Retail in Asia

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Alibaba invests USD692 million in Chinese department store operator

China’s Alibaba Group agreed to invest USD692 million in a Chinese department store operator Intime Retail as the e-commerce giant looks to bring the benefits and convenience of online shopping to customers who visit real bricks-and-mortar stores.

As part of the investment, Alibaba and Intime will form a joint venture to develop online-to-offline, or O2O, business in shopping malls, department stores and supermarkets in China. Alibaba will own about 80 percent of the venture, with Intime controlling the rest.

O2O businesses seek to benefit from the meteoric rise of smartphone use in China and can help turn a search into a shopping trip or meal based on the user’s location.
 

(Source: CNBC)