Alibaba ramps up offline efforts

Internet giant opens first physical store of its cross-border shopping platform

Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd opened its first physical store for cross-border e-commerce platform Tmall Global in its headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Friday, taking advantage of the city's preferential policies on trans-border retail.

The outlet, located in a downtown Intime Department Store that was acquired by Alibaba last year, features the use of big data and algorithms to pinpoint and forecast customer needs, the company said in a news release.