Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi addresses a speech at the 2013 Guangdong International E-commerce Conference on Dec 25, 2013 in Guangzhou. [Liu Zheng / chinadaily.com.cn]

E-commerce firms should be armed with Internet thoughts

"To be honest, I think the Internet is not only a tool for business, it brings up a new idea: it is to look at business, look at the market, look at our users with completely different angles, it is a completely different idea," said Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, a mobile Internet company since 2010.

He summarized seven phrases as the key elements of the Internet, which are concentration，perfection，public praise and quick response.

Big data, stimulating consumption and e-commerce

According to Tu Zipei, a leading expert on information management and the writer of "Big Data", user behaviors and psychology have changed and public opinion can be readily available and public praise can be quantified on the Internet.

Tu believes that the starting point of online to offline (OTO) is data.

"China has a better foundation for development of electronic commerce than western countries... the key is how to adapt to the demand of diversity of domestic consumers," said Zhang Jianfeng, vice-president of Alibaba Group and president of Tmall.com, China's leading B2C website.