By 2025, buying home appliances online will be a breeze, enabling consumers to effortlessly browse models, compare prices, and place orders from the cozy confines of their homes. According to data from AVC Cloud Network, online retail sales of home appliances surged by 14% year-on-year in just the first half of the year. Yet, the uptick in online shopping hasn't spelled doom for brick-and-mortar stores. Take Haier Smart Home as a case in point: its retail network is riding a wave of digital transformation. Initiating from stores in Hangzhou, Beijing, and other cities, and culminating with the grand opening of the Shanghai Experience Center on December 12th, nearly a thousand brand stores have undergone digital upgrades. These digitally enhanced stores have yielded impressive outcomes. The nine Haier City Experience Centers that opened during the National Day holiday racked up retail sales exceeding 40 million yuan. The Shenyang City Experience Center has amassed sales of over 6 million yuan, with a single experience center projected to boost annual sales by 10 million yuan. The 407 Haier City Flagship Stores that received upgrades in the latter half of the year also contributed a hefty 1.467 billion yuan in sales. In 2026, there are ambitions to upgrade an additional 600 similar stores, which are anticipated to spur an extra 3 billion yuan in sales growth.

The triumph of these digital stores hinges on tackling two significant hurdles that traditional home appliance stores grapple with. Firstly, by teaming up with platforms like Gaode Maps and Douyin Local Life, they've expanded customer acquisition avenues, churning out 526,400 business leads and translating them into 1.49 billion yuan in retail sales from January to June. Secondly, digital transaction and inventory management have streamlined operations, with 74% of products in district and county stores now reaching customers directly within the first three quarters. Beyond that, Haier's digital stores dish out top-notch products and services, such as the Mailang refrigerator boasting AI freshness preservation technology, and a seamless full-process service facilitated by the Haier Smart Home APP. The deployment of nearly a thousand Haier digital stores not only signifies an upgrade of the retail network but also serves as a blueprint for full-process ToC (To Consumer) transformation, offering a replicable model for the home appliance retail industry.