We value this partnership between Alibaba and Bailian, and view it as another significant step (others include the privatization of Intime Retail and investments in Sunning and Haier) in Alibaba’s quest to revamp the operations of brick-and-mortar retailers as well as strengthen its position in e-commerce. The scale of the cooperation—which includes outlet design, technology R&D, customer relationships, supply-chain management, payment and logistics—suggests that Alibaba views this “New Retail” paradigm shift as a gradual and long-term strategy, as the company works its way through the learning curve to revolutionize traditional retail.
For details of our view on “New Retail”, please refer to our recent publication, “Alibaba’s Big Bet: Physical Retail and E-Commerce are a Winning Combination.”
Alibaba and Bailian will develop new technology and leverage each other’s user data to integrate offline stores, logistics and payment to boost efficiency.
Headquartered in Shanghai, Bailian has 4,700 stores in 200 cities, including supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies, more than double the number of stores owned by Suning, Intime and Sanjiang combined. Bailian has integrated everything from customer relations and payment to logistics in a manner similar to its tie-ups with other players such as electronics chain Suning.