“NetEase Premier” Touted “Global Brands,” “100 Percent Authentic Products,” “7 Day Return Policy”
NetEase Premier was launched in January 2011
Less than one year after its much-hyped launch, “NetEase Premier,” the luxury shopping platform created by the Chinese Internet portal NetEase (163.com), has ceased operations, making it the first casualty of the luxury e-commerce shakeout of 2012. Touting discounts of up to 80 percent on top brands like Hermes, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, NetEase Premier was NetEase’s third foray into the world of e-commerce, following its NetEase mall, online travel business, and third-party online payment service, ePay (网易宝). However, the portal has a history of shutting down its online businesses far more quickly than its competitors, having ceased operations on its online travel site after only 80 days.
As Jing Daily noted at the launch of NetEase Premier last year, the site incorporated many features that have now become commonplace among the dozens of e-commerce platforms both large and small that have crowded into the China market:
Whether due primarily to insufficient inventory, customer service issues or poor profitability, clearly the shutdown of NetEase Premier was dogged by the much greater competition that has entered the e-commerce market in China. As we wrote last month, despite rosy projections on the future of China’s e-commerce sector — particularly its luxury segment — there are simply too many sites out there competing for market share.
In 2012, we expect a serious industry shakeout that should leave a handful of well-capitalized sites with ample inventory and ability to discount, as well as the perks expected by Chinese buyers: free shipping, fast checkout, easy returns, and authenticity guarantees to name a few. As we wrote in our annual wrap-up last week: