As summer temperatures have soared in China, so have searches for "air conditioner" on online marketplaces such as Tmall, Taobao, Suning and JD.

Online sales of air conditioners in China are expected to reach 18.9 billion yuan ($2.8 billion; 2.6 billion euros) this year, up 36 percent, according to the Beijing-based market research firm China Market Monitor Co Ltd. This is in spite overall sales shrinking since last year.

But temperatures are not the only factor driving this trend.

"The online sales of air conditioners in China will see rapid growth in coming years as more and more people are feeling comfortable buying big-ticket items online. Also, there is improvement in after-sales service," says Liu Long, an analyst specializing in white goods research with China Market Monitor.

Liu projects that by 2019, about 29 percent of air-conditioner sales will likely be via online channels, compared with 13.6 percent in 2015.

Compared with other major household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, air conditioners have the lowest adoption rate online. This signals strong growth potential, he says.

Air conditioners usually require good pre-sale promotions and excellent after-sales support, says Xue Youwei, manager of air-conditioner procurement and sales at JD.com.

"For example, a refrigerator doesn't need to be installed. A customer will know how to do it himself after the home delivery. But for air conditioners, you need to send a professional team to consumers' homes to make the machines work," he says.

That's the main reason online sales of air conditioners took off later than other appliances, he says.

About 23 percent of the refrigerators in China were sold online in 2015, according to China Market Monitor. The corresponding figure for washing machines was higher, at 27.3 percent.

E-commerce giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com say they make sure online shoppers receive the same quality of after-sales service as offline shoppers. They have also speeded up delivery times.

In 2013, Alibaba signed a deal with home appliance maker Haier Group to form a joint venture for a logistics and service network to deliver household appliances and other large items across China.

The move gives patrons of Alibaba-backed Tmall factory-to-home logistics support for large items as well as post-delivery assembly and installation of appliances, the company says.

Xue of JD.com says the Beijing-based e-commerce major has 50 warehouses across China that support delivery of major home appliances, sometimes on the same day in certain regions, if the online order is placed before 11 am.

The company has been working with several air-conditioner brands to make sure delivery and installation of the devices are done promptly after the online sales.

The overall sales of air conditioners in China have been rather sluggish for the past several years, mostly due to cooling of the country's property market.

China Market Monitor says overall sales of air conditioners are expected to fall 5.4 percent to 130.1 billion yuan this year.

Mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/08/2016 page27)