(Ecns.cn) -- A "bricks" to "clicks" shopping transition is taking place in China as an increasing number of consumers turn to the Internet to buy everything from appliances to clothing. As a result, online retailers are fighting a fierce cyber war to expand their dominions.
"Fight with all kinds of profiteering methods!" reads the introduction written by Liu Qiangdong, chairman and chief executive officer of 360buy.com, on Weibo.com, China's Twitter.
Three years after its establishment, 360buy.com's annual revenue hit 10 billion yuan (about $1.55 billion) through frequent price wars, making it the largest online retailer of household appliances in China. As a result, Liu was nicknamed the "Price Butcher" by his colleagues.
360buy.com's achievement has posed a challenge to retailing giants such as Suning Appliance and Gome Electrical Appliances, setting the stage for yet another cyber battle this summer.
A shift in tactics
360buy.com started its business by selling electrical products, while Suning.com has focused on household appliances. Now, like tigers eyeing their prey, both have set their sights on establishing comprehensive online stores.
Even now, online consumers can find 11 categories of products listed on Suning.com, including new items such as cosmetics and maternity and baby clothing.
In fact, Suning's e-commerce business dates back a decade, said Zhang Jindong, Suning's chairman of the board, during a press conference on Suning's ten-year plan last June.
In 1998, the top leaders of Suning held an internal discussion about whether the company should continue its bricks-and-mortar operations or start a new business online. After a thorough market study in Zhongguancun, China's Silicon Valley, Zhang judged that the e-commerce environment was still immature, so they set the plan aside.
That same year, however, Liu Qiangdong resigned from a foreign company and founded the Jingdong Company, which eventually developed into the e-commerce platform 360buy.com in 2004.
Zhang and Liu reached the same goal by different routes, but both are now considering new moves for 2011.
Suning aims to adopt a combined operation mode called "Wal-Mart plus Amazon," expanding its sales territory to a wider range of products, including traditional household appliances, 3C products, general merchandise, books, magazines and many others.
