Sept. 9 - Hisap, China’s largest professional digital, IT and 3C chain, announced that Sanpower Group owned Hiteker (600122.SH) and Funtalk Telecommunications will carry out comprehensive and in-depth strategic cooperation with Letv Holdings.

Originally a video site, Letv has now made its way to an Internet ecosystem giant with market value amounting to multi-billions. Feng Xing, Senior Vice President of Letv Holdings, noted that Letv attached great importance to the strong off-line channel of Hisap and Funtalk Telecommunications, through which it hoped to build the experience centre for Letv’s super phones and other products.

As a professional digital, IT and 3C chain, Hisap operates more than 400 stores across the country, while Funtalk Telecommunications runs 2,000-strong stores in over 200 cities nationwide. Such an appreciable off-line sales network has formed a vital base for Letv to make up its mind to ally with Hiteker and Funtalk Telecommunications.

The industry believes that despite the rapid development of on-line e-commerce, experience and value-added services, which are key to reinforcing customer loyalty, are far from mature. That’s one of the reasons why Internet giants are resorting to off-line retailers.

Moreover, inasmuch as Sanpower Group, the controlling shareholder of Hiteker, has acquired a host of high-end department stores and fashion home centres in Europe and Middle East, and boasts its own sales network in these areas, the tripartite cooperation will hopefully tap Letv’s ecological products onto foreign markets by virtue of Sanpower’s overseas retail channels.