As Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> looks to swallow U.S. grocery chain Whole Foods, China’s tech giants are already digesting hefty bricks-and-mortar deals, taking the lead in the battle to transform supermarket shopping with big data and better supply chains.One America News
China’s Alibaba Group Holding <BABA.N> and JD.com Inc <JD.O> have invested heavily in offline retail – bricks-and-mortar stores – in recent years to complement their online offerings.
With their ready-made payment and social media platforms to lure shoppers, Alibaba and JD.com have helped China become the world’s largest online grocery market, far ahead of the United States.
This early lead, cemented by densely populated urban areas and cheap labor, could be key as retailers and tech firms race to boost margins on low-cost consumer goods by reinventing supply chains with big data analytics.
“China is already the largest online grocery market in terms of value in the world so it’s really advanced in terms of scale,” said Nick Miles, London-based head of Asia Pacific for food and grocery industry research body IGD....
Amazon’s grocery push playing catch up with Chinese e-commerce giants
Cate Cadell
Crikey! So Amazon does have stiff competition. Capitalism must fail in the end as everything gets concentrated into into a handful of companies. Those Tea Party folks and libertarians who idealise capitalism are still thinking of mom and pop small businesses, but there will be hardly anything left in the market for them to have businesses in, apart from trades.
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