Japanese general merchandise retailer Ito Yokado is to shut down its Beijing store on April 25.

The store has been trading for eight years.

The company blames the closure on its unsatisfactory performance triggered by increasing competition with online retailers.

According to Kantar Worldpanel’s report, the penetration of e-commerce is now 29 per cent, up from 19 per cent two years ago and thrives in key cities where penetration is as high as 46 per cent.

Once the closure completes, Ito Yokado will have eight stores in Beijing and five in Chengdu.