360Buy to Expand Book Selection
West China Metropolis Daily, 2/14/11
Last week, Beijing-based B2C e-commerce platform 360Buy CEO Liu Qiangdong said that 360Buy is currently increasing its product offering, and that by the end of March 500,000 books would be made available online. Liu added that 360Buy's Chengdu book distribution center has already begun operations, and warehouses in Guangzhou and Wuhan would also soon come online.
Industry sources believe that the profit margins for online sale of books are over 10%, a higher figure than the 5% profit margin for the 3Cs (computers, communications and consumer electronics).
According to one industry expert, 85% of Chinese B2C e-commerce site Dangdang's (NYSE: DANG) profits come from book sales, while all other general merchandise verticals record losses. In the e-commerce industry, the gross profit from books and clothing are relatively high.
Keywords: e-commerce Internet logistics profit B2C 360buy Dangdang DANG Liu Qiangdong loss