Rumor: 360Buy Pads Online Sales Revenues with Offline Sales
Ebrun, 8/13/12
A source surnamed Zhao involved in Beijing-based B2C e-commerce platform 360Buy's offline sales business in Shanghai revealed recently that many of his offline sales came from sales of 360Buy products. Throughout the offline transaction process, customers can purchase items and receive order receipts printed by 360Buy with 360buy.com order numbers without having to log onto the company's website to place an order, as well as VAT receipts provided by Shanghai Yuanmai Trade.
When contacted, a 360Buy vice-president surnamed Wu said that to the best of his knowledge, "360Buy is not involved in offline sales." Lu Zhenwang, an observer of the e-commerce industry, said that the practice of adding offline sales volumes to e-commerce sales totals to boost online sales volume figures and increase company valuations has long been considered a common "dodge" in the e-commerce industry.
Shanghai Yuanmai Trade is a subsidiary of 360Buy responsible for 360Buy services and logistics systems in Shanghai and the East China region. Official records for the company show that it has a registered capital of RMB 100 mln, and that 360Buy CEO Liu Qiangdong is the company's legal representative.
Editor's Note: When contacted regarding rumors that it was engaging in offline sales and counting offline sales revenues towards its online sales volumes, 360Buy stated that it had never established offline sales channels and would never attempt to attract investors or increase its valuation with falsified sales volumes. While the company emphasized that it had no offline sales channels, it could not rule out the possibility that offline retailers had purchased large volumes of 360Buy products during sales promotions for later resale.
Keywords: Lu Zhenwang Yuanmai Trade Liu Qiangdong e-commerce Internet B2C 360buy sales volume revenue transaction volume
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