The city of Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province launched an e-commerce platform for local products on Sept 9, after half a year of preparation.

The platform, called "Taoshazhou" (www.taoshazhou.com), offers a range of products in more than 5,000 categories, including fruit, rice, oil, condiments and clothes.

Taoshazhou serves as a one-stop platform to facilitate local residents with lower costs, higher efficiency and a home delivery service. With free registration, the shopping procedure of Taoshazhou is the same as that of Taobao and JD Mall. The website supports various payment methods, including cash, credit card, online banking and Alipay (the electronic payment tool of Alibaba).

Taoshazhou has its own logistics center and a 2,000 square meter warehouse to provide a home delivery service and improve competitiveness with local e-commerce corporations. Customers place orders by phone or computer, which are relayed to the storehouse via the Internet. Orders are then processed and parcels will be delivered by workers - within 20 minutes after customers place their orders. In Yangshe town, orders placed in the morning will be delivered to customers before midday while orders placed in the afternoon will be delivered before the evening. For remote areas, parcels will be delivered within 24 hours.