Chinese retailer Suning now allows third party merchants to sell their products through its marketplace.

Already trading through Suning’s newly launched online site are H&M, Rolex, Lenovo, Samsung and Apple.

The move is part of Suning’s broader retailing strategy, it says. The company is transforming from being an electrical appliances retailer to a general retailer through its newly opened “Suning Expo” stores which offer wider range of goods.

Online retailer Jingdong has also launched this kind of hybrid model of e-commerce which it described as “Amazon-like”.

Suning and Jingdong’s marketplaces are a serious challenge to e-commerce giant Alibaba which pioneered the practice of allowing third-party sellers to reach consumers via its “online malls”.

Suning will also be the first private company to run a retail bank after the State Administration for Industry and Commerce gave the green light.