Smart Air helps leading retailer in China improve air quality

Sector/Industry: Retail
Region: China

Smart Air partnered with a leading retail business in China to tackle indoor air pollution, reducing harmful pollutants and creating a healthier environment for both employees and customers in their large retail store.

The challenge: Combating outdoor pollution in a busy retail environment

The retailer’s flagship store, located in one of China’s busiest cities, was struggling with poor indoor air quality due to:

High outdoor PM2.5 pollution: As one of the most polluted countries in the world, China frequently experiences high PM2.5 levels, which were infiltrating the store and impacting both customer and employee health.
Airborne contaminants from retail activities: The bustling retail environment filled with crowds, foot traffic, and various materials resulted in increased particulate matter, VOCs, and odours.
Customer comfort and employee health concerns: The retailer needed a cost-effective solution that didn’t just protect staff from long-term health risks but also created a more comfortable shopping experience for customers.

What did Smart Air do?

Smart Air proposed a simple, effective solution using Blast and Blast mini air purifiers — ideal for large retail spaces like the one in question. These purifiers offered:

Portable, plug-and-play purifiers
- Instead of complicated and costly central systems, Smart Air installed portable air purifiers, which could be easily moved around the store as needed.
- The purifiers were designed to provide immediate relief and could scale with the growing needs of the business.
Strategic placement for maximum coverage
- Smart Air placed the purifiers in high-traffic areas where air pollution levels were the highest, ensuring maximum coverage throughout the store.
Staff awareness training on air pollution
- Smart Air also took a proactive step to ensure the purifiers’ maximum effectiveness. We provided a free-of-charge training session at the retailer's office to educate staff on the importance of turning air purifiers on/off, maintaining the filters, and understanding the role filtration plays in reducing exposure to harmful pollutants.
- This training empowered staff to better manage air quality in the store and ensured the long-term performance of the air purifiers.

Implementation of the Blast and Blast mini air purifiers for immediate impact

Auchan installed a total of 30 Blast and Blast mini units in their office, covering the entire 1,500sqm space with minimal impact to the aesthetics and environment of the workspace. These purifiers featured:

H13 HEPA filters to remove 99.97% of fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
Activated carbon filters for tackling VOCs and unpleasant odours.
Efficient design that could clean large areas without taking up valuable retail space.

The purifiers’ plug-and-play design allowed quick installation and their portability also provided flexibility to reconfigure or add units as needed.

Was the result achieved?

Installing air purifiers is just one step to providing clean air in your school, office or hospital. Smart Air also installed air quality monitoring stations across all 3 floors of the Auchan office. This allows Auchan to track air quality in their office in real-time, from anywhere in the world!

Why choose Smart Air?

Large companies and fast-growing startups like Zomato, BBC, and Auchan have chosen Smart Air over traditional brands because Smart Air is disrupting the market for clean air.

As a social enterprise and certified B Corp, Smart Air was founded on the belief that clean air should not be a luxury good. Traditional air purifier companies often inflate prices by claiming to have patented technology and hiding the simple science behind air purifiers.

Smart Air does things differently.

We publish open-source, open-method scientific tests that reveal the true cost of clean air. By sticking to the basic science, Smart Air designs purifiers that deliver more clean air than major European brands — at just a fraction of the price.