Alibaba is updating 400 RT-Marts with tech

Alibaba, the Chinese multinational e-commerce, retail, Internet, AI and technology conglomerate that delivers more packages than Amazon, is expanding its focus from primarily digital to brick-and-mortar stores.

As part of the move they are implementing what is being termed "New Retail" technologies to Chinese hypermarket chain RT-Mart and has so far completed transforming about 100 of its 400 stores. According to Peter Huang, CEO of RT-Mart, "New Retail has introduced a new way of thinking. By digitizing the store’s operation, the online and offline business merge into one". 

For the one-hour delivery of orders placed through RT-Mart’s mobile app, in-store inventory is picked, then put on conveyor belts that carry shopping bags above the shop floor to where they are packed and readied for delivery.

Additionally, in-store shoppers can use the Mobile Taobao app to scan bar codes and place products in a virtual shopping cart. The transaction is completed with Alipay, the parent company of which Alibaba has a 33% stake in, and delivered to a residence in as quickly as 60 minutes.

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