Alibaba in process to buy Intime for $2.6 Billion

E-commerce giants are developing rapidly based on their growth strategies and acquisitions. Many of the e-commerce players are playing safe. They are simultaneously making their foundation by setting up offline stores. But one of the leading giant—Alibaba has already played its cards.

Alibaba has already stepped forward to get into the modernized offline retail business. The e-commerce giant has placed a deal of $2.6 Billion for total acquisition of the Chinese mall operator ‘Intime’.

Three years ago, Alibaba purchased some stakes in the firm for $692 Million. And it has placed a bid to purchase the whole business of Intime.

Intime has 17 shopping malls and 29 departmental stores that are operational all across the China. This acquisition will give Alibaba a strong grip over the market.

Alibaba aims to reduce the gap between the retailers and customers, advance the inventory management system, ease the digital payment methods, and offer convincing promotions.

“We don’t intend to split the world into virtual economies. Just we are setting up a new benchmark for the future brick and mortar business. And the ones who won’t adopt the advancement would get disrupted for following old methods of retailing”, Alibaba’s CEO, Daniel Zhang, commented.

Excluding this purchase made by Alibaba, it had also invested $4.6 Billion to buy 20% stake of Chinese retail giant Suning in 2015.

Many believe that the combination of online and offline commerce is pretty odd but for Alibaba, the definition of the business is created by its own strategies.###