IKEA, one of the leading furniture brands, has now started selling its products through Alibaba‘s e-commerce platform Tmall in China. This marks the first time the 77-year old company is selling its products through a third party.
The move seems to be aimed by the company to reach a wider set of audience. IKEA says that the its virtual store on Tmall, which is initially a six-month test across the east coast provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, and the city of Shanghai, is a complement to its own stores, online store and app.
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If the test proves successful, the company aims to roll the Tmall store out to more parts of China. However, it has been clarified that the company currently has no plans to sell through third parties in other markets.
The IKEA store on Tmall will offer around 3,800 of products, along with services available in its own sales channels, such as delivery and assembly. This looks like an attempt by IKEA to adapt rapidly changing shopping patterns, which until a decade ago almost solely relied on its giant out-of-town warehouse stores.
In recent years, the company has invested heavily to expand online and in new sales channels. IKEA currently has around 30 stores in China, around half of which have been closed since January due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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