Online Shopping from

1688/Taobao/Tmall
Tran Thi Phuong Hai
June 2022

I created this project to practice and demonstrate my product management

knowledge and mindset. This project is constantly updated as I am learning and
enhancing my knowledge in this area. Hope you have a look. And if you have any
feedback, I am more than welcome to receive it.

Let’s analyze this product idea using the

Product Development Process below:

7. Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6.
Steady
State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

5.
3. Develop
Launch

4.
Iterate
 7.
1.
Maintain
Concei
or Kill
ve

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

4. Iterate

Brainstorm for ideas.

Products sell on Taobao/1688 gets high interest from Vietnamese
users recently due to its rich variety of products, high quality and
good price. However, here are some burdens that stop our
consumers from reaching this source:
- Language barrier: Taobao only uses Chinese for their
interface
- Too large library of products
- Risk of buying online
- Requirement to order with a domestic phone number
- Complexity in payment
- Unavailable international shipping.
- Complex customs procedures

A website that facilitating

Idea
1688/Taobao/Tmall ordering

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 2

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

Getting Users’ In order to identify Core Pain Points

4. Iterate

Needs

Step 1 Find out who to talk to

Let’s find 3 potential group of people to talk to:
▪ Group 1: Retailer
▪ Group 2: Wholesaler
▪ Group 3: Internal operation team

Then we evaluate them with 3 criteria as the below table:

Retailer Wholesaler Internal

operation team

Size To be researched To be researched 5

Pain point Buy different products Track ordering View history of

with small amounts process each consumer
Accessibility Buyer access Buyer access Admin access

Step 2 Finding potential interviewees:

For Group 3, I think it would not be an issue setting up interviews with the internal
operation team
For Group 1 and Group 2, I can have several ways to find the relevant contacts:
▪ Social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram…): Search for the people who
interacts and comment the most on the Chinese goods ordering topic.
▪ The competitors’ page/topics about the competitors: Search for the people who
interact and comment the most
If our product is already existed and operated, we can use some other ways to find
interviewees:
▪ Search the people who comment on our blog, because they want to be heard.
▪ Search for the people who have high engagement with our product
▪ Ask customer service to ask questions at the end of the conversation for their
feedback
▪ Use the live chat function: ask to see the chat logs and continue the
conversations.

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 3

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

Getting Users’ In order to identify Core Pain Points

4. Iterate

Needs

Step 3 Sending Group 1 and Group 2 interview invitation email.

To ensure the email reach the potential interviewees and have high chances of
responses, the email needs to be personal, short, valuable, and with specific schedule.

Here could be the example email:

(If the product is not existed yet)

Hi Shaun,
I read your posts on ordering Chinese goods on the Facebook Group “Taobao
Order”. I was impressed by the advice you shared with the community by your
ordering experience that you have accumulated.
I am building new software that helps people to facilitate their ordering
processes on Taobao, 1688… fast and efficiently.
I am not looking to sell anything, but since you have so much expertise with
ordering from such platforms, I’d love to get your advice on our product, so we
don’t build the wrong thing.
If you are available, I’d love to chat for just 20 minutes this Thursday morning?
Looks forward to hearing from you soon

(If the product is already existed, and we are trying to

set interviews with the existing customers)

Dear Catherine,
I read your post on Reddit Forum. I’ve noticed that you are struggling with the
“Delivery” feature in our product.
It appears that you have spent lot of time with our product and have a better
understanding of our product than other customers. Therefore, I would like to
solve your problem, and also get your advice on the products’ enhancement.
If you are available, I’d love to chat for just 20 minutes this Thursday morning?
Looks forward to hearing from you soon.

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 4

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

Getting Users’ In order to identify Core Pain Points

4. Iterate

Needs

Step 4 Deliver the customer interview

I did 3 interviews with my friends and these are some insights that I collected from
them.
Some question examples could be:
▪ Could you please tell me about your experience ordering in Chinese shopping platform?
▪ What is your feedback about the services providers in the market now? What do you
like about them and what do you wish to change?
▪ What is the ideal ordering experience that you want to experience?

