Alibaba Considers Bricks and Mortar

Chinese online retailer Alibaba (Hangzhou, China) is reportedly considering opening a physical marketplace.

A company spokesperson, according to Women’s Wear Daily, said that with 82 percent of retail consumption in China in stores, “there is an even more interesting opportunity to help traditional brick-and-mortar brands and retailers leverage the technology and consumer insights Alibaba can provide to transform how they engage consumers and give consumers new, more digitally integrated ways to shop. We call this drive our ‘New Retail’ strategy."

Laurent Potdevin, ceo of Lululemon (Vancouver, British Columbia), whose products are sold on Alibaba’s Tmall, reportedly said talk of a physical Alibaba mall is in the “early stages.”