Best selling online items include clothing, cosmetics, home furnishing, outdoor sports equipment, personal computers, jewelry, laptops and small home appliances.

Customer-friendly experience

Suffering from technophobia, Kang was originally reluctant to accept e-commerce, let alone make a real payment online.

Kang's techno-anxiety resulted in her becoming familiar with online shopping much later than her peers. According to taobao.com, users between 25 and 33 years old accounted for 48 percent of its total usership, while those between the ages of 16 and 24 accounted for 35 percent.

"I'm not good at using the Internet. Although I was told that online payment was safe, I did not believe it would be safer than paying the cashier in the supermarket," Kang said.

After doing it once, Kang found paying online was not as complicated as she had initially thought.

As one of the earliest online shoppers, Fan never found the technology difficult. Before taobao.com was launched in 2003, Fan had been shopping on 8848.com and joyo.com.

These two Beijing-based websites supported payment upon delivery in the city, which helped alleviate payment woes, said Fan.

After AliPay, the leading independent third-party payment platform in China developed by the Alibaba Group, was launched in 2004, Fan began to make online payments.

"I don't worry about the security, because it has third-party administration," he added.

On taobao.com, the buyer first transacts the money to AliPay. AliPay, in turn, asks the seller to send the goods and pays the seller once the buyer confirms the delivery.

The launch of AliPay successfully solved the integrity problem that handicapped the development of online shopping, said iResearch.

By July 2009, the number of registered users on AliPay has reached 200 million.

Willingly or unwillingly, Kang has found herself unable to live without online payment. Last month, she wanted to apply for a professional test, finding only an online payment for the exam fee was accepted.

"Definitely, I will rely on online payment in the future," Kang said.

She has also booked a recent flight online, in addition to paying water and gas bills via the Web.

Kang's experiences with online shopping have not been without shortfalls. This May, Kang bought pecan nuts and beef jerky from a Hangzhou-based seller. After she opened the parcel, she found the packing was open and the beef jerky in it had gone bad. Two bags of beef jerky were also missing. Kang immediately took a picture of the parcel and contacted the seller. The seller checked his inventories and refunded her.

"I'm satisfied with the seller," Kang said.

Taobao has a dedicated customer service department, which offers round-the-clock phone and online services to deal with sellers' and buyers' complaints. It also promises to offer compensation to people who make purchases through the Alipay payment service. If defective purchases are reported within 14 days, Taobao will ask the seller to compensate the buyer. If the seller refuses, Taobao itself will compensate the buyer.

The refund system, with its many consumer safeguards, is not without holes through which some customers may slip in extreme circumstances. Last year, Lin bought a fishing tackle on taobao.com. The delivery arrived while he was abroad, preventing him from examining his purchase for one month. When he finally checked the goods, he found that the seller had sent the wrong product. He asked the seller for a change, but his request was turned down because taobao stipulated that all the requests for refund or change should be made within 14 days after the delivery was confirmed by the buyer.

"Although I was not happy with the wrong goods, I understand the seller. Anyway, it is my own fault," Lin said.

Fan also had a similar experience as Lin. "But if I bought it in the real store, I would also complain," said Fan.

"Most sellers, especially those with more diamonds, will keep their faith, since the buyers would give them bad comments if they don't, which will affect their business," said Fan.

According to Hangzhou Administration of Industry and Commerce, in 2008, taobao-related complaints numbered over 600, only half of that of 2007. Given its total turnover of 100 billion yuan, its business dispute rate is quite low.