Alibaba Expands Freshippo With 100 New Stores in 2025 Targeting More Cities

Alibaba Group Holding’s BABA supermarket chain Freshippo plans to open ~100 fresh grocery stores in 2025 and foray into dozens of new cities in fiscal year 2025.

The chain opened 72 fresh food stores and entered 21 new cities, CEO Yan Xiaolei told Yicai on Tuesday. Freshippo will open nearly 100 new fresh food supermarkets and enter dozens of new cities this fiscal year.

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On February 28, Freshippo announced it would shut down three Freshippo X membership stores in Shanghai, bringing its total to only five nationwide. This move diverges from its plans to compete with Walmart Inc WMT Sam’s Club.

Zhang Yi of iiMedia Research told Yicai that Freshippo X outlets, which target premium customers, have yet to break even as they have adopted the supermarket business model for large stores.

A customer told Yicai that the non-exclusivity of most of the products on sale at Freshippo X members-only stores diminished the value of paid memberships.

Alibaba reported fiscal third-quarter 2024 revenue growth of 8% to $38.38 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $38.19 billion. Adjusted earnings per ADS of $2.93 beat the consensus estimate of $2.66. 

Alibaba stock has surged 82% in the last 12 months, backed by China’s stimulus measures to drive economic growth. This has posed a tailwind for its e-commerce business, and the company’s affordable artificial intelligence models are gaining traction.

Analysts rerated the stock after its quarterly report, citing AI growth and e-commerce rebound.

Price Action: BABA stock is up 0.11% at $130.96 premarket at the last check Tuesday.

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Photo via Alibaba