An e-commerce company based in the U.S. is looking to tap into young, fashionable and tech-savvy Chinese women by selling them top fashion brands through mobile messaging.
Operator, a startup based in San Francisco, California, recently suspended its services in the U.S. to focus on the Chinese market. This is due to the "surging business" that it has experienced since November when it expanded its operations to China.
Chinese users will be able to connect with experts based in the U.S. through their mobile messaging app. These "experts" will be able to provide their recommendations to customers. The company's team then sources and delivers the purchases after the customer decided.
Online translation tools are also available on the mobile messaging app for users who cannot understand English.
Most of the users of the app are Chinese women aged 25 to 35. The company declined to disclose specific user numbers, but they said that many of their users are young mothers and professionals.
The most popular categories on the mobile app are beauty, fashion and baby goods. The company is currently working with hundreds of brands from the U.S. for their inventory.
Robin Chan, the CEO and co-founder of Operator, said: "We think Chinese customers have a big appetite for authentic goods and access to good products. The demand for authentic products from the United States is very strong. The key thing we are looking at is the healthiness of the market in terms of overall performance."
Operator features a "conversational experience" for customers who use their app. According to Chan, conversational commerce is the next big wave in e-commerce because everybody has a smartphone, and the most popular platform is messaging.
The startup has raised $25 million in funding since it was founded in 2015. It has recently closed a Series B financing worth $15 million that will help fund its global expansion.