Hema (Dacheng Lu) Description

Known colloquially as the ‘Taobao market,’ there are now 20 Hemas in China, and more in the works. Hema is not terribly different from a regular supermarket – there are shelves of fruit and refrigerators of meat, after all. But there are some key differences: Instead of plunking your jar of mayonnaise into a cart, you scan it, let a virtual version appear in your online ‘cart,’ and use your app to pay at the register in the end. And then what? Your mayonnaise is retrieved by an automated trolley system and, if you live nearby, delivered to your home in 30 minutes. The lines between in-store shopping and e-commerce have officially been blurred.