Sweden-based furniture retailer Ikea Group is set to make a foray into e-commerce business in China by the end of August, China Daily reported.

This is the first time that Ikea would be selling its products online in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the business would be initially run as a pilot project, and products will be sold only in Shanghai.

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Ikea plans to extend its e-commerce business to other parts of China if the trial project is successful. Ikea runs an e-commerce service in northern Europe and the United Kingdom.

Market experts say that the e-commerce model would help the Swedish furniture retailer to cater to the rising demands from third- and fourth-tier cities. The e-commerce business would also help in addressing the oversaturation problem in Ikea stores in first and second tier cities.

Meanwhile, Ikea is continuing with its strategy to increase its retail presence across China. This year, the company has opened three new stores in Chengdu, Suzhou, and Foshan. The furniture retailer giant says that it plans to keep adding three stores to its chain in the Chinese market every year.

In 2016, the company raked in sales revenue of 11.7 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) in China, a jump of 19.4 percent on a yearly basis. Nearly 83 million customers have paid a visit to Ikea stores this year, a 20 percent rise from a year earlier. Ikea's official website has received 67 million visits this year, a jump of 25 percent on a year-on-year basis.

TagsShanghai, IKEA, IKEA China, china