Taobaotopia?

I have, for a long time, imagined a Taobaotopia. A world where online shopping has drastically reduced the need for retail brick-and-mortars. Less demand for retail real estate means cheaper office and housing space. Or more space for parks. Swimming pools. Unicorns.

But now, Taobao has thrown my world into a tailspin by opening a giant showroom. Not an online showroom, but a real, physical showroom. Has my Taobaotopia gone wrong?

The Taobao furniture showroom: a half an Ikea

It turns out, Taobao understands me better than I understand myself. One of the few real-world places that I still shop is Ikea. But it is always a half-nasty experience.

The crowds are terrible, and can be especially dangerous when you introduce shopping carts full of curtain rods and overstuffed bags of pillows.. Making the journey from the showroom to the warehouse is like descending into the dark pits of hell. And the weekend checkout lines are a disaster. Would you like it delivered? A second checkout line awaits!

The Taobao Furniture Showroom promises to scrub all that by putting transaction Online where it can be handled cleanly. Taobao, you have done it again!

Apart from the pack-it-flat, build-it-yourself principle, one of Ikea’s big efficiency innovations was to let customers find their own stuff in their big warehouse. But that part always sucks, as does the negotiation with the SUV drivers waiting outside Ikea.

Time to give it a try

I say it is time we head on over to Taobao’s 25,000-square-meter Beijing mall. This mall displays 22,000 items from over 300 suppliers. Orders and payment only take place online. Taobao says it plans to open similar showrooms in other major Chinese cities.

Taobao Mall is the division of Taobao devoted to major brands and ‘official’ stores. When Nokia or Uniqlo wants to open an official store on Taobao, they go to the Mall. With the hiring of the former Apple China GM, maybe Taobao will be putting a greater focus on attracting top-tier retailers to the site.

Via Alibaba.com

And it feels so good. 3c.taobao.com is now online serving up a streamlined shopping experience. Run your purchases through the Taobao Electronics Mall and you won’t need to do a lot of comparison shopping.

For example, I bought this sweet HDTV a few weeks ago only after thorough investigation. Totally unnecessary now. The Taobao Electronics Mall gives me a pretty good price and thorough reliability. Shipping included in the price, and guaranteed 7-day unconditional return. All the good stuff.

I love you TH-P42S10C. I love you so much!

If you have been waiting for a slightly easier, slightly more secure option for your Taobao shopping, you found it! Live the feeling!

Rumor is abound that Taobao is preparing the launch of a dedicated B2C consumer electronics platform, which is internally being referred to as the “Taobao Electronics Mall”, before 2010 Chinese New Years.

The products offered on the platform will range from home appliances to computers to mobile phones – basically anything you can find in the Gome electronics store.

There is no official comment from Taobao – but my sources inside say they have been noticing that some of the top programmers and business operations people disappearing from the office in the past two months. Speculation is that they have been siphoned off and reassigned to this top secret new project.

With the launch of this Taobao Electronics Mall, it signals that Taobao is contemplating venturing into specialized B2C platforms to address different pockets of consumer needs. With the many specialized platforms in China’s B2C sector such as 360buy for consumer electronics; Dangdang for books and music; and Eachnet for household goods, Taobao seems to have recognized demand for segmented platforms and is deciding to test out the waters with consumer electronics. This begs the question of whether Taobao will also launch specialized B2C platforms for other product categories.

The interesting thing is, Taobao is going in the opposite direction from that of 360buy, which had previously been solely dedicated to consumer electronics. 360buy launched a general mall earlier this year that sells everything from household goods to apparel, but it hasn’t been very well received and perceived by industry insiders as a risky foray into unfamiliar waters while abandoning their core business.

For the Taobao Electronics Mall, Taobao aims to provide a platform for B2C or C2C but not engage in the sale of products itself. However, the fact that Taobao is setting up a logistics center in Shanghai raises questions of whether it may be for the purposes of this new B2C consumer electronics platform.