Meituan.com, one of many Chinese group buying websites, has revealed its sales statistics for the first five months of 2012, stating that its overall sales reached CNY1.476 billion, and the company expected to realize profit by the end of the year.
Wang Huiwen, vice president of the privately-held company Meituan.com, asserted to local media that the company's sales from January to May 2012 were CNY200 million in January, CNY240 million in February, CNY300 million in March, CNY350 million in April, and CNY386 million in May, reaching a total of CNY1.476 billion.
At the same time, Wang disclosed the company's statistics related to its new return policy for expired products. He said that in May 2012 alone, the company returned CNY19.41 million to consumers, accounting for 5% of its sales of the month. The return policy for expired products is a new policy launched by Meituan.com in March 2011. Under this policy, consumers will be able to return coupons bought from Meituan.com if they do not use them before the stated expiration date, providing more flexibility to consumers.
According to statistics previously published by Meituan.com, from March 2011 to February 2012, the company returned CNY78 million to consumers; while its sales during the same period were CNY1.819 billion, which was an eight times growth compared with the previous year.