumers, online retailers will be forced to pay more attention to the quality, price and public reaction to their goods and services.
The trend has been captured by social shopping websites, including Mogujie, or Mushroom Street, and Meili Shuo, or Beauty Talks.
These websites differ from normal online retailers like Taobao, Dangdang or 360Buy because they don't actually sell products. Rather, they provide a forum for consumers to talk about products.
The front pages of these social shopping sites feature collages of fashion and cosmetics pictures put there by users who include comments about their experiences with the merchandise. The pictures also provide links to the websites of the sellers.
For example, on Mushroom Street one day last week, a consumer posted a photo of a tee shirt-style top featuring a panda design. The top, which came in both ivory and black, was selling for 39 yuan (US$6.2) on the online retailer Taobao.
The consumer said the texture of the cotton jersey top would be perfect for hot summer days and would look best paired with short pants. The posting drew dozens of comments from other consumers. Some said the panda design was very cute. Another rued the fact that she had bought the same item for 55 yuan in a street stall.
New model
It's not only consumers who like this fashion talk. Online retailer, too, benefit from the chatter.
"It provides a new model for online retailers to capture their potential consumers," said Sandy Shen, an analyst with iResearch Inc. "They can track the comments, the number of user clicks and the numbers of orders that result from the posting."
This kind of social shopping site is patterned after Pinterest, a US-originated website for users to share all kinds of pictures from other sites, including personalized bulletin boards of favorite subjects. The Pinterest model quickly spawned a dozen similar versions in China within a year of its launch.
However, Chinese sites took the model a step further by combining online purchasing with something akin to social networking sites. Users on the sites don't necessarily know one another. They can put tags on pictures, such as "80s," "cutie," "office lady," to show what their particular fields of interest.
For example, if a Chinese user wanted to redecorate her home, she might look at postings with tag such as "interior design." "Customers are now turning to social shopping sites to keep abreast of the latest talk and where to buy fashion," said Tony Chen, president of Interaction GroupM China. The trend enables retailers to manage real-time customers, collecting their reviews and comments and responding to their requests in a timely fashion, he added.
By receiving commissions from each transaction placed on Taobao, Mogujie and Meili Shuo are now earning more than two million yuan each every month. Li Yanzhu, chief marketing officer of Mogujie, said online shoppers post tens of thousands of pictures related to clothing and accessories every day.
Consumer goods companies are also giving out product samples on the social shopping sites, which provides additional revenue. Mogujie's slogan is "share the happiness of shopping."
Sharing tidbits
I think that pretty well describes how many young people feel about the site. It's fun to share tidbits and read what others say about particular merchandise.
Most of the postings on Mogujie, Meilishuo and other sites are linked to Taobao Marketplace, the biggest platform for online retailers in China. Commissions from Taobao vendors currently make up more than 70 percent of the revenue of social shopping sites.
Most of the users who visit the sites are women, who are fashion crazy and love to share their passion with others.
Internet industry insiders predict the social shopping site trend will continue to expand, with market heavyweights like Sina and Tencent also developing their own platforms.
As these sites create a more discriminating class of consumers, online retailers will be forced to pay more attention to the quality, price and public reaction to their goods and services.
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