Internet helps unknown names to shine
Print Edition
WITHOUT making use of any physical stores, China’s smartphone maker Xiaomi has gone from zero to US$10 billion through online sales alone in just three years.
With no advertisement, traditional food seller Huangtaiji amassed over 100,000 followers on Weibo, or the Chinese version of Twitter, while doing 1 million yuan (US$162,000) of monthly sales in under two years.
Their business modes and subsequent success were unimaginable a decade ago. But since China has become the world’s No. 1 with 618 million Internet users, or nearly 46 percent of total population, an increasing number of enterprises like Huangtaiji are embracing new ways of doing business.
Internet-savvy He Chang, 33 and founder of Huangtaiji, turned a street-corner deli into a popular brand by employing strategies ranging from online marketing to close consumer-company interactions on social networking sites.
Huangtaiji sells “jianbing,” a traditional Chinese pancake made on the spot and a popular take-away. In 2012 its first small Wi-Fi-equipped store opened in east Beijing’s CBD, winning popularity among young white-collar workers who like to share food photos online. The firm now has four stores in Beijing and rakes in 1.6 million yuan in sales per month.
“The success of Huangtaiji is an example of how Internet-based business strategy works,” said Zhang Xinsheng, a researcher with the China Institute of Communications.
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