IKEA Starts Selling on Tmall in China
March 10 2020 - 6:04AM
Dow Jones News
By Dominic Chopping
STOCKHOLM--IKEA started selling its range of flat-pack furniture
on Alibaba's e-commerce platform Tmall Tuesday, the first time it
has used a third-party retailer in its history as it looks to reach
more Chinese customers.
IKEA entered the Chinese market in 1998 and has 30 stores across
the country as well as its own e-commerce platform on IKEA.cn, but
the Swedish furniture giant has been looking at ways to reach more
customers in the country.
"We are continuously exploring how we can make IKEA home
furnishing solutions and range more accessible," said Tolga Oncu,
retail operations manager at Ingka Group which owns and operates
many of IKEA's stores.
"We believe [the Tmall virtual store launch] will complement
existing sales channels such as our IKEA stores and e-commerce as
we come closer to our customers in China."
IKEA has spent recent years testing new formats and solutions in
various markets around the world to increase accessibility to its
products, including opening smaller shops, planning studios, IKEA
apps and new service solutions as well as launching its own
e-commerce stores in over 50 markets. It will now use the new Tmall
store to learn how the format complements its existing channels and
will evaluate if and how third-party platforms fit into its
mix.
"China as a market has shown a strong digital development within
a unique and advanced digital environment," IKEA said in a
statement.
"We are committed to bringing IKEA closer to the many Chinese
consumers both online and offline by offering diverse meeting
points which Chinese consumers prefer."
The new virtual IKEA store at Tmall will offer around 3,800 IKEA
products and offer the same services provided through existing
sales channels including home delivery, assembly and product
return. Initially serving customers in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang,
and Anhui, the store aims to gradually expand to other provinces
and cities.
In addition to the virtual IKEA store at Tmall, IKEA China and
Alibaba will also explore different ways of cooperation, such as
analyzing the changes and future trends of life at home among
Chinese consumers in the fast-growing online consumption
environment.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 10, 2020 05:49 ET (09:49 GMT)
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