IKEA Group, the Swedish self-assembly budget furniture chain, is joining a growing number of multinational retailers aiming to tap China’s online market

IKEA Group, the Swedish self-assembly budget furniture chain, is joining a growing number of multinational retailers aiming to tap China’s online market

The company will start a pilot project in the second half of 2016 in some cities where it already has physical stores, Xu Lide, the public relations manager with IKEA China, told the Global Times Tuesday

Before the company enters more second- and third-tier cities in China, "we hope we can let consumers enjoy IKEA’s products anywhere and at any time via various channels," said Xu

"E-commerce is a very good complement to IKEA’s [traditional] sales channel," Xu noted

The world’s biggest furniture retailer opened 13 stores around the world in the year ended August 31, 2015. Three of those were located in China’s second-tier cities - Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Xi’an

Traditional retailers have been rushing into China’s e-commerce market this year. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, e-commerce transactions accounted for 10.6 percent of first-quarter retail sales, which stood at 7.8 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion)

"Supermarket chains like Wal-Mart Inc and Carrefour missed a window of opportunity to tap China’s online market, but it is not too late for IKEA because people in China are just accustomed to buying furniture online," Yan Qiang, a partner with Beijing Hejun Consulting, told the Global Times on Tuesday

A report issued by Shanghai-based data analysis agency CBNData in March showed that online home furnishing sales in 2015 were up 230 percent from 2013

IKEA may face competition from furniture retailers on tmall.com, the business-to-consumer site of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, offering low-cost goods and free delivery service, Yan said