Home appliance makers take the online route for growth

Online sales have helped Chinese home appliance makers, especially air conditioner manufacturers achieve sustained business growth amid an industrial slowdown last year, according to a new industry report.

The report published by AVC, a consultancy that specializes in data on home appliances, said online sales of household air conditioners increased 85 percent year-on-year to 9.8 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) in 2014.

Meanwhile, domestic manufacturers sold more than 3.6 million units of household air conditioners via e-commerce platforms, up 93 percent from 2013, according to the report.