The article continues:

The most impressive feature of www.11185.com.cn is the “payment + delivery + physical store” platform it offers, as a unique e-commerce platform on the Mainland.

Payment options for the new site include China bank payments, stored value payment cards, postal remittances, the use of Alipay.com, as well as physical post offices.

Delivery options include EMS (Express Mail Service), China Post Logistics and conventional postal packets and parcels.

About 3,000 postal service points across Jiangsu province and 10,000 direct sale stores and franchise stores are to be set up and act as windows for sales of physical goods.

On sale at this online shopping mall are 12 categories of products that include houseware, digital products, home appliances, clothing, shoes, bags, books and audio-visual products. Well-known brands along with specialty and quality products from Jiangsu are on offer.

In recruiting online sellers, China Post only selects those suppliers which are holders of business licences or tax registration certificates.

These suppliers must pay a quality guarantee deposit before opening their stores on the website. Should any products sold online have quality problems, China Post will pay for damages out of the deposit.

Prices offered on the website are lower than those at physical stores. Over 2,200 merchants have joined the website, offering more than 40,000 products.

For online payments, people can pay water, electricity, gas and cable TV bills; they can also purchase air tickets. The online post office provides services such as DIY greetings card production, EMS, collectible stamps orders, newspaper and magazine subscriptions.

By launching www.11185.com.cn, the long-established China Post can now provide buyers and sellers with a new service platform on the Internet.

With its base in Jiangsu, the next move of www.11185.com.cn is to expand to other provinces and cities by taking advantage of its extensive postal network.

Source: HKTDC

Tags: Asia, b2c, China, China Post