CHINA BRIEF | Ikea launches flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall

Sweden-based Ikea, known as the world’s biggest furniture company, has opened a flagship store on Alibaba’s B2C e-commerce platform, according to a press release of Alibaba on Tuesday.

The digital shop features around 3,600 Ikea products and home furnishing items. This is the first time the firm has made its products available on a third-party marketplace, according to Alibaba.

“It is truly exciting for us to help Ikea explore online channels and to enable more Chinese consumers to purchase Ikea products with greater convenience,” said Jiang Fan, president of Tmall and Taobao at Alibaba Group.

The collaboration with Tmall exemplifies Ikea’s commitment to bringing the brand closer to the many Chinese consumers, both online and offline, the Swedish company announced.

Ikea, which had opened 33 bricks-and-mortar stores in China since 1998, shut down all its stores in the country due to the novel coronavirus on January 30, according to the company’s Chinese WeChat account. Stores have gradually started to reopen from March 1.

This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.