Walmart China has big plans in small cities

Updated: 2011-08-25 11:10

By Li Woke (China Daily)

  Comments() Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按钮 0

E-commerce

To become even more localized, Walmart is joining hands with e-commerce players in China and abroad in investing in the country's fast-growing online retail arena.

Walmart reached an agreement with the Shanghai municipal government to establish an e-commerce office in the city to oversee Walmart's online retail operations in China. The retailer and the Shanghai government agreed to work together to train e-commerce personnel and speed the development of online retailing in China.

"The scale of online sales in China is expanding rapidly and is projected to match US online sales in the next few years," said Wan Ling Martello, executive vice-president of global e-commerce for emerging markets at Walmart. "We are very optimistic about China's e-commerce market and its growth potential. With Shanghai as our global e-commerce China headquarters, we look forward to offering Chinese consumers a wider selection of quality products at good value and a great online shopping experience."

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the government-authorized body that maintains the country's Internet infrastructure, China had 161 million online shoppers by the end of last year. Forrester Research forecast that online sales will reach $159.4 billion by 2015, up from $48.8 billion in 2010.

The announcement of the Shanghai office followed Walmart's recent announcement that it had purchased a minority stake in the Chinese online retailer Yihaodian.

Chan said that Walmart China was also testing new marketing strategies, such as sending store information to customers by cell phone or using micro blogs.

Chan attributed part of his success to his previous working experience. Before joining Walmart in 2006, he was the regional director of the Dairy Farm Group North Asia and director of Dairy Farm Management Services Ltd from 2001. Prior to that, he was CEO of the group's Wellcome Supermarket division in Taiwan.

In his spare time, Chan often spends the weekend in Hong Kong and he cooks for his family, his wife of 24 years and three daughters.

"Retail demands long working hours ... but what I did can be a positive influence on my daughters, because they have witnessed their dad's diligence and sense of responsibility," Chan said.

   Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Page