Suning powers up profit-building plan

Suning Commerce Group Co, a major electronics retailer that is turning to online sales, has vowed to lift profits by focusing on consumer-centric supply chains; a more open online platform through collaborating with third parties; and a fast and responsive delivery system by building one of the country's largest logistic networks.

In a conversation on Thursday with more than 200 investors at company headquarters at Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Suning Chairman Zhang Jindong compared the company's transition from traditional retailer to e-commerce company to the process of constructing the outside and then finishing the interior of a house.

"It is clear that people can see something built from scratch, but it is hard to see how the building is renovated," Zhang said, speaking about the challenges the retailer faced after changing its name last year to showcase its emergence as an e-commerce player and its strategy of offering products at same price online and offline.