Yahoo names e-commerce chief to boost digital offering

Jacky Wang (pictured), head of e-commerce of Yahoo Taiwan, has taken up a new role as vice president of e-commerce group at Yahoo Taiwan and Hong Kong to optimise its e-commerce business through three directions - O2O business modal, paperless redemption, and cross-border operation.He fills the empty head of e-commerce position since Jenny Li left the company to head up as shopping and e-commerce director at HKTV.At a press conference yesterday, Wang said over 60% of Hong Kong’s online shopping population are "mobile shoppers", according to the Yahoo Hong Kong "E-Commerce Purple Paper".Up to 30% of last year’s transactions on Yahoo were made on smartphones, reaching as high as 35% during weekends. The updated iOS Yahoo Auction app introduced last year has also recorded an increase in daily average traffic of over 300%."What these figures are clearly showing us is that mobile shopping is already an unstoppable trend in Hong Kong. Its culture and trends that are closely similar to that of Taiwan, along with its robust and transparent legal system, makes Hong Kong the perfect market for Taiwan brands to kick-start cross-border transactions," said Wang.The three major e-Commerce business development strategies include:1. O2O integrated e-commerce model – unveiling of four “Digital Locker” locationsYahoo Shopping's first self-serve redemption service “Digital Locker” launched last year aims to bring mobile online shopping service from “shopping online” to “collecting offline”. This year, the service has added four new service locations, two situated at Sha Tin (Wo Che and Yu Chui), and one each in Cheung Sha Wan and Tsueng Kwan O. All of which are now in operation, providing a total of 390 digital lockers.2. Implementation of paperless redemptionKicking off on Yahoo Deals app (including iOS and Android versions) this month, this programme enables consumers to browse promotional deals more easily and pay via mobile with their credit cards. The redemption of promotion coupons can be done by scanning the QR code or barcode, enabling consumers to fully enjoy the advantages of mobile compatibility, location-based service and real-time interactions.3. Cross-border operation – introduction of Taiwanese brands and commodities planned for 2015 year-endThe operation aims to complete the integration of the two e-commerce platforms of Yahoo Hong Kong and Yahoo Taiwan by the end of 2015 in order to offer more diversified choice of goods to local shoppers.At present, brands that have cooperated with Yahoo Taiwan – including red bean water seller E-JOY Biotechnology, “allin organiclinic” 5 Greens Detox Juice and S10 Collagen Powder seller Dailuxi, lingerie brand Qmomo and fashion brand JERRYSHOP – are on the list of brands entering the Hong Kong market."We are now working on the implementation details in terms of logistics and currency flow, and expect the integration of the two platforms to be completed by the end of this year."Additionally, Yahoo Hong Kong will strive to integrate a variety of e-commerce services this year, such as Yahoo Deals and Yahoo Auctions, and is planning to launch Brand Stores, in hopes of shaping Yahoo Shopping into Hong Kong’s largest diversified online shopping platform,” he added.