Fresh moves transform hybrid shopping
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China Daily, August 2, 2017
Statistics suggest that Alibaba's early venture into O2O retail is paying off, although financial figures are sketchy.
The online giant reported that Hema's Jinqiao store in Shanghai, the first to open in the country, is now profitable.
Shoppers on average make 4.5 purchases a month and visit the supermarket 50 times a year, the group revealed.
Among Hema app users, the conversion rate for making a purchase was as high as 35 percent, although again detailed figures were not disclosed.
Finally, stores' sales per unit area are three-to-five times those of other supermarkets, Alibaba stressed.
Since the shops are also giant warehouses, Hema has cracked the problem of how to deal with 1,000 deliveries per outlet a day.
Big data and cloud computing, as well as an innovative distribution system, have been crucial to making that work.
In particular, big data has become a vital pillar of the information industry, and is used to crunch vast amounts of complex statistics to show patterns and trends in business and consumer habits.
In store, "order-fulfillment" specialists move up and down the aisles with scanners, reusable shopping bags and special bar codes for each order.
The bar codes not only help customers trace the origin of their goods but they also track deliveries.
Once an order has been put together in shopping bags, they are placed on hangers and swept off on overhead conveyor belts.
Normally, it takes about three minutes to put a small order together after receiving it online.
Again, big data is key to this operation as the process goes through an app.
Hema is able to collect reams of statistics for physical and virtual stores, which allows it to track and analyze the shopping patterns of customers.
Every purchase is logged and preferences noted, with items promoted that appeal to the tastes of individual shoppers.
But the supermarket chain faces challenges as it expands, such as delivery delays and logistical problems.
"If the Hema group is to continue to expand, it will have to take this into account," Crabbe, of Mintel, said. "It must learn how to avoid such problems in new cities and districts they open stores in."
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)