Alibaba is a Chinese multinational technology company. It was founded by Jack Ma on 28^th June 1999. Alibaba is a secured and trusted platform used by billions of businesses. It is used globally by various buyers and sellers. Alibaba specializes in e-commerce, retail, technology, and internet. The Alibaba group provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C),business-to-consumer (B2C) services, business-to-business (B2B) services via web portals, as well as electronic payment services, shopping search engines, and cloud computing services. The current executive chairman of Alibaba group is Daniel Zhang, who succeeded Jack Ma on 10^th September 2019, and is also Alibabas CEO since 2015.

When it comes to shopping, you can do it online or offline by visiting the outlets or shops. The statistics as of today show that more people prefer buying online in which the goods are delivered at their doorstep. This change in attitude of consumer is due to various factors like:

·      No need of going to the store (fuel and time efficient).

·      Discreet shipping (people who get embarrassed buy garments or contraceptives can easily hid their identity).

·      No crowd.

·      Stock and out of stock shared with customers.

·      Personalized email for restock and discounts and sales.

·      Easy to place order.

·      Working couples or individuals do not have time to go to the store, select and then buy the goods.

·      Large variety of products to choose from.

Other than all these perks there are a few goods which online stores cannot quite deliver such as delicate and fragile items. This means the consumer will still have to go to the store to buy these products. The whole process of buying products from an offline store can be unpleasant for a lot of people for which they prefer online shopping. Alibaba has combined the best of online and offline retail into one through the digitization of the retail which is called as the new retail

SUPERMARKET / GROCERY STORE

Alibabas Freshippo supermarket is the combination of both online and offline retail, this is the new retail in China. The Freshippo supermarket sells groceries, fresh meat/seafood, and fruits and vegetables like most other supermarkets.

This new retail innovation has a whole new experience. It is quick, efficient, and painless. Freshippo supermarket allows purchasing online or in store. Online using mobile application to order and in-store you can scan bar codes with your smartphone to get details of the products. The payment process is also cashless. It is done through Alipay feature which is already embedded in the Freshippo mobile application.

Consumers can order raw or cooked seafood at their home or buy fresh seafood and eat it in the Freshippo supermarket store. The Freshippo supermarket Shilipu branch in Beijing, China has a dining area that can accommodates up to 100 people. Freshippo has around 251 physical stores as of 2021 in China.

BUYING CARS

Another cliché business model is being revamped using the Alibabas new retail upgrade. Buying cars can be stressful;

1. Going from one showroom to another.
2. Requires a lot of time.
3. Expensive cars showrooms employees treat you differently judging your physical appearance.
4. Talking to several dealers.
5. Pressure from interaction with various salesperson.

Alibaba has reinvented the whole buying process of cars by introducing the auto-vending machine in collaboration with Ford in the southern city of Guangzhou. The car vending machine works with the Tmall application. The car vending machine is cat-themed, and it allows the consumers to test-drive the Ford vehicles they look forward on buying. Once the consumer has made their decision then they can talk to the salespersons.  

Process:

The consumers first snap a selfie and select the car model they are interested in. Then the payment is deposited electronically. After this the consumer schedules the pickup time according to their convenience. Once they reach the car vending machine, they scan the selfie they took and the car model they selected is presented for them to go on a test drive. The test drive is free for only those people who have credit score of 700 or more.

After experiencing the car in a relaxing situation, they can make an appointment to visit a dealer when they are ready to buy.

MOM-AND-POP STORES / LOCAL FAMILY-OWNED CONVENIENCE STORES

The local stores who run on traditional buying and selling system, have gone digital. Alibaba created a special application for these stores where customers can place orders. For the store owner the application provides with customer insight and customer analytics which helps them in restocking and knowing which products are in demand and which are not. The application also connects the store with the central warehousing and the logistics system.

THE MALL

Alibaba has invested in some of the Chinas biggest shopping malls. Virtual shelf / virtual mirror is a led screen with items like clothes and accessories (shirts, pants, suits, dresses, sunglasses, belts, jewellery etc.). Customer can see themselves wearing the items they are interested in without actually trying them, this saves the customer time. It also allows the customer to see how they would look in that article, its colour, fitting, size etc. Customers can then buy this product in store or scan it with mobile application and get it delivered to their home avoid the long ques.

LADIES ROOM

To make the experience even more efficient the ladies room is also upgraded with the new retail feature. This permits the women to check different makeup products on themselves virtually using a virtual mirror. New lipstick, blush, foundation etc. and if they like it, they can easily buy it from the makeup vending machine outside the room.

New retail possibilities are endless. Hema Alibabas grocery store is another implementation of digitalization of retail store. The customers can order the groceries online or buy them in store. They can use their smartphone to scan barcodes on products to get  product information and recipe ideas. Alibaba also offers users the option to quickly order the same goods to be delivered to their home. The company claims to have delivered the goods withing 30minutes of time if one lives within a 3km radius. Alibaba opened 65 retail stores over the past year, in an effort to merge online and offline retail. In one of the Hema stores in Shanghai, Alibaba has introduced its new, Robot.The customers use their phone to scan a QR code at their table and begin ordering from the menu, all using the Hema app. From there, most dishes, are delivered to tables by robotic devices.

The business model of Hema stores is so popular that people are moving to live near these stores. There are around a total of 232 hema stores throughout China mostly located in the tier-one and tier-two cities. The new branches of Hema stores have opened in thirteen different cities of China including Chengdu, Changsha, Xian, Chongqing, and Guiyang.