November 27, 2017 (Linyi China) – A woman is passing by the RT-Mart, located at Oscar Shopping Center in Linyi City, east China’s Shandong Province, November 23. The Feiniu logo on the wall shows that Linyi RT-Mart has steeped up its business online.
Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd's $2.9 billion deal to buy a slice of China's largest hypermart chain on November 20. China's biggest e-commerce company agreed to acquire 36 percent of Sun Art Retail Group Lt., which operates about 400 hypermarkets under the Auchan and RT-Mart banners.
Alibaba's maneuver again shows how it's outspending Jeff Bezos in overhauling old-school shopping. It's the latest in a string of multi-billion dollar investments in physical retail that've deepened a lead over Amazon.com Inc., which kicked off its own foray into groceries by buying Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion. Unlike that acquisition, Alibaba's taking advantage of a years-long revenue deceleration and uncertain prospects to get Sun Art on the cheap, at a 24 percent discount to its most recent valuation.
Alibaba's bent on transforming retail by infusing stores with technology to better manage inventory and customer data. “Alibaba and Sun Art are forming a strong alliance: China's dominant e-commerce giant and its best hypermarket operator,” said an associate partner with OC&C Strategy Consultants.
