(Yicai) May 27 -- Chinese home appliance companies and offline retailers are adopting a different strategy for this mid-year promotional season, using online platforms such as on-demand services giant Meituan and short-video site Douyin to draw customers to their physical stores for purchases.

An air conditioner store in South China has been experimenting with offline traffic generation through Meituan since the end of last year, its manager told Yicai. The store has recently started using livestreaming on Douyin, offering online discounts on installation fees to attract customers to complete purchases in-store.

Moreover, the store has collaborated with mapping services, such as Baidu Maps and Amap, to provide various guiding information for platform users nearby to encourage in-store visits, the manager noted.

During this year’s 618 promotional campaign, Yongsheng Home Appliances increased its visibility on Douyin to drive traffic to its offline stores, Liu Wenjuan, general manager of the chain retailer in China’s western Gansu province, told Yicai. The approach to attracting customers has evolved beyond simply competing on low prices, she added.

The instant retail model, under which products are purchased online but delivered from a brick-and-mortar store by riders, now also includes home appliances.

Products available for instant retail are expanding from small daily necessities to household appliances, Peng Xiandong, general manager of the retail services division at GFK Zhongyikang, told Yicai. This shift shows that the price war in the home appliance market is transforming into a service war, enabling the value restoration of offline store operations, he added.

After Midea Group and Haier Group, Gree Electric Appliances also established a strategic partnership with Meituan in April to promote instant retail services for air conditioner sales. The goal is to complete the layout for 13,000 offline Gree air conditioner stores by the end of July, enabling the entire service process from old machine removal to new machine delivery and installation to be completed within half a day at the fastest after the order is placed.

Unlike small home appliances, air conditioners require additional services after being delivered, including the removal of the old unit and the installation of the new one. This places high demands on the service and management capabilities of manufacturers or retailers that provide instant retail.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione