Electric dealers scramble for market cake edge

This cake is more and more big, luring all kinds of electric dealers have entered the ranks of competition, with the strength of experience, there is a quality by virtue of personality to do, there is a strong background is not afraid of loss, there is nothing to be desperately biting a mouthful ... This is a fierce competition in the market, how to grab a bigger cake, and then how to keep the cake, the electric business operators to consider every day.

Strength: "Eat the big cake!"

The temptation of the market cake, the strength of the manufacturers of the power of the big hand a wave, a large amount of a fall: "How big the Cake, the heart is how big!" So, a vertical platform of transformation, a comprehensive platform was born.

July 6, 2011, one of the major companies Jingdong Mall, the official joint Kyushu Tong, together with the internet to sell drugs, this is the Beijing-east from the vertical platform transition to a comprehensive platform for another category expansion, but also it "Cross-border" plan important step. Today's Jingdong Mall, not only sell 3C merchandise, but also sell home costumes, a make-up, food and beverage and even book audio and video, recall the original only selling 3C goods in Jingdong, now a wide variety of it is more worthy of the "mall" title.

Jingdong Mall move is not a special case. In recent years, with the continuous enhancement of the power of the consumer power, some large, powerful platform for the business to explore the diversified development of the road, which from the vertical platform to the general merchandise platform transition most typical.

Dangdang, the largest book retailer in the Vertical field, was first devoted to selling books and audio. Now, once again open Dangdang's page, its sale of goods has been "dazzling", home apparel, makeup, food and beverage and other daily necessities everything, even mobile phone digital, computer office, such as Beijing East main 3C merchandise also impressively in the column. In fact, Dangdang as early as 2007 has embarked on a comprehensive web site transition strategy, and with including Nokia, L ' Oreal, Nike, Adi and other more than 300 well-known brands to reach cooperation. "Dangdang becomes selling books, digital home appliances, clothing, daily necessities of the comprehensive online mall, from a category of books to expand to five or six department stores category, which at that time, it seems, is a very bold idea. Dangdang chairman Yu said.

In fact, not only the Jingdong, but also the remarkable Amazon. So, is not all electric dealers suitable to build a comprehensive platform for the market for the big cake?

"This is not an inevitable trend, only for the specific circumstances of their development, there are some powerful electric dealers may provide such a comprehensive platform." "The first line of manufacturers will try to expand more categories and try to do a comprehensive site, but not most of the company will do it," said Shou, an international analyst at Analysys. ”

"When, Jingdong in China is the leader of the company, will certainly consider to expand the category." Jingdong expansion is to achieve a better scale, to obtain more profits, it was done before the 3C category margin relatively low, so want to pull up the overall profitability, it is necessary to operate more profit space higher category, such as department stores, books and so on. And when the other, consider the overall size of the problem, because the book is a high margin, but the market scale is limited, when the overall scale should be bigger, must break through the book category. Shou said.

"Not every enterprise is fit to do this, especially when a start-up E-commerce site is usually not." "Chen Yongdong, an associate professor of new media communication and marketing in Shanghai Theatre Academy, further explained," The comprehensive website has many kinds of goods, and it is easier for users to find the goods they want to buy, but its upfront investment is huge. When, Jingdong and so can do so, and they have been in the field of E-commerce for many years and gained a lot of experience and lay a solid foundation. ”

Indeed, not all powerful electric dealers can build a comprehensive platform for the big cake, because after all, in the business of the market has been a strong, development of a very sophisticated competitor Taobao mall. Founded in 2008, Taobao Mall, not only attracted a large number of well-known manufacturers, large agents settled in, but also directly opened the electrical appliances, shoes city, home and other channels, so as to classify geographical clear industrial chain relations, improve the logistics, warehousing links service capabilities, And then realized the successful transformation from comprehensive platform to professional and comprehensive platform. According to Taobao Mall website published data show that at present, the mall has more than 40,000 merchants, more than 70,000 brands. Analysys International published data also showed that in the 1th quarter of 2011, the Chinese business market, Taobao Mall alone, occupy 31.4% of the market share, far away from other competitors. It can be seen that for the transition to a comprehensive platform for the electricity business, Taobao Mall is indeed its competition for the market cake of the powerful rivals.

In addition, in the process of competing for the big cake in the market, despite the ambition of the players, the comprehensive platform involves a wide range of large scale, which inevitably brings challenges to the players. "When the book sales accounted for the Chinese book Market size of 15% to 25%, and the current department store business is still at a loss, when the book business income to the development of the department store business." Dangdang CEO Guoqing said.

