LightInTheBox Launches Open Platform
Sina Tech, 5/09/14
Beijing-based English-language wholesale B2C e-commerce platform LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) has announced the company's open platform strategy at an event in Beijing, creating a fashion-focused open platform channel on the LightInTheBox site to sell goods from third-party merchants around the globe.
According to LightInTheBox chairman Alan Guo, products hosted on the open platform will be featured on LightInTheBox's online site and mobile app, with merchants to see their product descriptions translated and localized by LightInTheBox to target a wider global audience. The platform will handle all logistics, customer service, and customer data tracking for merchants joining the platform. LightInTheBox, which has previously only sold goods through its self-operated platform, is targeting third-party Chinese merchants looking to take their products abroad through the new open platform.
LightInTheBox will take advantage of new government regulations in China allowing e-commerce exporters to receive a variety of tax rebates, and the site will soon extend these benefits to third-party merchants joining the site as well. The open platform will initially focus on apparel sales, taking a 15% commission from all third-party merchant sales on the platform, and will not charge a yearly hosting fee to partner merchants.
The LightInTheBox site is currently available in 27 languages, and accepts 16 different currencies and more than a dozen payment platforms. The company operates warehouses in Europe and North America, and is currently undergoing preparation for a South American warehouse. The company has local staff in the US, Spain, Poland, and Brazil, in addition to China.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Update: China to Offer Policy Support for Online Shopping Export" MD 8/30/13 issue.
Keywords: e-commerce LightInTheBox Internet export B2C customer service logistics open platform online shopping LITB Alan Guo online fashion apparel
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