Here I would sum-up the main insight collecting from these interview:

Customer insights

▪ They are hesitant about the language barrier, the credibility of the products,
seller, delivery man
▪ They want to buy directly from the shop
▪ If they choose an intermediary, they would want to find out its credibility based
on friends’ references, reviews on social media, history and the development
process
▪ They want to track the ordering process and estimated delivery time
▪ They are willing to pay for service fees and home delivery fees, and the fees
should follow the market range

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 5

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

4. Iterate
Market Research

Market research can be done by two approaches: Top down & Bottom up
#1 Top down: Define the total market and then estimating what our share of that market is:
Total market can be found by Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Here is the number of google ads’
volume of each key word:
▪ “Order Taobao”: 22,7 million
▪ “Order 1688”: 74,9 million
▪ “Order Tmall”: 19,4 million
Total market can also be found by finding industry reports for ordering 1688/Taobao/Tmall

#2 Bottom up: Find out the current sales of similar products and estimating how much those sales
we can capture

Competitors

List down the list of competitors in the market

▪ Chau Anh Order ▪ Individual

▪ Hai Tau logistics ▪ Facebook Group
▪ Hangquangchau.com.vn ▪ VT1688.om
▪ Alibaba1688.vn ▪ Dathangtaobao.vn
▪ Toptaobao.net ▪ Nhaphangtaobao.com.vn
▪ Pugo.vn ▪ Taobtaovietnam.vn
▪ Quynam.net ▪ Ordertrungquoc.com.vn
▪ Welog ▪ Shopee / Lazada / Tiki
▪ Lamphongchina.com ▪ Consumer who order directly in
▪ Davitrans.com Taobao/1688
▪ Thuongdo.com

Then we can evaluate the competitors based on the following criteria:

Features Tier 1: Tier 2: Potential Substitute Our product

and Factors Direct Indirect competitors competitors
/ Direct competitors competitors
Competitor
s
Price
Reability
Features X
Ability to do
Y

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 6

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

4. Iterate
Build Persona

NEEDS
- Search and select items from a diverse library
- Negotiate the price for big numbers of items
- Export invoices when purchasing

CHALLENGES
- Select the reliable supplier and the middlemen
- Ensure the ordering timeline
Johnson
- 35, Male Criteria No Yes
- Married with two children.
I’m a tech savvy X
- Works in Ho Chi Minh City as an importer of an
small size printing company. The company I’m a shopaholic X
import items from China, personalizes the
items by printing names/logos and sell to I am a fashionista x
enterprises. I accept ads x
- Proficient in English, Chinese. Native in
Vietnamese I want to buy easily
x
- Has an HP Probook 450 G8 and quickly

NEEDS
- Search and select items from a diverse library
- Simple ordering and purchasing process
- Cheap price

CHALLENGES
- Cannot use Chinese
- Unfamiliar with the middlemen to reach Chinese
shopping platform

Christine Criteria No Yes

- 27, Female I’m a tech savvy X
- Single. Works in Hanoi, Vietnam as an
I’m a shopaholic X
Accountant.
- Basic in English. Native in Vietnamese I am a fashionista x
- Has a Macbook Air
I accept ads X
- Likes to go shopping online for her own and
for her parents.
I want to buy easily
x
and quickly

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 7

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

4. Iterate
Build Persona

NEEDS
- Search and select unique Bohemian clothing items,
with good quality and styling
- Offer good price

CHALLENGES
- Select the supplier provides unique style and good
product quality

Suzie Criteria No Yes

- 30, Female. I’m a tech savvy x
- Lives in Danang, Vietnam
I’m a shopaholic x
- Married with one child
- Owner of a popular online clothing store. The I am a fashionista x
store offers unique items in Bohemian style
- Basic in English I accept ads x
- Has an Asus Zenbook X
I want to buy easily
and quickly

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 8

 Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch
Develop

Epic
Below is an example of the Epic spec sheets
4. Iterate
Write the epic spec sheets that contain all
requirements for building a product, which
aligns with company visions and goals

