The number of online mooncake shops has risen sharply as Chinese young turn to them when seeking presents to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

They have discovered the Internet offers a personalized service, cheaper prices and faster delivery than traditional outlets.

Shi Jian, 33, general manager of Zhejiang-based Stone Master Food Shop, said he was delighted to see sales triple compared with last year as the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on October 3 this year, draws near.

Shi launched his virtual mooncake business two years ago and in August developed a customized service costing 98 yuan. This involves printing photos provided by customers on packing boxes and including their personalized messages to relatives and friends.

As an added twist, the packing box with its photo can be folded into a neat frame after its contents have been eaten.

"A lot of customers told me the frame design was a very thoughtful and touching gesture for their loved ones far away," said Shi. He plans to be more creative next year when he intends to allow customers to choose the shape of their cakes. He is hoping sales will triple again.

Many of Shi's online competitors have already filled the market with customized shapes, labels and ingredients. Popular cartoon characters such as Doraemon and Big Big Wolf smile brightly from their designs. Special ingredients have also been used for the fillings, such as nuts, eggs, red date paste, bean paste and lotus paste.

From September 1 to 6, sales of mooncakes at taobao.com, the most successful consumer-to-consumer online retail marketplace in China, reached 6 million yuan, 20 percent up on last year. The age of customers ranged between 20 and 40.

Li Yujie, 27, who is studying for a doctorate at Renmin University of China in Beijing, bought a box of mooncakes for her family in Sichuan province last week. She said the cheaper price and direct delivery service were what attracted her to going online.

According to statistics from taobao.com, mooncakes priced below 10 yuan were most popular, with 6,000 deals made in one month. Sales at the high-end bracket priced over 300 yuan brought in only 16,000 yuan from just 30 sales.

Although young people are attracted to online sales outlets, experts have warned of the risks of buying mooncakes through the Internet, where the quality and origin cannot be guaranteed as easily as they can in ordinary shops.

"Mooncakes have a short storage life, especially ones with nuts and lotus paste," said Sun Jianqin, director of the nutritional department of East China Hospital.

Stone Master Food Shop's Shi added: "Different ingredients have different delivery requirements, some of which cannot be guaranteed by the usual delivery service. The contents might get contaminated so strict guidelines must be followed by the third party such as taobao.com, which benefits our business as well."

Taobao requires every retailer to register as an enterprise legally before opening to the public online and to have a quality and safety assurance issued by the government.

Shi admitted there were many shops online that lacked official approval.

"It doesn't matter. As an online buyer, I know how to choose goods of good quality and protect my rights," the Renmin University student Li said.

One boon for the online retailer is that some organizations have started to buy customized mooncakes for their staff this year.

A futures company in Zhejiang province has just booked nearly 300 boxes of mooncakes from Stone Master, hoping to have their logo, images, messages and slogans on the packing.

"Perhaps I should promote car-shaped cakes next year, to attract vehicle companies as well as ordinary consumers," pondered Shi.

(China Daily September 15, 2009)