Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to make Singles' Day, China's largest online shopping festival held on Nov. 11 every year, into a 24-hour “omni-channel celebration” by asking thousands of offline stores to participate, the China Daily reported.
According to Alibaba, some 180,000 offline stores, including shopping malls and chain stores, across 330 cities in the country will join this year's Nov. 11 event.
Zhang Jianfeng, president of Alibaba's retail business unit, said that it will be the first time that thousands of offline stores will participate in the event, which will include Alibaba's new partners Suning Commerce Group Co. Ltd. and Intime Retail (Group) Co. Ltd., to create a shopping extravaganza where digital economy combines with bricks-and-mortar shops.
"Alibaba has been successful at building its business online. But we've been thinking for a while about how to work with offline partners as they are still such an influential power in the economy," said Zhang.
The report said that participating offline stores will integrate with Alibaba's membership and product management, logistics and delivery service systems.
According to the report, customers can buy home appliances online and have the items delivered in two hours from the nearest retail store participating in the Nov. 11 event. They can also try on clothes at shopping malls and also buy items online via TMall.
The report said that during last year's Singles' Day, nearly 43 percent of Alibaba's 57.1 billion yuan ($8.98 billion) sales were made via mobile devices. This year, the company expects the number to reach 50 percent.
Industry observers, however, are not surprised at the partnership between Alibaba and the offline stores.
Wang Xiaoxing, from Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International, said that Alibaba's purchase of 20 percent stake in Suning indicates its interest in making its presence offline.
"With the slowing of the Chinese economy and the sluggish progress of traditional retailers, it is important for e-commerce companies and offline operators to work together," Wang added.