(Yicai Global) April 4 -- Carrefour China, the supermarket chain majority owned by retail giant Suning.Com, has opened its first community shopping center in Shanghai as part of an ongoing major shakeup of its business model.

All of the store’s new features are aimed at increasing customer loyalty and the frequency of their visits to the store. Carrefour China hopes to convert all of its more than 100 stores in the country to this business model, an employee said.

The new store is very different from the usual Carrefour supermarkets, Yicai Global discovered when visiting the outlet. Unlike the standard Carrefour store, it has a 10,000 square meter home appliances hall run by Suning.

Besides the unusually large home appliances section, the store has a bigger fresh produce and food section and less space on shelves for underperforming items. The staffer told Yicai Global that sales data showed that fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat are very frequently bought items, so are a good way to encourage repeat customers.

The new center also adds a convenience store, a dining area, and a special section named Suning Good Goods that retails Suning-branded merchandise, while the parking lot has fast-charging piles that can top up a shopper’s electric car in just 20 minutes.

The key to the success of Carrefour China’s transformation ultimately lies in the goods on offer, an industry insider told Yicai Global. If the main products are not unique or exclusive, it could still be beaten by competitors, the person added.

Only time will tell if displaying home appliances in a large area can pay off, the insider pointed out, as such goods are a standard product that consumers do not necessarily need to buy from brick-and-mortar stores.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione