China luxury e-commerce site gets $30m Series C round

Existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) also took part in the round.

Set up in 2008, Xiu.com focuses on bringing global branded products - such as luxury clothing, cosmetics, bags, jewelry, shoes and other home products - to online shoppers in China. It claims to have more than 10 million registered users, with more than 85% of orders coming from repeat customers. The average order value is $240.

More than 600 overseas companies, including Salvatore Ferragamo, eBay, Blue Nile, and Hugo Boss, partner with Xiu.com. Nearly 200 of them sell exclusively on the site to Chinese online shoppers.

This latest round of funding adds to the $100 million investment made by KPCB and Warburg Pincus in August 2011. It will be used to help to consolidate the start-up's international supply chain network and help connect offline stores in Western countries with online shoppers.The Shenzhen-based company also intends to prepare for its forthcoming IPO.

Xiu.com is said to be tapping a trend whereby mainland Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly willing to purchase luxury goods through online channels instead of going abroad.

This trend has arguably been reflected by decreasing sales in shopping destinations popular with mainland tourists such as Hong Kong, where retail sales totalled HK$46.6 billion ($6 billion) as of January, a 14.6% decrease from the previous year, according to government figures. The luxury goods segment has been hit hardest, with sales of jewelry, watches, and valuable gifts falling 21.4%.

"As an online-fashion leading company, Xiu.com operates advanced logistic networks that cover Europe and the US," said Ji Wenhong, the founder and CEO of Xiu.com, in a statement. "Working directly with established international companies, Xiu.com could offer a variety of International brand products and offer Chinese consumers in-season fashion products with lower price than those in other markets."

Another VC-backed e-commerce site operating in a similar vertical is Yoka, which raised $15 million from Baidu, Fidelity Growth Partners, IDG Capital Partners, Matrix Partners and Hearst Corporation, in early 2014.

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• Topics
• Venture
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Technology
• Venture
• China
• Consumer
• Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers
• Pacific Venture Partners
• Growth capital
• TMT