Wal-Mart has announced it has received approval from the Chinese government to purchase a stake in a leading online retail business, granting access to China’s flourishing e-commerce market.
The US multichannel retailer Wal-Mart has recently been granted approval to buy a stake in Yihaodian, a Shanghai-based online retail business. Wal-Mart, which already has a significant presence in China with a host of ‘supercenter’ bricks-and-mortar stores, hasn’t yet been able to benefit from the infrastructure and model of an e-commerce organisation.
Wal-Mart has been awaiting this approval from the Chinese government since December last year, and the deal is seen as the key gaining access to this burgeoning e-commerce market.
China’s economy may be slowing currently, but that doesn’t appear to be curbing the ongoing popularity of online retail amongst the populace. Already, 210 million Chinese shop online and the average order value in China has mushroomed by 51.6 percent year on year, to 268.4 billion yuan (AU$40.15 billion) in the second quarter of this year, according to Xinhua news.
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Not long ago, China’s online retail sector was barely worth mentioning, however as online payment services such as Alibaba Group’s AliPay make purchasing easier for local consumers, and delivery services adjust to new purchasing behaviours, the rate of online shopping continues to increase.
via Wal-Mart Gains Permission to Buy Stake in Chinese E-commerce | Power Retail.