国美力图在网上销售领域奋起直追

Bain Capital-owned Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. 0493.HK 0.00%, one of China’s largest electronics retailers, is aiming to restructure its troubled online business as rivals dominate China’s Internet shopping.

贝恩资本(Bain Capital)持股的国美电器控股有限公司(Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd.)是中国最大的电子产品零售企业之一，在中国的网上购物市场为其竞争对手所主导之际，该公司希望能重组其陷入困境的网上业务。

The Hong Kong-listed electronics company, in which the U.S. private-equity giant owns nearly 10%, announced plans Tuesday to integrate its e-commerce platforms, folding its current Coo8.com sales into Gome.com.cn, to link supply chains of the two companies, according to a company statement Tuesday.

这家私募股权巨头贝恩资本持股近10%的香港上市公司周二宣布，计划将自己的数个电子商务平台整合到一起，将公司旗下库巴网(Coo8.com)的销售整合到公司旗下的国美电器网上商城当中，将这两家公司的供应链连接到一起。

Gome has taken a beating in the e-commerce space as it has been slower to move away from a brick-and-mortar-dominated model than its peers. Gome.com.cn held a less than 1% share in business-to-consumer transactions online in the second quarter this year, while Coo8.com had 1.4% , according to research firm Analysys International.

国美在电子商务领域遭遇了重挫，因为与同行相比，该公司在脱离以实体店销售为主的经营模式方面一直进展较慢。研究公司易观国际(Analysys International)称，今年第二季度，国美电器网上商城在B2C网上交易市场所占的份额还不足1%，库巴网在这一市场的占比为1.4%。

Gome’s plan, which will let consumers shop from both online stores on a single Gome site, is meant to help the company catch up to its competitors online, where Beijing Jingdong, which owns the retail site 360buy.com, is becoming a strong seller of electrical goods Suning Appliance Co. 002024.SZ +1.20%, a direct competitor of Gome’s, has also vastly expanded its online business.

根据国美的这项重组计划，今后消费者只需登录一个国美网站就能在上述这两家国美网店购物。该计划旨在帮助国美在网络销售方面赶上其竞争对手。在网络销售领域，拥有零售网站京东商城(360buy.com)的北京京东世纪贸易有限公司(Beijing Jingdong)正在成为一家强大的电子产品销售商，而国美的直接竞争对手苏宁电器股份有限公司(Suning Appliance Co.)也已大规模扩展了其网上业务。

Suning, China’s largest retailer by outlets, acquired in September online infant retailer Redbaby.com.cn to add to its expanding product portfolio, which includes wine, books and its traditional electronics. Executives have said they are investing billions in its online business, building new warehouses and improving logistics.

苏宁是中国门店数量最多的零售商，它今年9月份收购了婴幼儿用品网上零售商红孩子(Redbaby.com.cn)，使其所售产品的种类进一步扩大，现在除原有的电子产品销售业务外，苏宁还销售葡萄酒和书籍。苏宁的高管说，该公司正向其网上业务投资数十亿元，建设新的仓库并改善物流。

Gome has been on downward spiral this year amid a Chinese property slump that has triggered a slowdown in sales of appliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Gome’s sales dropped 18% in the first nine months of the year, ending Sept. 30, to CNY36.06 billion from CNY43.98 billion. Its net loss in the same period was 687 million yuan ($110.2 million), reversing from a CNY1.79 billion profit a year earlier.

由于中国房地产市场不景气导致冰箱和空调等家电的销售增速放缓，国美的业务今年一直处于恶性循环状态。在截至9月30日的今年前九个月里，国美的销售额下降了18%，由去年同期的人民币439.8亿元降至360.6亿元。同期出现了6.87亿元的净亏损，上年同期该公司实现利润17.9亿元。

The statement said by January, Coo8.com will only host sales for other vendors, connecting other businesses to consumers much in the way that China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. does on its shopping site Taobao Mall. China’s e-commerce is dominated by China’s Alibaba Group. The Chinese Internet company’s Taobao Mall held a roughly 42% share in business-to-consumer transactions online in the second quarter, leading over Beijing Jingdong’s 15.5% and ahead of Suning’s 3.4%, according to Analysys.

国美在周二的声明中说，到明年1月份时，库巴网将只从事为其他零售商提供交易平台的业务，其业务模式与阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.)旗下的购物网站淘宝商城十分类似，负责将其他网上零售商与消费者连接起来。阿里巴巴集团在中国的电子商务领域居主导地位。易观国际称，今年第二季度，中国的网上B2C交易中，淘宝商城占有约42%的份额，北京京东排名第二，占有15.5%的份额，排名第三的苏宁占有3.4%的份额。

Bain’s investment, originally made in June 2009 through a US$233 million convertible bond deal that was converted in 2010, is worth about $164 million at Tuesday’s market close of HK$0.77.

贝恩资本2009年6月通过购买国美价值2.33亿美元的可转换债券开始对这家公司进行投资，这笔债券投资已于2010年转换为对国美的持股。按国美股票周二的收盘价0.77港元计算，贝恩资本在国美的持股价值约为1.64亿美元。

A spokesman for Bain was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

记者周二无法联系到贝恩资本的发言人置评。