IKEA’s choice of Tmall as its only – and first – third-party marketplace shows global brands recognise Tmall is the most-effective entry point to expand into the world’s second-biggest economy.

Home to hundreds of thousands of top brands, Tmall is the preferred platform for brands seeking to digitise its China operations and forge a better understanding and closer connection with consumers in China.

The tie-up also underscores IKEA’s and Tmall’s shared goal of meeting consumers’ pursuit of a more comfortable and convenient lifestyle.

“IKEA is the world's leading home furnishing retailer and loved by many Chinese consumers,” said Jiang Fan, president of Tmall and Taobao at Alibaba Group.“It is truly exciting for us to help IKEA explore online channels and to enable more Chinese consumers to purchase IKEA products with greater convenience.”

The opening of the flagship store will make the IKEA brand and products more accessible to Chinese consumers and lets IKEA learn how to engage with customers nationwide in a new way. The digital shop features around 3,600 IKEA products and home furnishing items.

“At IKEA, we are very proud of our IKEA stores, but we are always eager to learn how to improve our service. We are happy about this collaboration with Alibaba. I’m convinced that we will learn a lot and develop even better ways to meet our customers,” said Jon Abrahamsson Ring, managing director of Inter IKEA Systems B.V.

China, as a market, has undergone strong digital development and now offers advanced and unique digital solutions for brands and consumers. The collaboration with Tmall exemplifies IKEA’s commitment to bringing the brand closer to the many Chinese consumers both online and offline by offering diverse meeting points, which Chinese consumers prefer, said IKEA.

Inter IKEA Systems B.V. (owner of the concept and global franchisor), IKEA Retail China and Tmall cemented their partnership via an online signing ceremony held concurrently in Shanghai and Hangzhou.