As Group-buy in China Slows Down, Qianpin Focuses on Localizing E-commerce

While group-buying has slowed down in China (see our previous posts here and here), upcoming new start-up Qianpin is focusing on making e-commerce a localized experience. No group-buy or auction here, but instead Qianpin makes an effort to get merchandisers on board, offer discounted items (which can be purchased by oneself) and localization.

In an interview with Sohu IT, Qianpin says that group-buy growth in China has dropped in recent months, and Chinese consumers are getting less impulsive and more rational when buying stuff online. Qianpin also explains that group-buying can no longer meet consumers’ demand and believes that offering a localized e-commerce experience will benefit users more.

Qianpin’s idea is to build a “location-based Taobao” concept in each city in China. Besides direct online purchase from merchandisers, Qianpin also offers free downloadable coupons and location-based deals which are sent directly to users’ mobile. It will also be introducing its Android and iOS apps by year’s end.

qianpin.com

Qianpin just concluded a round of funding and now has more than 3,000 merchandisers on board and is looking to bring that figure to 10,000 by year end. To do that, it has over 200 employees who will help offline businesses come aboard for free. While the process is spoon-fed to start, the e-commerce company is also hoping to give merchandisers full control over how they manage their stores on Qianpin.

Qianpin is currently available primarily in Beijing and Shanghai. On top of its official Weibo account, it also has dedicated weibo accounts for Shanghai and Beijing.

The team is made up of members who used to work for tech giants like Baidu, Taobao, and Jingdong.