Brick-and-mortar stores are a necessary part of building consumer confidence in online shopping, the head of Internet portal Yam.com (
"The key to running a successful e-commerce business is to have actual retail stores that back up [the Web-shopping sites]," Yam CEO Chen Jen-ran (
Ten percent of the company's revenues last year came from online shopping.
But deliveries of online purchases currently move via postal or express delivery services and are not offered in retail stores.
Chen said that the company has learned that consumers are more comfortable spending online if they can check the products out at actual stores. "Therefore, we plan to integrate our e-commerce service with retail stores," Chen said.
Yam is not new to the industry. In China, Yam subsidiary CyberMart (
He refused to elaborate on what new stores the firm would establish in Taiwan, but did say that "most of them will be through alliances with current players rather than through buyouts."
Yam currently owns a 13 percent share in CyberMart.
One industry watcher called Yam's new business model "the right strategy." "Both the delivery system and payment mechanism are critical parts of the e-commerce business," said Kuo Cheng (郭貞), a professor in the advertising department at National Cheng-Chi University.
Without a physical store to go to, consumers may worry about where can they exchange, refund or get their goods repaired, she said. "Companies have to take consumer shopping habits into consideration and make them feel comfortable to spend," Kuo said.
According to an Internet usage survey revealed by Yam yesterday, online purchases declined in frequency and dollar amount.
In the period from June to November last year, Web purchases made up only 3.7 percent of online activities, down from 4.1 percent the year before. The average amount for each online purchase last year dropped about 30 percent over the year 2000.
Kuo said that although the bad economic climate last year impacted the public's purchasing power, the main reason behind the poor e-commerce record is a lack of market preparation.
"With credit-card fraud on the rise, people are still afraid of using plastic money online," Kuo said.
In addition, the payment system and security mechanism between Web sites, banks and customers still has a lot of room for improvement, she said.
The survey said online content such as fortunetelling and new services saw large growth.
Nevertheless, Kuo said e-commerce still has a long way to go. "I believe we have to wait for several years before e-commerce become popular," Kuo said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RSS