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Mind retail has learned that China's e-commerce giant Alibaba is quietly rolling out "Hema Fresh" supermarket labs. Fully digitalized and serving as e-commerce hubs, they are part of our selection of the most innovative retail retail concepts from Asia and the Middle East.
In 2017, retail “labs” appear to have changed. In new geographies and emerging countries of Asia and the Middle Eastern omnichannel initiatives are booming with a high degree of innovation and boldness. These are driven by a young population of “Millennials” born after 1981, who make up 30% of Chinese and more than 50% of the Gulf. They have very high use of mobile technology and strong demand for seamless and convenient e-commerce purchasing. In China, a Chinese version of Amazon Go is already live in-store. The online giant Alibaba (e-commerce sales of US$19.45 billion in the fiscal year to March 2017, up by 45%) is quietly rolling out supermarket-labs called “Hema Market” in partnership with the start-up “Hema”.
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Article authors
Sophie Baqué
Chief Editor of mind Retail