Sina Weibo eyes new functions to drive sales

By Ding Yining | October 30, 2014, Thursday |

Online Edition

SINA’S microblogging site Weibo plans to launch more functions after unveiling a payment system earlier this year as it aims to drive income not only from advertising but from online transactions, company officials said.

Ken Hong, general manager of marketing strategy at Weibo, said it would launch a number of new functions for merchants or verified account owners to sell their products or services to followers.

“We have set up an independent team to work on the product to make purchasing of online coupons more convenient so that Weibo users can not only talk about the movies or concerts they’re interested in, but also buy tickets and let their friends know immediately,” he told a media briefing in Shanghai yesterday.

Weibo is driving collaboration with film production firms and theater chains as Internet users’ demand for entertainment service keeps climbing.

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group bought 18 percent of Weibo for US$586 million last year and the two companies have launched partnerships, including letting Taobao vendors market their products to targeted users on Weibo, but the collaboration has less impact than expected.

Hong said Weibo will also launch more advertising with interactive formats especially on smartphone applications to drive usage.

By the end of the second quarter, Weibo has an average monthly active user base of 156 million, and as much as 78 percent of content was posted from smartphones or mobile devices.

In the second quarter this year, sales at Weibo more than doubled to US$77.3 million, with nearly 80 percent of revenue coming from advertising income.

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Sina Weibo eyes new functions to drive sales

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