Chinese omni-channel smart retailer Suning has revealed how smart retail will reshape business development.
At the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), the owner of Suning.com unveiled its report in the panel session Intelligent Industries Serving for Better Life. Over four days in Boao, in Hainan Province, the conference was themed “An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity”, and dedicated to China’s 40 years of reform.
Smart retail was about the datafication of all retail factors including products, logistics and the check-out process, and achieving more intelligent sourcing, selling and services, Suning.com VP Sun Weimin told delegates.
He said smart retail also involved applied technology innovations such as omni-channels, internet-of-things (IOT), big-data analysis, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) becoming ubiquitous.
“The linear model of make-sell-consume will be superseded by one of experience-buy-make. The core purpose is to continuously provide better products and services to boost consumer satisfaction and industry benefits, creating better life experiences for people in the context of consumption advancement.”
Industry challenges
Launched at the event, the White Paper 2018 Better Life – Smart Retail detailed research into the smart retail practices of the industry’s biggest players including Alibaba, JD and Suning. The study shares an analysis of trends, forecasts, opportunities and challenges for the industry.
An O2O retail company with more than 27 years’ experience and 600 million registered customers across diversified industries, Suning has introduced innovative business practices to meet consumer demands including cloud storage, a direct-sales store and an unmanned store. Suning says its strategy will also help usher in a 3D-printing era for retail, driving efficient development.
Suning anticipates opening 15,000 internet-connected stores within the next three years with a target of 20,000 by 2020.
Founded in 1990, Suning has two public companies, in China and Japan. Suning Holding as ranked second among the top 500 private-owned enterprises in China last year with annual revenue of US$65.7 billion.
