360BUY.COM CUTS INTO AFTER-SALES SERVICE FOR EXPANSION

AsiaInfo Services
04-15-2011
360buy.com Cuts into After-sales Service for Expansion

BEIJING, Apr 15, 2011 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- 360buy.com, one of the fast-expanding online retailers in China, is looking to make a push into the after-sales service market for a bigger share of the electronics market, a move market observers say will possible pose a great threat to retailers in Beijing.

360buy.com has gained a license from Acer Inc., one of the world's top-ranking personal computer (PC) makers, to provide after-sales services for the Acer laptop computer users to come up with a rising demand, said Wang Zhijun, the newly-appointed vice president for the Beijing-based company, on March 16.

As part of its efforts, 360buy.com will set up an after-sales service center for the detection of the Acer laptop initially and maintenance services in the future, according to Mr. Wang.

360buy.com is in talks with a group of electronics makers for the licensing of after-sales services in the country, disclosed Mr. Wang, noting that the company spent two to three months preparing for the proposed cooperation with Acer.

"360buy.com poached many an engineer from some after-sales service providers for the launch of the new business," said Mr. Wang, "then they were sent to Acer for training for some time."

The company expects to make after-sales service one of its controllable operations in the long run, pointed out Mr. Wang, explaining why 360buy.com turned to after-sales service at a time when most of its peers outsource such services.

Statistics from Forrester Research showed that a majority of the new computer users came from Brazil, India, Russia, and China at the moment, with the user growth in China topping 27% a year. There are more than 40 million laptops in China.

Such an expansion, according to market observers, will deal a blow to existing after-sales service providers in Zhongguancun, a renowned electronics fair. At the moment, gross profit margin of after-sales service stand at 10% in the country, disclosed Mr. Wang.

360buy.com plans to integrate the after-sales service of the 3C (communication, computer and consumer electronics) makers that market products on the 360buy platform to make itself the biggest 3C product after-sales service platform operator in the country, according to Mr. Wang.

The multibrand after-sales service center will extend its reach to all the products available in the long run, starting from 3C products such as mobile phones and PCs, said Mr. Wang, noting that 360buy.com markets products for more than 1,000 suppliers at the moment.

Source: www.sina.com.cn (April 15, 2011)

KEYWORD: BEIJING INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Internet & Online Services & Media SUBJECT CODE: Internet & Online Services
E-commerce
SinoCast China Business Daily news
SinoCast China IT Watch
3C
after-sales service
PC
expansion
platform
electronics
operation

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