IKEA Group, the Swedish self-assembly budget furniture chain, is joining a growing number of multinational retailers aiming to tap China's online market.
日前,瑞典自组装平价家具连锁店宜家集团即将加入旨在进军中国网络市场、数量不断扩大的国际零售商队伍。
The company will start a pilot project in the second half of 2016 in some cities where it already has physical stores, Xu Lide, the public relations manager with IKEA China, told the Global Times Tuesday. She declined to identify the cities.
宜家中国区公关经理许丽德于上周二接受《环球时报》采访时表示,该公司将在2016年下半年开始,在一些已经拥有实体店的城市实行试点项目。但是她却拒绝透露具体城市。
Before the company enters more second- and third-tier cities in China, "we hope we can let consumers enjoy IKEA's products anywhere and at any time via various channels," said Xu. "E-commerce is a very good complement to IKEA's traditional sales channel".
在该公司进入更多的中国二、三线城市之前,许丽德说:“我们希望能够让消费者可以在任何时间,任何地点,通过各种渠道享受到宜家的产品。对于宜家传统的销售渠道,电子商务会是一个很好的补充。”
The world's biggest furniture retailer opened 13 stores around the world in the year ended August 31, 2015. Three of those were located in China's second-tier cities - Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Xi'an.
截止到2015年8月31日,这家世界上最大的家具零售商在世界各地共开设了13家门店,其中三家分别位于中国的二线城市--杭州,武汉和西安。
Traditional retailers have been rushing into China's e-commerce market this year. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, e-commerce transactions accounted for 10.6 percent of first-quarter retail sales, which stood at 7.8 trillion yuan
传统的零售商今年已经冲进了中国的电子商务市场。据国家统计局统计,电子商务交易额占第一季度总零售额的10.6%,为7.8万亿元。
"Supermarket chains like Wal-Mart Inc and Carrefour missed a window of opportunity to tap China's online market, but it is not too late for IKEA because people in China are just accustomed to buying furniture online," Yan Qiang, a partner with Beijing Hejun Consulting, told the Global Times.
北京和君咨询公司的合作伙伴闫强告诉《环球时报》:“像沃尔玛、家乐福这样的连锁超市错过了占领中国线上市场的机会,但对于宜家来说现在还为时不晚,因为中国人刚刚习惯于在网上购买家具。”
A report issued by Shanghai-based data analysis agency CBNData in March showed that online home furnishing sales in 2015 were up 230 percent from 2013.
总部位于上海的数据分析机构CBNData在三月份发布的一份报告显示,2015年的网上家居销量比2013年增长了230%。
IKEA may face competition from furniture retailers on tmall.com, the business-to-consumer site of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, offering low-cost goods and free delivery service, Yan said.
此外,闫强还表示,宜家可能会面临到由电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团控股的B2C平台--天猫的竞争。该平台提供低成本的商品及免费送货服务。