The two companies agreed to work together to build synergies in e-commerce, logistics and incremental business through joint omni-channel initiatives. Under the collaboration, Suning will open a flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall.com platform, focusing on consumer electronics, home appliances and baby products. The store will offer high-quality product offerings at attractive prices and an unparalleled superior shopping experience, Alibaba said.
In logistics, Suning will become a partner of Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate. Suning boasts a nationwide logistics network covering over 90 percent of China’s counties, including eight national distribution centres, 57 regional distribution centres, 353 city forwarding centres and over 1,700 last-mile delivery stations. With Cainiao’s intelligent delivery systems and Suning’s well-developed distribution network, customers can expect to receive their orders in as fast as two hours in the near future, Alibaba said.
The cooperation is expected to give Alibaba consumers outlets for a physical experience with products, while still being able to make orders and payments online and over mobile devices. They will also have access to after-sale services in Suning’s over 1,600 retail stores in 289 cities across China and its over 3,000 after-sales service locations and 5,000 affiliate partners.
