Alibaba Group Holding on Friday unveiled a 2 billion yuan (US$281 million) investment as part of a programme that will see a network of Taobao-branded convenience stores across China support the operations of the firm’s instant commerce and on-demand delivery business.
Rather than establishing Taobao Shangou’s own bricks-and-mortar shops, the programme would primarily provide existing convenience stores with a tech facelift, leveraging Alibaba’s digital infrastructure, according to Hu Qiugen, the instant commerce unit’s general manager. Alibaba owns the Post.
Under the programme, the operators of partner convenience stores would receive digital supply chain support from Alibaba’s domestic wholesale platform 1688.com, technical insights on product procurement and get their stock inventory replenished via the group’s Aoxiang platform, as well as Taobao branding.
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That technical support is expected to make certain each store provides “one-stop, 24-hour and 30-minute delivery” shopping service to consumers, according to Hu. Taobao Shangou’s partner convenience stores are expected to be rolled out in more than 200 cities on the mainland.
The first batch of Taobao partner convenience stores launched on Saturday in cities that include Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, and Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province.
“We are committed to ensuring a win-win within our ecosystem,” Hu said.
Taobao Shangou general manager Hu Qiugen speaks at Friday’s launch of the Alibaba unit’s new convenience store programme in Hangzhou. Photo: Sina alt=Taobao Shangou general manager Hu Qiugen speaks at Friday’s launch of the Alibaba unit’s new convenience store programme in Hangzhou. Photo: Sina>
Hangzhou-based Alibaba’s latest initiative further expands the scope of goods and merchants covered by its instant commerce push, more than two months after CEO Eddie Wu Yongming said the company had succeeded in scaling up user growth and making consumers prefer its platform over its rivals – including on-demand delivery giant Meituan and JD.com.
Taobao Shangou, which is accessible from the Taobao shopping app, currently has more than one-third of the traditional convenience stores in its ecosystem running round-the-clock operations.