Application of E-commerce based Internet Plus Strategy in the Chinese Furniture industry with analysis on case study and business model canvas

Abstract

Furniture is one of the most important necessities in people’s daily life. The development of furniture industry can also be regarded as the progress of society. China is the world’s biggest furniture manufacturer and exporter. After the rapid development in past few decades, the production, technology and quality of furniture has already mature. However, the traditional marketing models are showing disadvantages. It is important for furniture companies to explore profitable marketing models to grasp the market demands and obtain competitive advantages. In recent years, China's e-commerce saw a rapid development and is being used in different sectors such as clothes, shoes, books and beauty products. E-commerce platform is based on the internet, and it decreases the costs and makes shopping more convenient without the limitations on space and time. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang first landed out “Internet Plus” strategy in his government work report in 2015. The aim of this strategy is to promote the transformation of traditional manufacturing industries by using cloud computing, big data and internet of things based on the e-commerce platform. As a new concept, researchers seldom mention the operation of the e-commerce based internet plus strategy in the furniture industry. To fill this gap, this study was based on the perspective of companies, making practical explanations on internet plus and analyzed its application in furniture industry. In the methodology part, the business model canvas was applied to make qualitative analysis on the industrial level. Case study was also adopted to give quantitative support with the market data. Conclusion and discussions raised suggestions for future development and further studies