But Guoqing did not lose confidence in the department store market, he said, department stores are Dangdang's development strategy, the Chinese book market size of 70 billion, after deducting textbooks, teaching and auxiliary may only be 30 billion or 40 billion, and the market size of the department store as high as trillions of. "In the 4th quarter of 2010, our gross margin grew significantly year-on-year, with books growing by 40% per cent year-on-year, and the overall growth of 150% per cent for daily necessities. This strong growth momentum will continue this year. Dangdang CFO Yang Jiahong said.

Visible, comprehensive platform this piece of big cake, Dangdang potential in must. However, because of Taobao, Jingdong and other enemies of fierce competition, this big cake does not seem easy to swallow.

Small and medium: "There are fine cakes to eat also good!"

"Although worse, but at least worse, there is a small piece of fine cakes to eat good!" In the face of the strength of the business of the merchants of the big, small and medium-sized companies have to find their own positioning, settle down, live and cool.

Today, the strength of the companies to go to a comprehensive platform, the market for the big cake, whether this means that the weak, small and medium-sized enterprises can be found without food?

"If you're starting a business, or from an incremental perspective, it's definitely a better chance for a vertical class," he said. Because the comprehensive market has a relatively strong competitor, when, excellence, they are currently characterized by synthesis. They are more mature in scale and experience, and it is difficult to surpass them. So at present, the only way to do business is to select some areas that the mainstream electric dealers have not covered, and look for opportunities to break through. Shou said.

Shou returned said: "The business operator does not necessarily have to do a comprehensive platform to have the future, the market segments certainly have its opportunities." ”

November 6, 2010, a specialized sales of socks vertical web site cotton network officially online. The site reference to the United States "little girl wrong lap Nets", the British "black socks net", the socks as an E-commerce entry, put forward comfortable, simple, environmental protection and other ideas. Shortly after the launch, the cotton net attracted the investment of Angel investment Fund Xiaoping. Less than half a year, the average daily sales of cotton network has nearly 1000 pairs. A few days ago, there are news, the focus of media CEO Jiangnan Spring will be 200 million yuan personal investment in cotton. The big cake is really tempting, but the cotton net, Lok Tao Network is keen on the quality of small cakes circuitous strategy indeed gratifying results.

"The platform of comprehensive Business-to-consumer is very high, need to have back-end logistics distribution and other support, domestic also so several." This is like a city's big department stores, more than 2 to 3, leaving other electric business opportunities are not much. Now see most of the early entry when, Jingdong, 2007-2008 years before the start of the electricity business opportunities will not be too big. "Footwear Vertical Website Lok Tao Net CEO Bi Sheng pointed out. He also stressed that in at least three years to concentrate on the shoe, will not change.

Obviously, Jing-dong, when the "diversity war" did not cause the electric quotient of the follow, in addition to the cotton net and Lok Tao Network, where the customer, Macaulay still monopoly apparel, wheat bags are still selling bags, good music buy still franchise shoes, such examples abound. So what is the future of these electric dealers concentrating on the vertical route?

"In the future, the scale of vertical business will continue to expand, such as the second quarter of different categories of web financing, Jiuxian network in April to complete the first round of financing 20 million dollars; happy to buy May Tencent 60 million U.S. dollars investment, every day net April access to 30 million yuan financing; In June, the diamond confirmed that it had obtained Tencent's tens of millions of dollar investment. As a whole, the segment market has been more VC-like, vertical consumers will continue to exert the network shopping market. "China E-commerce Center analyst Mo Dai Green pointed out.

From this perspective, in the business market, as long as there are fine cakes to eat, even if the size is small enough to solve the worry of food and clothing. This is the best policy for a relatively weak, small and medium sized business. But the question is how can we continue to reap the fine cakes?

The key to the success of the franchise or vertical website is whether these websites can compete with those integrated websites in terms of product types, service flow convenience and service quality. "Chen Yongdong points out.

Mo Dai also stressed that, in the long-term development, for more electric operators, the operator can not win by scale, but should take a small and fine franchise road. The vertical segmentation of the market can satisfy the user's individualized demand, maintain the user's emotion satisfaction, and can catch the user's psychological characteristic and the real demand point, thus obtains the comparatively stable customer group.

"E-commerce in the future will certainly become more and more high, the opportunity has not been a lot of recent years, the overall pattern of the market should be relatively stable, more opportunities may appear in some relatively small areas." Shou sent an explanation.