Discount grocery retailer Aldi has confirmed plans to enter the Chinese market as soon as next year.
The confirmation in local Chinese media comes as the German company, which has over 620 stores in the UK and Ireland, underwent years of studies to see if the expansion would be feasible.
During the first half of the year, Aldi will launch a website that sells “a carefully selected range of everyday grocery items to Chinese consumers via an online retailing platform with products delivered to consumers’ homes,” according to a spokeswoman.
This will be the first time Aldi will enter a new market via ecommerce as opposed to physical stores.#
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Most of the products and items will be supplied from Australia, where Aldi is rapidly growing.
“We know there is a strong demand among Chinese consumers for Australian manufactured products and our goal is to provide a competitively priced alternative for shoppers seeking quality groceries,” the Aldi spokeswoman said.
Aldi plans to bring its bricks-and-mortar stores to China in later 2017.
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