Taiwan's retailers target customers through online shopping

Taiwan's economy may be slowing from shrinking exports, but there's one sector that seems to be bucking the trend.

Liu Kao Tsun wants to open a store selling LED light bulbs, but the cost to set up a shop in Taipei is too high.

So the 39-year-old is turning to the Internet.

"An online store allows me to do business anytime, anywhere. It gives me more business opportunities than an actual store," he said.

Mr Liu attends a workshop by PCHome, the island's biggest online shopping mall. And there are many small business owners like him who want to go online.

"When you open a store in an online shopping mall,We can produce Elevator goodchandelier according to your requirements. you save a lot of trouble like advertising and selling the products,Standing seamroofclampff is attached by clamping to a roof deck capable of supporting 3600 lbs." he said.

"We have our own website, but we don't get much exposure. We want to see if we can get more publicity through online shopping mall like PCHome."

PCHome now has more than 12,000 stores since it started e-commerce in 2005.

And the number is likely to grow another 30 to 50 percent this year, despite a slowing economy.

Takara Wei, PCHome Online Vice President, said: "Many owners closed their real stores and moved their entire business online because the costs of rent and staff are too high. And now the slowdown seems to be accelerating the growth of online stores."

Another driver of growth is the increasing number of people heading online to do their shopping.

With millions of merchandise only a click away, online shopping has become a part of life for many Taiwanese.

Now about three-quarters of Taiwan's population use the Internet. More than half have shopped online, boosting the market to US$15 billion last year. And that number is expected to double by 2015.

The market is even attracting big companies to jump on the bandwagon. Taiwan's 7-11, for instance, has successfully integrated its 4,800 chains with its online shopping services.

Despite the growing competition, PCHome is not worried. It says online shopping accounts for one-tenth of Taiwan's retail market. That means there's still plenty of room for everyone.

Japan-based Nichia Corporation, a major light emitting diode (LED) maker, planned to tap LED markets in China and enlarge its market share there, but has been foiled by simmering anti-Japan sentiment in China due mainly to the Diaoyutai island issue, so is considering to cooperate with Taiwanese enterprises for further development, according to wire news.

Two Taiwanese companies, namely Hon Hai Group, the world's largest electronic contract manufacturer, and Epistar Corporation, the leading epitaxy maker in Taiwan and member of Nichia's supply chain, will be part of the joint venture.

For instance, excluding the footholds in Beijing and Shanghai, to cope with rising demand in China,the full Excel family includes the table lamp, wall sconce, ledemergencylamps and chandelier. the firm planned to extend distributorships in Guangzhou, Southern China, as well as increase production capacities 20% there.Browse the UK's best selection of crystallightpp, handpicked from the finest stores and designers.

Influenced by anti-Japan sentiments due to the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai islet,LED light,LED building light,besttube-led, led landscape light, led architectural light,led wallwasher light. many Chinese operators refuse to choose LED components from Japan, which compounds Nichia's attempt to encroach on the long-established presence of Holland-based Philips and America-based Cree in China, all of which cast shadow on the rapid progress made by Nichia in China.