According to a report this week from Reuters, dozens of Japanese retailers are planning to sell products through a virtual mall in China.
About 100 Japanese firms will begin selling products via an Internet site in China next month, targeting combined sales of 4 billion yen ($44 million) in the first year of operation. The site will be set up as virtual mall and begin operation in Q1, 2009. Among the companies expected to join the site are Japan’s largest CE/Imaging retailer, Yodobashi Camera.
The Shanghai-based settlement network operator China UnionPay Co and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co are among the partners that will jointly run the virtual mall, the report said. SBI VeriTrans Co will operate the website and handle customs procedures, with China Post delivering the goods in China. A specialized distribution centre in Japan will enable the delivery of products by air to Chinese consumers as soon as two days after ordering.
Some 20,000 different products are expected to be available on the site, enabling Chinese consumers to buy Japanese products currently not available at local stores, the Reuters report added.
