Retailer Argos quits China and terminates cooperation with Haier electric supplier

"Billion Power network News" February 27, billion power network learned that the UK's largest retailer Argos and Haier Group joint venture's website Love Gu shopping mall has recently announced the dissolution, and may close the site in the near future.

Haier Group officials said that the termination of cooperation due to the UK investment Fang procurement strategy adjustment, decided to withdraw from China business. Haier electronics respect each other's choice, and agree with each other, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the existing business parties voluntarily liquidation.

It is reported that Love Gu mall formerly known as Haier's website "Day Shun Le", by the British National Yue Procurement (Home Retail Group), the retail brand Argos and Haier joint venture operation. Last December, Japan and Japan Shun Le family announced the cessation of operation, and the original customers to the new launched Love Gu Mall. Japan and Japan to provide logistics and distribution, after-sales service and other support, specific operations by the Argos sent the team responsible. In this regard, Argos officially entered the Chinese online retail market.

In less than two months, however, the news of the impending dissolution of the mall began. According to billion power network to understand, senior electrical business personage Shangxiang through Micro Bo first time disclosed the above information. The latest news shows that love Gu Mall will abolish all employees.

"The foreigner said that does not have the electric dealer in China, the website has not been closed temporarily, the telephone is also because has behind the work to come out not to cut off." Haier will not continue to love Gu Mall in the name of operation, and how the operation has not been finalized. Operations are also just a follow-up finishing process. Employees said that, because the other party to give more generous compensation, so do not want to make a secret.

According to Haier's official statement, the JV company will strictly comply with the state regulations, properly solve the customer's after-sales service and staff related issues, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and employees.

Billion power network to call Love GU Mall customer service hotline, its customer service Commissioner and the relevant personnel responsible for investment, said that the company has not received the "dissolution" or "stop operation" of the notice, also did not receive any information on "layoffs", the site is still operating normally, and does not affect the user orders. and billion power network to call Argos more than offline stores, have no answer.

Pattern replication hopeless?

Some industry analysts said that Argos to withdraw from the Chinese retail market is likely to be affected by two aspects: the model is difficult to replicate, or investment intentions of the two sides disagree.

According to the overseas media disclosed that Argos in the United Kingdom in the use of the electric business model, users are more accustomed to online orders, physical stores themselves, this and domestic electrical business door-to-door way.

According to data from the 2011 Financial Times quoted by the Ministry of Commerce, the Argos and Homebase brands of Home Retail Group have a total of 1100 stores in the UK, of which Argos stores reach 750. These very broad layout of the offline shop to become Argos and end consumer communication of the dense tentacles, but also consumers to pick up the important backing.

At home, Argos only set up 8 physical stores in Shanghai, its coverage is limited, and more concentrated in the relatively developed Pudong New area. "User mention and go shopping mall no difference." ”

On the other hand, although Argos together with Haier's daily courier, but in the distribution, the real realization of Japan and Japan Shun "one day to send" and "two-day" is still limited to local Shanghai, other regions can only choose the general distribution of Third-party logistics.

In addition, Argos has not had too many stores and operating experience in China, originally tried to use Haier's brand and offline entity resources to replicate the British model, but its market positioning and Haier's Japan-Japan shun the three or four-line market crowd more difficult to fit.

Love Gu Mall customer service told billion power network, currently Argos in China only to provide online sales and local store sales in Shanghai. This also means that Haier day along the line near more than 6,000 chain stores and Argos line completely fragmented, can not be synchronized sales, and can not afford offline purchase and pick-up point function.

Strategic differences in cooperation?

There are close to one of the joint venture Haier, said that love Gu mall dissolved "may be with the group for the future overall strategic planning of the business."

According to billion power network to understand, Haier Mall as the current main push of Haier Group, in addition to selling Haier free products, but also toward the direction of business development, to provide home appliances solutions, and strive to build a one-stop service platform for home appliances.

By contrast, the joint venture model of Love Gu Mall (the day before yesterday, Shun Lok Home) The independent development of a certain degree of difficulty.

Judging from the current situation of domestic electric business, to the days of cats, Jingdong, Suning easy to buy the main platform to control the online retail market share, one of the days of cat and Taobao two joint-venture platform is a trillion annual sales of a ride dust, the giant monopoly of the basic structure of the establishment.

Looking at other platforms, there are no overseas retail companies or electric business enterprises can become "spoiler", even if Amazon and Wal-Mart in the process of entering China's electricity market, but also face the many localization of risks and challenges.

According to the Financial Times, in 2010, Argos and Haier invested 45 million pounds in the local market pattern did not have much impact, on the contrary, the first half of the Argos almost total loss of profits. and billion power network through the alexa.com to obtain the flow data analysis, Japan and Japan Shun Le home since its inception, the degree of visits hovering at a lower level.

Daily average visit trend of

Obviously, and many market mature business platform compared to, whether the previous day Shun Le home, or after the replacement of the domain name of Love gu Mall, short-term catch up with the hope of the basic has been shattered. "In the premise of difficult to profit, Love Gu Mall for Haier is more" chicken ". ”

Billion power network noted that, as has been in the international market to chop the spine of the Haier brand, has not been able to appear in the Argos English official website of the shopping directory.