Not all retailers are enjoying China's Single's Day shopping bonanza. Some brick and mortar shops are protesting against online retailers, claiming it violates their business.
Nowadays everything can be purchased online. But should everything be purchased online?
At this year's Single's day shopping festival, some brick and mortar stores, or offline furniture stores in particular, are saying no.
"According to our association, we will not be responsible for delivering furniture to people who buy online. Online furniture retailers will not be allowed to have point of sale terminals in our association's brick and mortar stores. And finally, we are here to provide a unique in-store experience that cannot be replicated online," Che Jianxin, CEO of Red Star Mecalline, said.
This has resulted in online retail platform Tmall halting its online furniture sales model.
Mr. Che is firm in his belief that brick and mortar furniture stores are still in demand, while others believe online and offline are destined to co-exist.
Mr. Che is firm in his belief that brick and mortar furniture stores are still in demand, while others believe online and offline are destined to co-exist.
"The offline furniture business is still viable for the long term, especially for high-end furniture. Normally we sell upscale furniture in brick and mortar stores and put our lower end products online. This has turned out to be a good way of doing our business," Che said.
"There should be more cooperation between offline and online shops as technology continues to advance," Ren Yuan, Contemporary China Research CTR at Fudan University, said.
Despite the quarrels, it's predicted by many that in the future ties between online and offline retailers will only grow stronger.
Source: CCTV
