Alibaba Groups' online auction and e-commerce subsidiary Taobao.com is launching a new website focused on the sale of digital products in China.
Together with Wasu Media Internet Limited, a subsidiary of Wasu Digital Television Media Group, the digital products platform and interactive digital television shopping website is found at Taohua.com. Consumers will be able to shop from home on the Wasu Television Taobao Mall via interactive digital television shopping technology, which allows selection of goods and services using their TV.
Taohua.com and Wasu Television Taobao Mall will be operated by a strategic joint-venture formed by Taobao and Wasu Media. The joint-venture, named Wasu Taobao Digital Technology Limited, will bring together the two companies’ competitive advantages in online retail and digital media. This joint venture has been registered with capitalization of CNY100 million.
"The powerful alliance between Taobao and Wasu will bring together resources in platform, content and users to give birth to an innovative new e-commerce and entertainment platform following the marriage of digital television and Internet," said Fang Jiansheng, chairman of Wasu Digital Television Media Group. "Wasu Television Taobao Mall will be a model of innovation in being first in the world to combine e-commerce with the latest digital television technology to allow a small box to fulfill the online shopping dreams of hundreds of millions of people in the television audiences."
Taohua.com will offer free and premium fee-based content that includes video, audio, e-books, educational materials and interactive entertainment. It is expected to offer a selection of 4,000 motion pictures and 20,000 popular television show episodes at launch.