China's Gree Teams With Tmall to Make Smart Air Con Units, Boost Online Sales
Wang Zhen
DATE:  Mar 11 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China's Gree Teams With Tmall to Make Smart Air Con Units, Boost Online Sales China's Gree Teams With Tmall to Make Smart Air Con Units, Boost Online Sales

(Yicai Global) March 11 -- China's Gree Electric Appliances, the world's largest air conditioner maker, has deepened collaboration with Alibaba Group Holding's online shopping platform Tmall to expand its sales channels and introduce speech recognition, as well as fend off competition from online savvy rivals such as Xiaomi and Aux Group.

Gree penned a cooperation deal with Tmall regarding partnership in the field of the Internet of Things, the Zhuhai-based company posted on its microblogging account Weibo yesterday. The home appliance firm will work with Alibaba AI Labs, the developer of Tmall Genie smart speaker, to explore voice control on Gree's products. 

Digital intelligence has gradually penetrated every aspect of people's lives, a person in charge of Tmall Genie said. Collaboration between the two parties has already amounted to CNY10 billion (USD1.5 billion) over the last year, and it will go even higher in this year, the person added.

Gree has a high sales goal of CNY250 billion (USD37.2 billion) in 2019 but its digital presence has been lagging behind. Online sales increased 12 percent last year, which was 23 percent below the sector's average growth. Sales on digital platforms made up one-third of its household A/C sales.

Xiaomi has been successful in offering competitively priced products online but brand recognition must be tested by time, a dealer told Yicai Global. Gree's operating model still relies on the middlemen of retailers. The firm's pricing is solid and it has guaranteed profits for vendors, so distributors are willing to pay in advance, the dealer added.

Editor: Emmi Laine

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Keywords:   Gree,Tmall,Online Sales,Alibaba Group