#1 - Introduction
Epic: Export product data (type, size, price, image) when user paste product link on the
field
This epic is to:
- Improve the metric lifetime value and total visits
- Reduce user acquisition steps
- Reduce the risk of unstable data export (compared to installing browser extension
option)

#2 – Product requirements
User requirements:
- “As a user, I want to view the image and price of the product that I
have just browsed from 1688/Taobao/Tmall, so that I can buy the exact
product that I want”
- “As a user, I want to select type, size, amount of the product, so that I
can buy the exact type, size amount that I want”
Acceptance criteria:
- “Given I am a user and I click the “Select” button after pasting the
product link, I am presented with a field with the product image, price,
and the fields that I can select type, size, amount of the product”
- “Given I am a user, after selecting the type, size, amount of the
product, I can view my Shopping cart updated with the product, as well
as type, size, amount and price that I have selected”

#3 – Design requirements

#4 – Engineer requirements
This part is filled by Engineers after having discussion with PM

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

3.
5. Launch Develop

Estimation & Identify the story points and the velocity

4. Iterate

Velocity to make accurate estimation

In order to measure the difficulty of the task, ask engineers during Sprint Planning Meeting how hard
it is to do it, then we rate the task’s difficulty by its story points

The total story points that the team completed in one sprint makes the velocity number

Prioritizations

To prioritize, select prioritization methods among Assumption testing/the BUC method/the

MOSCOW method based on the available data.

Let’s say we have 3 tasks to prioritize:

1. Extract product data when user inputs product’s link

2. Add “Chat with us” function

3. Online payment
In this case, let’s prioritize by using BUC method, scores each tasks based on their business benefits,
user benefits and cost in the range 1 -10
Then,
Taskprioritization score will beBusiness
calculated by addUser
the benefits
score of theCost
benefits and subtract the costscore
Prioritization
benefits
Extract product data when 8 9 9 8+9-9=8
user inputs product’s link
Add “Chat with us” function 5 7 6 5+7-6=6

Online payment 7 8 10 7+8-10=5

From these above analysis, we can have the tasks’ priority from high to low as following:
Extract product data when user inputs product’s link -> Extract product data when user inputs
product’s link -> Online payment

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 10

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process
3.
5. Launch Develop

4. Iterate
MVP I will go through 7 steps to run an MVP experiment:

Step 1 Product/Solution Ideation

•Problem: Buy products from Chinese shopping platform with language barrier, and
complicated ordering and purchasing process
•Solution: Build a user friendly intermediary platform to help user facilitating shopping
process from Chinese shopping platforms

Step 2 Identify assumptions, and find the riskiest

"In order for my idea to be successful, the following must be true…”
- The users want to own the shopping experience from end to end, including
selecting the products, ordering, purchasing and tracking the shopping experience
- The users find it troublesome to use a Chinese language platform
- The users find the ordering process from Chinese shopping platform complicated,
especially opening an account, purchasing with domestic bank, and only domestic
delivery is allowed.
- The users are willing to pay an extra fee if a reliable intermediary platform helps
them to solve the hard part of the ordering process
- The users are wiling to pay an extra fee if a reliable deliverer helps them to check
the goods when receiving from providers

The riskiest The users are willing to pay an extra fee if a reliable intermediary platform helps them to
assumption: solve the hard part of the ordering process

Prioritize the assumptions based on their degree of risk and difficulty: how risky the assumptions are
for the company or product, how much effort you need to make to test the assumptions
High Risk

- The users find the ordering

process from Chinese shopping
platform complicated,
especially opening an account,
purchasing with domestic bank, - The users are willing to pay
and only domestic delivery is an extra fee if a reliable
allowed. intermediary platform helps
them to solve the hard part of
- The users are wiling to pay an the ordering process
extra fee if a reliable deliverer
helps them to check the goods
when receiving from providers

Low Difficulty High Difficulty

- The users want to own the

The users find it troublesome
to use a Chinese language
platform
shopping experience from
end to end, including
selecting the products,
ordering, purchasing and
tracking the shopping
experience
11

