SHANGHAI -- After making a foray into the supermarket and department store industries, Chinese e-commerce operator Alibaba Group Holding is now aiming for dominance in another retail area: the country's rapidly growing convenience store market. What it appears to be after most is a treasure trove of detailed data on purchases that is not available from its online shoppers.
In March, Alibaba quietly opened a convenience store in a shopping center in Shanghai, China's biggest consumer hub. The store, called Yike EGO, is a guinea pig project as the company's first convenience store opened in partnership with major retailer Bailian Group.
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