(Yicai Global) Sept. 17 -- BTG Homeinns Hotels Group has launched a tariff-free cross-border e-commerce platform for its members, the Chinese hotel chain operator announced yesterday.

BTG Homeinns’ entry into the retail sector, especially cross-border e-commerce, does not mean that the Shanghai-based company will compete directly with other online shopping platforms, General Manager Sun Jian told Yicai Global.

“We’ll do e-commerce based on hotels, but not limited to them,” Sun added, noting that the key is to offer members value-added services. “By building such a platform we hope to provide members with new value beyond accommodation.”

BTG Homeinns runs more than 5,000 hotels in over 400 cities in China. As a hotel investment and management company, it does not have much experience in the e-commerce business. But it has 130 million members, according to Sun, and their consumption ranges from accommodation to catering and shopping, both online and offline.

China’s e-commerce imports have been growing steadily, reaching nearly CNY3.1 trillion (USD475 billion) last year amid the coronavirus pandemic and are expected to hit CNY3.6 trillion this year.

“The pandemic also opened my eyes to other business opportunities for value-added services,” Sun said.

Editor: Futura Costaglione