360buy.com launches pickup service in Beijing subway

360buy.com, a leading e-commerce retailer in China, expanded its customer pickup service to 20 subway stations in Beijing Tuesday, amid the rising delivery costs and labor shortage during the coming holiday.

It is the first e-commerce company to adopt such a service in China.

Customers in Beijing could pay and pick up their products ordered online at convenience stores located on Line 5 and Line 10 in Beijing from yesterday, 360buy.com announced on its website Monday.

Ordered goods can be kept at convenience stores for three days at most, otherwise orders will be canceled. Luxury goods ordered online can not be picked up at subway stations, the company said.

"We just began to cooperate with 360buy.com to provide the pickup service, as a supplement to our own retail business," Liu Haiyan, a saleswoman at a convenience store at the Guomao subway station, told the Global Times Tuesday.

"Customers can pick up their goods here once they get the short message notice, and they don't need to pay additional fees, nor get any discounts for self pickup," Liu said.

360buy.com currently has pickup spots in more than 100 cities across the country.

Experts said the new service would help the company improve deliveries.

"The move can ease delivery pressure on 360buy.com during the peak seasons like the Spring Festival holidays, as customer complaints have increased recently due to surging orders and labor shortage," Chen Shousong, an e-commerce analyst at consultancy Analysys International, told the Global Times yesterday.

360buy.com began to charge 5 yuan (US$0.79) delivery fee for orders less than 39 yuan from November 25, amid rising delivery cost pressure for online retailers.

Chen said it is uncertain whether the latest move could offset rising delivery costs, as 360buy.com needs to pay commission fees for cooperation with subway stations.

Some customers doubt whether these subway pickup spots can serve efficiently, especially in some busy stations.

"I intended to get my orders at a pickup spot in the Zhongguancun area last Friday, but I gave up because so many people were queuing," a customer surnamed Xiong said Tuesday.