Open sesame strategy to sector boom

By Winny Wang  |   2008-7-10  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ALIBABA Group yesterday launched a lifestyle service platform by integrating Yahoo China and www.koubei.com into a new company after watching a boom in the industry.

Yahoo China will provide technology and experience to the new platform and the Hangzhou-based www.koubei.com will share its client base in the lifestyle service sector.

Service providers can post information, including real estate, restaurants, friend-making, baby sitters and medical treatment, on koubei.cn.yahoo.com.

"We saw big potential in the service sector and the huge demand will be the biggest business source for the Chinese Internet industry in the next five years," said Ma Yun, head of Alibaba Group which entirely controls Yahoo China and www.koubei.com.

"Integration of the two companies is a very interesting move, as Yahoo China owns good views, thoughts and innovative ideas and www.koubei.com can complete the business aspect."

The new company adopts a 3C mode which consists of commerce, community and communication, and the most important part is e-commerce for lifestyle services.

"We will keep running Yahoo China's original business, such as e-mail and searching services, but the focus will be put on lifestyle service information," said Jin Jianhang, president of the new company.

The platform has covered 2,682 counties, cities and districts across the country and 12 first-tier cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, have entered the fast-developing sector.

Jin said the group had invested hundreds of millions of yuan in the new company.

Koubei.com, set up in 2004 and acquired by Alibaba in 2006, is the country's biggest lifestyle information searching engine.

The Website was visited 31.94 million times monthly and uploaded two million pieces of real estate information every day, according to iResearch.