DHgate offers different type of sourcing model

Chine-based e-commerce company DHgate allows consumers and business to purchase goods directly from Chinese manufacturers and has big growth plans after hiring veterans of Amazon, Google, eBay and Alibaba.

The company announced several key hires with deep U.S. and global market experience to expand its presence in the U.S. and other mature markets. With expertise in retail, e-commerce and search, the team is led by recently appointed COO Noah Herschman. He most recently served as managing director for Groupon Goods Asia based in Hong Kong. He also held key customer experience, vendor management, inventory forecasting and marketing roles at Amazon, eBay, Staples China and Twitter.

DHgate has about 4.5 million buyers in 200 countries who use its platform to directly source Chinese goods. The U.S. is the top market for both sales and total customer base, with organic growth in the market accounting for more than half of total merchandise sales for the company. Top merchandise categories include cell phones and accessories, electronics, computers and networking, health and beauty, and fashion and bridal. According to the company, Herschman and the newly appointed executive team will leverage their collective expertise to build a world-class customer experience and website, from product sourcing and shipping, to payment platforms and return/warranty policies, for both U.S. and global customers.

“Our team is focused on taking an already great product and marking it better and driving awareness of this amazing sourcing resource,” Herschman said. “We’ve brought on experts in retail, e-commerce, customer experience, marketing and search to take a China-based e-commerce company and make it a truly global cross-border trade company.”

In addition to Herschman, other recent appointments include Jimmy Lau as vp of international marketing and Carolyn Scott as senior director of brand marketing. Lau previously held senior marketing roles with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and with eBay Private Marketplace. Scott recently held senior marketing roles with Texas Instruments and Starbucks.

Also joining DHgate are Tony Li as senior director of site marketing and Jenny Chen as head of search. Li’s product management and management experience includes stints at Google, EA and YouTube.

“China is the world’s supplier, but most merchandise sourced from China either has a huge mark-up thanks to the brand name slapped on it, or because of the many import and export middleman that mark it up,” said Herschman. “DHgate is providing direct, transactional access to China goods for small-to-medium enterprise and consumers – significantly reducing costs for products coming straight from leading manufacturers and factories.”

DHgate was founded in 2004 by Diane Wang who previously founded and served as CEO of Joyo.com before it was sold to Amazon.