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Image is a screen shot, courtesy of 24city.com.
Here's a screen shot of the list of Babes. The Babe I want to talk to is not online, but her profile appears on the left column. There's her photo, her Babe name, her specialties (cosmetics, perfumes, skin care), popularity votes (418), and the number of products she represents (6).

Image is a screen shot, courtesy of 24city.com.
This is a male "Babe" who's online, you can see him working from his desk. His profile is on the left column, and his Babe name is Over. You can also see his popularity votes (486), and the number of products he represents (293).

I have to admit that I am not a fan of online shopping—but then again, I'm also not a member of that generation born since the 1980s and '90s who practically live on the Internet. 

Shopping is an experience
I shop at the malls.  It's an experience that I would rather not forfeit. I enjoy the interaction with the shop assistants. I listen to what they say about their merchandise and tell them about my likes and dislikes. I ask for discounts, they ask for my contact number, and at that brief moment of exchange, we are friends. 

Online shopping is cold and detached
I don’t get the same intimacy when I shop at the likes of Yahoo! and Amazon. I suppose I can still find out a lot about the merchandise from the customer reviews. The opinions posted should be unbiased, but one never knows. And the language some of the customers use feels Martian to me.

So I stick to the mall.

Shopping with the Babes
But perhaps finally I can have my cake and eat it, too. Now there's China’s 24city.com, an online shopping platform. I accidentally stumbled across it when I was searching for 24 City the movie, which was in competition for the Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and which The Hollywood Reporter called a "moving elegy to modern-day China." Sorry, I digress.

The online shopping site 24 City craftily captures the post-1990s insatiable appetite for freedom, community recognition, and self expression, and created a whole generation of Shop Babes (Gouwu Baobei). These sweet young netizens like to show themselves off and have time on their hands—but most importantly, they're keen online shoppers and their accumulated network connections are unfathomable.

On 24 City, the Babes introduce products to the shoppers just like the assistants would in a physical shop. I think it's more entertaining because some Babes can go overboard sometimes. They show the products and they also show themselves. It is a much more interactive and fun approach than the typical online shopping experience. A seller can identify one or more Shop Babes to push his merchandise, a buyer can enjoy a sense of security in the virtual space, and the Babes can select their preferred seller or merchandise and work at their leisure. (It's a similar idea to those who post reviews on a website like TripAdvisor, except the Babes show their faces in real time.)

It is a happy situation. 24 City builds a differentiated brand. The seller allegedly sells better since they get to use more than just text and photos. The buyer gets personal service and entertainment. The Shop Babes get famous. Yes, the Babes compete to become the most popular by actively promoting themselves on blogs and in forums.

Shopping in 2010
China has a population of 338 million netizens but the number of online shoppers is only 87 million—only a quarter of total Internet users. If you compare this to the fact that two thirds of Internet users in Europe, the U.S., and South Korea are shopping online, you see that China’s online retail outlets have massive opportunities to grow. A recent survey conducted by MasterCard revealed that by 2010, China will have the highest levels of online shopping, which would make up about 1.4 trillion dollars.

And since Generation Y makes up over 66 percent of Internet users in China, Shop Babes is definitely a billion dollar idea that is poised to grow. I look forward to seeing the next big idea coming from Taobao, China’s most popular online shopping mall!