LightInTheBox, a Beijing-based online retailer that targets at markets outside China, acquired Seattle-based social ecommerce site Ador at an undisclosed price (via Tencent Tech). The company will then set up its first office in the U.S.
Mark Stabingas, CEO of Ador and former manager of Amazon Payments, is named as president of LightInTheBox, while CTO of Ador Quinten Shay takes the post of senior vice president. Wen Xin and Zhang Liang, co-founders of LightInTheBox are appointed as executive vice presidents.
Founded in 2007 by former Google China executive Guo Quji, LightInTheBox started with selling electronics but gained momentum with wedding dresses and other fashion and lifestyle goods that are low-priced and made in China. In 2012, 98% of the total orders were from overseas customers of European and North American markets. The company went public on U.S. market last June.
Ador is a shoppable digital magazine rebranded from former social commerce and photo sharing service Lockerz. Ador’s services is similar to some of those being offered on Lockerz, which has been transforming itself from a photo sharing service into a photo sharing service with a fashion, celebrity, e-commerce angle to it.
Driven by various reasons, more and more Chinese tech companies mulled to expand overseas market and LightInTheBox is just one of the sucessful cases.