Home Depot partners with 360Buy.com

Home Depot has reached an agreement with 360Buy.com, one of China’s biggest Internet retailers, to launch its own Chinese e-commerce sales effort, according to an article in the Morning Whistle.

The Atlanta retailer announced on Sept. 13 that it will close its seven remaining big-box stores in China in order to focus on specialty stores and online offerings in that market. The company said it was in the beginning stages of developing relationships with several of China's leading e-commerce websites, but it did not name which ones.

But Carol Tome, Home Depot’s CFO, told the Reuters Retail and Consumer Summit that Home Depot has already started selling goods on 360buy.com in China and is looking for opportunities to partner with other e-commerce sites. 

Home Depot and 360Buy.com had been working together for about 10 days, Tome said on Sept. 14. Home Depot is also in discussions with Alibaba Group's Tmall.com, a competitor of 360Buy.com, she reported. 

According to the agreement so far, 360Buy.com will provide Home Depot with a platform to open its online stores, according to the Morning Whistle.