Suning, a Chinese retailer of appliances, computers and communication products, is poised to expand massively both in China and abroad.

Based in Nanjing, Suning, which has a total of over 1700 stores currently, plans to open more than 400 new outlets across China, Hong Kong and Japan this year.

Suning aims to occupy a niche of 20 per cent of China’s home appliance market which is forecasted to grow to 3.1 trillion yuan (US$475 billion) by 2020.

Suning also plans to boost its sales online. Five procurement and sales centres are to be added to support new online channels. It targets online sales growth of 50 per cent annually for the next decade.

“Our 2012 target for online sales is 30 billion yuan (US$4.75 billion). The site will sell daily necessities, clocks, musical instruments and other goods besides electrical appliances,” said Suning’s chairman Zhang Jindong.

Last year, Suning’s sales revenue reached 93.89 billion yuan (US$14.88 million), of which 5.9 billion yuan (US$935.35 million) were from online sales.

Meanwhile, Suning’s rival Gome Electrical Appliances has reportedly partnered with Chinese online retailer Dangdang. 

GB