As the dire COVID-19 situation in Shanghai persists, Alibaba’s new retail concept Freshippo (盒马鲜生) continues to solidify its position in the food supply chain market by adding two additional services, community group buying and a quality discount store Hema Outlet.
Launched in 2019, Freshippo is an independent project combining a grocery store, restaurant and develop app in Alibaba. The store implements unmanned checkout kiosks, mobile-scanned product details, and fast-running fulfillment conveyor belts.
During this unprecedented time of COVID-19, China's community group buying model emerged as a new retail trend. In this case, a designated community leader usually creates a WeChat group to coordinate food orders on behalf of a community.
The CEO of Freshippo Hou Yi indicated that during the pandemic, the company will remain the flowy supermarket model by adding two additional services, including community group buying and Hema Outlet. Freshippo's first X member store has the membership-based wholesale format and addes the community group buying services on a weekly basis. In addition, the company is committed to ensuring product quality and safety.
Hou stated that 80% of stores have already resumed the online operations and supplied over 5,000 product categories. Meanwhile, the company is steadily making progress in improving its services. Community group buying model has been a continuously rising trend in China.
Freshippo, on the other hand, is a China's competitor of Amazon go when it comes to innovative retail establishments. Some of its domestic competitors include 7Fresh, Suning.com, Super Species, Wanda, and RT-Mart, which are all at the forefront of China's new retail revolution.