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai

Low Risk
 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process
3.
5. Launch Develop
MVP I will go through 7 steps to run an
MVP experiment: 4. Iterate

Step 3 Build testable hypotheses around your assumptions

We believe the users has a problem of ordering goods from Chinese shopping platform
because:
- The platform is in Chinese
- The platform does not offer international shipping
- The platform requires local account to order
- It is hard to check the goods when receiving from the supplier
If we let the participants can select and view the whole ordering process transparently,
lifetime value, and total new activated user metric will be improved

Step 4 Establish the Minimum Criteria for success (M.C.S.)

Cost Reward
Employee (Engineers,PM…) time Increased revenue
Labor wages Time spent on the page
Opportunity costs Increased satisfaction
Advertising costs Conversion rate
Customer LTV
Percentage of people that sign up

Step 5 Pick MVP strategy type

I choose Explainer MVP, which means creating 2 videos to explain what the
website/app does, one is the sale pitch, one is a short tutorial.

1. The sale pitch video makes a fake promo to pitch the product

2. The tutorial video explains how the product works, and the uses of specific
features. Even it is not real yet, the video can be edited and added effects that
makes it look real.

Reasons:

- The target audience are young people, so they get familiar with watching
video
- Video reaches the audience faster than just the text pages
- Explainer videos can get through the product features
- We can get the feedback and ideas from users when seeing their interaction.

Step 6 Execute the MVP experiment

Use platform to create video: Vyond, Davinci Resolve

Step 7 Evaluate and learn from the experiment 12

From MVP Experiment, we can collect Quantitative data Put it together in order to
From M.C.S, we can collect Qualitative data make decision on the product

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

5. Launch 3. Develop

4. Iterate

Wireframe From above analysis, I have created wireframe using Balsamiq

The wireframe is in from page 14-19

Below are some pictures in preview

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 13

Wireframe - Main Page 1/6

ALittleCrochetThings

https://chineseorder.com.vn

Logo
Order From 1688 / Taobao / Tmall 5 Your Order
Fast. Reliable. Transparent.

About Us Start ordering by entering the product link from 1688/taobao/Tmall... to the below box:
https://detail.1688.com/offer/614082248214.html?spm=a261y.76632 Select

Contact Us
   Your Order

Chat with us Ongoing Completed

 Hello. I'm Catherine.

How can I help you?
This is the item's name  100
Type: Green Size: M Amount: 3
Status: Received from Supplier
Image
Type here...

This is the item's name  100

Type: Blue Size: L Amount: 3
Status: Deposit pending
Image

This is the item's name  300

Type: Retro Size: L Amount: 1
Status: Home delivery
Image
Wireframe - Completed order 2/6

ALittleCrochetThings

https://chineseorder.com.vn

Logo
Order From 1688 / Taobao / Tmall 5 Your Order
Fast. Reliable. Transparent.

About Us Start ordering by entering the product link from 1688/taobao/Tmall... to the below box:
https://detail.1688.com/offer/614082248214.html?spm=a261y.76632 Select

Contact Us
   Your Order

Chat with us Ongoing Completed

 Hello. I'm Catherine.

How can I help you?
This is the item's name  100
Type: Green Size: M Amount: 3
Status: Received
Image
Type here...

This is the item's name  100

Type: Blue Size: L Amount: 3
Status: Received
Image

This is the item's name  300

Type: Retro Size: L Amount: 1
Status: Received
Image
Wireframe - Add to Cart 3/6
ALittleCrochetThings

https://chineseorder.com.vn

Logo
Order From 1688 / Taobao / Tmall 5 Your Order
Fast. Reliable. Transparent.

About Us Start ordering by entering the product link from 1688/taobao/Tmall... to the below box:
https://detail.1688.com/offer/614082248214.html?spm=a261y.76632 Select

This is the item's name $200

Type Select Size Select Amount 1 Add to Cart

Contact Us
   Image

Chat with us

 Hello. I'm Catherine.

How can I help you?

