Twin-track approach needed

Analysts at global insights provider Nielsen added that physical stores have strong advantages over e-commerce－especially for fast-moving consumer goods, despite the fact that online shopping has a number of benefits.

"The connected commerce era is here. Consumers are no longer shopping entirely online or offline; rather, they're taking a blended approach, using whatever channel best suits their needs. The most successful retailers and manufacturers will be at the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds, leveraging technology to satisfy shoppers, wherever and whenever they want to shop," said Kiki Fan, managing director of Nielsen China.

This is exactly what China's top children's wear manufacturer Semir has done in the past few years.

Semir Group Co Ltd has taken the lion's share of the children's wear market since 2009, according to global market observer Euromonitor International.

By the end of last year, it had a 3.6 percent slice of the children's wear market, while key international market players such as Adidas Group, Gap Inc or Nike Inc each had a market share of less than 1 percent.

According to Semir's financial results for the 2014 fiscal year released in mid-March, the company notched up a total sales revenue of more than 8.14 billion yuan ($1.31 billion), up 11.7 percent year-on-year. The major driving force of the increase is the robust growth of Semir's children's wear brand Balabala, which saw its sales revenue increase by 25 percent.

While Semir closed nearly 500 brick-and-mortar casual wear stores last year, the company opened 69 Balabala outlets to make the total number reach 3,540, which is nearly the same as its stores for adults' apparel.

Regarding the huge potential of the Chinese children's wear market, Semir set up a wholly owned subsidiary in 2012 to ensure its continued success in e-commerce platforms. Within three years, it has not only secured the rapid growth of Semir's e-commerce sales but also reinforced Balabala's leading position among e-commerce platforms. On its third anniversary promotion on Alibaba's Tmall, Balabala managed to sell 20,000 items of children's wear within just eight minutes.