Asian B2Blogs

An interesting post today from Eddie Choi on CEO blogging in the B2B world in Asia. He lists a number of blogs generated by the major B2B sites, most of which I wasn't previously aware of. So, thanks for this Eddie:

- Alibaba Business Blog, Jack Ma Blog
- Globalsources Blog
- Tootoo Blog
- Dhgate Blog
- HC360 Blog
- NetSun Businessmen Forum

They're worth a look because each of them has a distinct 'signature' look and feel which makes it absolutely clear where they come from. The Global Sources blog unashamedly promotes Global Sources and not much else. DH Gate's blog tries to tell the story of trading online with China while Tootoo's blog is a bit confusing.

The Netsun Forum has more of the feel of a BBS which, while out of favour in many other places, remains very popular in China.

DH Gate puts prices up front

I met Celina Chen when she spoke on the same panel as me at ad:tech in Beijing a couple of weeks ago. She is COO of DHGate.com of which, I'm afraid to say, I wasn't previously aware.

This is a catch-up week and I've just looked. It's a very interesting twist on the B2B sourcing model as it focuses very clearly on the small scale transaction. Prices are up front on all pages and the basic product listing leads you straight through payment and shipping options. A couple of sample clicks showed that you can go down to lots as small as 5 electronic picture frames worth $150.

It's clearly shooting at a buyer/seller level much lower than the main target of Global Sources and is much more transaction-oriented than Alibaba. Global Sources has tried to target this segment with its Global Sources Direct service, but that doesn't seem to be a key focus for them.

Global Sources Direct scores 36,105 on Alexa.com's rankings. DHGate is at 6,153. Hmmm. Acquisition target for someone?

P.S. They have a very neat sourcing blog as part of the site on which DHGate executives post.