Chinese delivery giant Shunfeng enters e-commerce using community stores

Global Business

Shunfeng Express, China’s leading delivery services company, has expanded into e-commerce, with its first batch of 500 Heike stores that have been opening nationwide since May.

Inside Shunfeng’s Heike store, there’s nothing on the shelves but tablets, and advertising posters cover the walls. Consumers can order goods on the tablets or by scanning QR codes on the posters. No matter what e-commerce platform the item comes from, the goods will be delivered by Shunfeng Express to the buyers’ homes.

Heike is aimed at using Shunfeng’s strength in logistics to better combine online shopping with a bricks-and-mortar consumer experience. For example, consumers can order goods and have them delivered to Heike stores without payment. They can then decide whether to buy after trying them out.

One analyst in the industry said that Shunfeng’s model is not yet mature and that having consumers order on Heike tablets actually makes shopping more complicated.

Shunfeng says its plan is to get closer to consumers by setting up shop inside local communities. Heike wants its services to blend into the daily life of consumers. In the future it will be offering additional services such as laundry, airplane booking, and household appliance maintenance.

The company hopes to have 4,000 stores nationwide by the end of year.