China's Smartphone Maker Coolpad Dives Deep Into E-Commerce

“Go online or go home” seems to be the ethos of retail in China these days. Even at the risk of having a lower profit margin, Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad is determined to charge ahead in the e-commerce battle.

Forty to sixty percent of its sales will come through e-commerce channels within two to three years, said CFO Jiang Chao of the Shenzhen-based company at a press conference on Thursday. In the first half of 2014, Coolpad sold three million smartphones online, accounting for 13% of the period’s total sales volume.

“Moving into e-commerce is not simply a change in sales channel. It is part of a revolution of future business model,” explained Chairman Guo Deying of the rationale for going all out on e-commerce. “We need to face the customers directly. We expect gross margins of hardware to continue to lower, [therefore] we hope to have an interactive relationship with our customers to grow our customer base. This business model is consistent with the broader trend.”

Source: Review China mobile phones. Find out which inexpensive China phones are worth buying. Reviewsinclude smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets.