360Buy CEO Dismisses Rumors of Real Estate Speculation
Sina Tech, 8/15/11
In response to recent reports which suggest e-commerce sites have been purchasing vast amounts of real estate across China, Liu Qiangdong, CEO of Beijing-based B2C e-commerce platform 360Buy, took today to his Sina Weibo microblog account to refute the rumors. Liu said that the reason the e-commerce platform operator has purchased several adjacent properties has not been to speculate or profit off them, but rather to convert them into storage space. Liu explained that as mainland China lacks storage facilities large enough to encompass items numbering in the millions, companies such as his that don't build their own facilities will either incur significantly higher costs and provide users with a poorer shopping experience.
According to recent media reports, 360Buy currently owns nearly 1 square kilometer of land, and has additional plans to begin construction this year of seven provincial-level and twenty-five city-level logistics centers.
Keywords: Liu Qiangdong e-commerce Internet B2C 360buy logistics