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US warehouse retailer Costco opened its first store in China today, against a background of an escalating trade war between the US and China and at a time the local economy is showing signs of slowing. The giant store will open in a suburb of Shanghai…
Alibaba’s grocery-store network Hema Fresh (Hema Xiansheng) is targeting at least 2000 stores across China by 2022. With the current network at 160, expansion of the two-year-old chain is now being ramped up after Alibaba worked to refine the format.…
The omnichannel buzz word has been omnipresent in most retailers’ vocabulary in recent years. A majority of them are painstakingly trying to integrate multiple online and offline touchpoints from discovery to purchase and services into a seamless and…
Chinese food-delivery website Meituan has closed three of its Ella Supermarkets in Jiangsu, almost halving its network of outlets. The business initiative, which sells fresh supermarket produce online for fast home delivery, has just four remaining locations…
Alibaba Group sales soared 41 per cent in the December quarter as its customer based neared 700 million. The Chinese company’s turnover for the three months reached US$17.057 billion and its net income attributable to shareholders $4.807 billion. “Our…
Thai restaurant concept The Lobster Lab has opened its first outlet in Shanghai. The restaurant, operated by Bangkok-based Thai Union Group opened inside one of Alibaba’s Hema supermarkets last month. It serves lobster rolls, seafood chowder and some western…
E-commerce giant JD’s offline retail store 7Fresh is set to launch at Shangbin Plaza in Shanghai’s Hongkou District. The move is regarded as a step towards expansion nationwide beyond the firm’s home base in Beijing, as well as an attempt to follow recent…
Alibaba’s second-quarter revenue grew 54 per cent year on year, reaching RMB 85.1 billion ($US12.3 billion). Net income attributable to shareholders was RMB 20 billion ($2.9 billion), a 13 per cent year-on-year increase. “Alibaba had another strong quarter of…
Alibaba and its partner retailers will face a massive challenge ensuring flawless delivery of millions of parcels all over China and beyond given the expectations of further growth on Singles Day 2018 next week. “As the event grows, the logistics challenge…
Seventeen Hema supermarkets in Shanghai have launched a food-provenance feature that tells customers about an item’s farm-to-shelf journey. The information includes verifications such as photos of the distributor’s business licenses and food-safety…
Alibaba has launched a series of diners staffed by robotic waiters. The initiative is designed to offer a restaurant service with higher efficiency and lower overheads on staff. Alibaba product manager Cao Haitao, who brought the concept to fruition, said,…
Starbucks China and Alibaba have announced an alliance that stretches way beyond the latter’s online delivery platform Ele.me. The two companies describe their pact as “a deep, strategic New Retail partnership” that will enable a seamless Starbucks experience…
Alibaba’s Tmall, China’s leading B2C online marketplace, wants to give wine selection and consumption a 21st century upgrade. At Vinexpo Hong Kong this week, Tmall unveiled a host of new technologies for the industry, including an automatic wine store,…
Alibaba’s Hema supermarkets have launched 24-hour delivery services in a move to bolster the brand’s “New Retail” services. Initially the round-the-clock service is limited to the 25 Hema stores in Beijing and Shanghai. Consumers who live within 3km of a Hema…
After raising $300 million last month, Indian online grocery startup BigBasket is entering the offline sector. The company is looking to transform its core online business to offline centres that will store daily moving consumer goods, groceries, fruits and…
Continuing momentum in Alibaba Group’s New Retail business helped drive a 56 per cent year-on-year growth in sales for the quarter to December 31. The performance of the New Retail category – which combines its online (non-marketplace) and fast-growing…
