Australian furniture retailer King Living is expanding its global reach, with a flagship showroom set to open in the Xuhui design district in Shanghai.

The retailer already has existing stores across Australia, as well as Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and Canada, with a further showroom to open in Vancouver later this year.

The opportunity is heightened for King Living in the region due to the fact it has manufactured out of Shanghai for over 20 years, allowing the retailer to more easily implement initiatives and increase market penetration locally, according to King Living chief executive Anna Carrabs.

“Shanghai is key to King Living’s global growth strategy,” Carrabs said.

“China provides us with an unapparelled growth opportunity which doesn’t exist in slower moving markets of developed countries.”

The showroom will be housed in a 400sqm space, which will feature the brands sofa, dining, bed and mattress and outdoor ranges.

Customers will be able to transact through popular payment systems WeChat Pay and Alipay, which are widely considered the preferred payment method for the Chinese consumer – with WeChat having grown to attract over a billion monthly views.

“Being from Australia, we have a reputation for quality, and I think that sets us apart from some of our global competitors. This is a very exciting time for King Living, and we look forward to seeing the Shanghai showroom thrive in what we hope will be the first of many stores in the region,” Carrabs said.

The retailer already has existing stores across Australia, as well as Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and Canada, with a further showroom to open in Vancouver later this year.

• This story originally appeared on sister-site Inside Retail Australia.