Chinese online retailer Suning.com is to buy 37 Wanda department stores, expanding its offline reach and gaining a customer base of 4 million shoppers.
The move is being seen as part of a trend in online to offline portfolio diversification and a sign of slowing economic growth in China. E-commerce giants Alibaba, Tencent, and JD have made similar transactions in recent months. For its part, Wanda Group has not made and significant inroads online.
Suning was part of a group that purchased 14 per cent of Wanda’s real estate firm Wanda Commercial last year for US$5.4 billion.
The stores are located in downtown locations in tier 1 and 2 cities.
Suning.com says it will use its cloud-computing framework to create a smoother retail experience for customers of the Wanda department stores and focus more on the quality of products and services offered.
Suning.com is an evolution of the former appliance and electronics specialist Suning which is expanding its business both online and offline. Last year it opened more than 4000 grocery outlets across Mainland China.