Alibaba Deepens Retail Foray With New Chinese Supermarket Tie-Up
- Jack Ma’s new retail vision racing against Amazon Go
- Partnership follows Alibaba’s investment in Intime, Suning
Customers go through check out counters at a GSM Hualian supermarket, owned by Shanghai Bailian Group, in Shanghai, China, Sunday, October 29, 2006. Shanghai Bailian Group will report its earnings on October 31.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is teaming up with Shanghai Bailian Group Co., one of China’s largest supermarket and department store chains, as Jack Ma accelerates an effort to employ technology to shake up old-fashioned retail.
Alibaba’s planning to help upgrade some of Bailian’s 4,700 stores across the country, integrating everything from customer relations to payment and logistics in a manner similar to its tie-ups with other players such as electronics chain Suning Commerce Group Co.