Your Shopping Cart

One more step and they are all yours!

Type here...
This is the item's name  100 
Type Green Size M Amount 3

Image

This is the item's name  100 In Stock: 5 

Type Blue Size L Amount 3

Image

Your name

Phone Number

Email

Shipping Address

Note

Subtotal:  600
Service Fees 6
International shipping 3
Domestic shipping (in China) 1
Order Total  610
Deposit  305
Submit Order
Wireframe - Shopping cart 4/6

ALittleCrochetThings

https://chineseorder.com.vn

Logo
Order From 1688 / Taobao / Tmall 5 Your Order
Fast. Reliable. Transparent.

About Us Start ordering by entering the product link from 1688/taobao/Tmall... to the below box:
https://detail.1688.com/offer/614082248214.html?spm=a261y.76632 Select

Your Shopping Cart

One more step and they are all yours!
Contact Us
  
This is the item's name  100 
Type Green Size M Amount 3

Chat with us Image

 Hello. I'm Catherine.

How can I help you?

This is the item's name  100 In Stock: 5 

Type Blue Size L Amount 3

Type here... Image

Your name

Phone Number

Email

Shipping Address

Note

Subtotal:  600
Service Fees 6
International shipping 3
Domestic shipping (in China) 1
Order Total  610
Deposit  305
Submit Order
Wireframe - Payment 5/6

ALittleCrochetThings

https://chineseorder.com.vn

Logo
Order From 1688 / Taobao / Tmall 5 Your Order
Fast. Reliable. Transparent.

About Us
Confirm Order 

Your name Shally Jones

Phone Number +841234567

Contact Us
   Email Shallyjones@gmail.com

Chat with us Shipping Address 1002 Block A, XYZ Apartment,

 Hello. I'm Catherine. District 1, HCMC, Vietnam

How can I help you?
Note N/A

This is the item's name  100

Type here... Type: Green Size: M Amount: 3
Image

This is the item's name  100

Type: Blue Size: L Amount: 3
Image

Subtotal:  600
Service Fees 6
International shipping 3
Domestic shipping (in China) 1
Order Total  610
Deposit  305
Cash on Delivery  305

Your Wallet $1000 Recharge to my wallet

I confirm making deposit for this order

Confirm Deposit
Wireframe - Item details 6/6

A Web Page

https://chineseorder.com.vn

Logo
Order From 1688 / Taobao / Tmall 5 Your Order
Fast. Reliable. Transparent.

About Us
This is the item's name

Type: Green Size: M Amount: 3

Image

Contact Us
    Deposit pending   Order confirmed  Ordered from supplier  Received from supplier 
   
Received Home delivery Arrived in local warehouse International delivery
Chat with us

 Hello. I'm Catherine.

How can I help you? Price  100
Service fee  5
Domestic shipping (in China)  1
Item 231 Type here
Total  106

Already paid  53
Need to pay  53
 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady State Product 2. Plan

Development
Process

5. 3. Develop
Launch

4. Iterate

Wireframe From above analysis, I have created wireframe using Balsamiq

When launching, let’s think about the metrics to measure the product’s success based on the
framework AARRR (Private) created by Dave McClure
A.A.R.R.R stands for Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral and Revenue
Under each category, we can use these metrics:

#1 - Acquisition
Total visits

#2 - Activation
Total new activated users

#3 - Retention

Retained users, resurrected users

#4 - Referral
Share rate, Conversion rate

#5 - Revenue
Lifetime value, cost per acquisition

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 14

 7.
Maintain 1.
or Kill Conceive

6. Steady
Product 2. Plan
State
Development
Process

5. 3. Develop
Launch

4. Iterate

From above analysis, I have created wireframe using Balsamiq

This time, we work with market team, PR, sales team for public launch
It is also the time to see the public reaction

At this stage, we get maximum return, where we continue marketing and sales

We analyze the data of our product

- Its competitiveness in the market
- The user reaction
- Return on investment

Online Shopping from 1688/Taobao/Tmall | Tran Thi Phuong Hai 15