E-commerce Expansion: Gome Buys Stake In China’s Coo8.com

Chinese electronics and home appliances retailer Gome announced that it has acquired an 80% stake in the business-to-consumer home appliances website Coo8.com, but no financial details have been disclosed.

Under the agreement signed by Gome and Coo8.com, Gome will provide full support to Coo8.com’s procurement and sales of home appliances. At present, Gome sells over 100,000 kinds of products in its retail stores, and all these products will be listed on Coo8.com’s online sales channel. At the same time, Gome will offer help to Coo8.com in nationwide distribution, after-sales services, membership management, and information handling.

Gome said that it will launch a new e-commerce platform and Internet marketing strategy, marking the detailed strategy implementation for its full entry into the e-commerce sector. In the future, Gome will take Coo8.com as its foundation to integrate related resources, lead the Chinese B2C online shopping market, and become the top brand in the home appliances online shopping sector.

In June 2010, Gome published a five-year plan, in which e-commerce was promoted to a strategic level. According to the plan, Gome’s e-commerce business will occupy 15% market share in the Chinese B2C e-commerce sector by 2014.

Wang Junzhou, president of Gome, told local media that the strategic shareholding of Coo8.com is the first major measure for Gome’s development of e-commerce. The company values Coo8.com’s comprehensive online platform and online shopping market resources in ten Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen.