In traditional commerce, due to information asymmetry and producer hegemony, consumers were in a disadvantaged position. Internet and mobile internet have torn down many information barriers, enabling users to have a say. Thanks to that, business democratisation happened, and currency has become the votes of consumers.
Based on such an idea, what truly win the favour of investors this year include businesses related to women, kids and travel. Specifically, there are three main areas.
First, disintermediation and deinstitutionalisation in consumer services.
Decentralisation is a big opportunity in the wake of mobile internet. This aspect has been very hot. Typical examples include Edaijia.cn, Tops001.com as well as Meimeidou. There are many other similar areas. In fragmented markets like housekeeping, carers can be enabled to reach customers directly.
On the other hand, intermediaries, like banks and real estate agents, will not disappear. As those transactions are proceduralised, in areas where institutions are needed to endorse, intermediaries are unlikely to disappear in near future. But in fact, a large number of intermediaries exist owing much to information asymmetry.
For instance, forms like China's 4S car shops will soon undergo changes. The mode of 4S car shops is based on information asymmetry. In future, 4S car shops will split into two parts, sales and services. No more "one shop for one brand". This mode is not sustainable. The status quo is 4S car shops are moving away from cities to suburbs.
Secondly, communitisation and socialisation in vertical socialised e-commerce.
I have divided business opportunities in the past decade into three stages.
Stage 1: knowledge of communication and advertisement can help you earn money easily.
Stage 2: traffic is the key. The landscape of Chinese internet today is based on the traffic in the era of PCs.
Stage 3: It is all about socialising. When we come to e-commerce today, what we are actually talking about is socialised e-commerce rather than online vendors.
Back in the era of Web 2.0 (2005‒2007), socialised e-commerce was a buzz word. But it does not catch on until the era of mobile internet. Typical examples include Mogujie.com, Meilishuo.com. There are also many other vertical areas that stand a chance. We have paid special attention to these projects, such as Itugo.com and Kou-dai-yu-er, which were invested by us last year. We are focusing on areas like cosmetics this year.
Thirdly, information structuralisation and service standardisation in O2O services in fragmented markets.
This area is even hotter. But O2O is not easy. O2O has become a loose term. Yet in many industries a fundamental issue still remains; the informationalisation. Before low-level information is structuralised, it is futile to talk about O2O.
While everyone is staring at industries like catering, home improvement, housekeeping and auto care, these industries have not been fully informationalised. Much needs to be done out there. Only when this work is done can the mobile internet be given full play.
For example, the reason why Ele.me has been popular, on one hand, is its market share; on the other hand, it has much to do with its no-POS system. Likewise, Gewara.com is able to operate ticketing business across cinemas because there is a unified management system already.
Therefore, we now need to pay special attention to the informationalisation in vertical areas. What I mean is informationalisation 2.0. Not only do we need to structuralise data, but also move it onto the cloud. In this regard, I have just invested in a project of a cloud-based PMS solution provider for the catering industry.
At the same time, as markets are fragmented, the job is not easy and demands strong execution. Recently Taobao's Tao-dian-dian has died down a little bit. While this is not what they are good at, this might be a chance for start-ups.