How China’s Airbnb copycats beat the Silicon Valley titan at its own game
Online platforms such as Xiaozhu and Zhu Bai Jia are modifying the home-sharing culture for those still uneasy about having strangers in guestrooms
It’s hard to guess Zhou Yichang’s profession based on his description.
He visits Chinese families, surveying their living conditions and suggesting improvements. Sometimes he helps them find a handyman, or even paints their walls. Between visits, he answers their questions via a messaging app – as many as 60 requests a day.
But Zhou is not an interior designer or a social worker. He is a customer manager at Xiaozhu, a Chinese Airbnb-like home-sharing company.
“As many Chinese have never experienced home sharing, my job is to help them understand how to cater to guests and solve problems they have,” Zhou said. One family expecting a guest didn’t have a clean, dry bed sheet, so he brought them one.
Airbnb was founded in San Francisco in 2008, but did not set up a China office until less than a year ago – by which time scores of Chinese firms had already copied its business model. Largely unknown outside China, these businesses have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and earned the loyalty of many Chinese travellers. Xiaozhu claims about 10 million active users since it went online in 2012.
