Li Hao

A LOCAL online clothing business has become the first online store in the country to receive venture capital backing after receiving a non-governmental injection of 8 million yuan (US$1.18 million).

Established in June with a registered capital of 1.6 million yuan and located in Shekou in Nanshan District, the store, Fontbleau, designs its own clothes for ladies between the ages of 25 and 35, according to Song Yang, the shop’s sales manager.

The business also supplies fabric to authorized manufacturers, selling them via Taobao, China’s most popular online shopping Web site. The shop received 500 orders totaling over 100,000 yuan in one single day after it has opened for one week.

“Women’s increasingly diversified need for clothes cannot be met by the traditional online industry, which directly procures from wholesale markets and sells on the Internet,” Song said.

The business is run by a team of only 10 people, each with at least five years of experience in online business — an important reason for the venture capital group’s choice of the shop, Song said.

The robust market for women’s products on the Internet also attracted the investor, Song said.

Sales of women’s clothes on Taobao surpassed 6.4 billion yuan from over 20 million buyers in the first quarter of this year. Total sales for the year are expected to exceed 25 billion yuan.

Brands with unique designs have outperformed traditional brands.

However, Song declined to reveal the name of the venture capital provider.

“We plan to spend the capital on brand promotion, especially on Taobao. Meanwhile, the money will be also used to improve the quality of our clothes by employing well-known designers. We’ll consider setting up our own factory,” Song said.

In two months Fontbleau will begin selling its products on Paipai, an online shopping Web site affiliated to Tencent.

It also plans to open its own online shopping Web site, www.uwoo.com, within the year.

Source： Shenzhen Daily  Editor： 洪志科