BABA Alibaba Group Holding Limited

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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