Suning to expand offline impression by adopting store-in-store strategy

The loss-making French supermarket chain Carrefour is to sell 80% of its equity interest to the e-commerce platform Suning in exchange for more than 200 in-house stores operated by the latter, selling mainly 3C products and home appliances. The strategic approach adopted by the online big player is to boost its offline exposure as well as brand name awareness within a short period. Apart from Carrefour, Suning has also lined up with Alibaba-backed supermarket chain RT-Mart, with a clear purpose of gaining greater recognition with regard to the other two leading e-commerce providers Alibaba and JD.