China has a supermarket unlike anything in the US - and it has 2 major advantages over Amazon Go

Alibaba

• Alibaba is expanding Hema, a chain of cashless supermarkets.
• The stores are sprawling and offer a giant selection of fresh food, including seafood that shoppers can select and send to the kitchen to be cooked before the end of their trip.
• Shoppers can also order groceries online for delivery in under 30 minutes.
• Customers use their smartphones to shop and pay for their groceries at Hema.

The biggest e-commerce company in China, Alibaba, is growing a chain of cashless supermarkets unlike anything in the US. The chain, called Hema, will double its locations in China to nearly 60 this year.

Shoppers use their phones to pay for food at Hema, much like at Amazon's new cashierless stores, Amazon Go.

But Hema also has two other key services: chefs that will cook shoppers' groceries on demand, and couriers that deliver online orders in under 30 minutes.

Here's what Hema is like.

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