Kroger join hands with China’s Alibaba

In a war to lead in the online supermarket sales, Kroger (KR) sets its footprint in China through its partnership with Alibaba Group (BABA). Alibaba’s Tmall Global virtual storefront will be selling Kroger’s Simple Truth natural and organic products such as nuts, supplements, and other products in China.

The US supermarket operator is taking advantage of the increasing demand among Chinese consumers for organic food products. Tmall is Alibaba’s online platform for overseas brands. The fight against Walmart (WMT), which has tied up with Chinese partner JD.com (JD), has gone a step forward as Alibaba has a huge presence in the world’s second-biggest economy.

There have been numerous activities going on in the retail industry after Amazon (AMZN) changed the rules by occupying a huge space in the digital environment. Walmart, Costco (COST), Nordstrom (JWN), Target (TGT), Macy’s (M) and Dillard’s (DDS) have been innovating and implementing new ideas with regard to making a presence in the retail market.

Related: Kroger customers, your grocery delivery is coming in robo-cars

Recently in June-end, Kroger has partnered with autonomous commercial vehicles maker Nuro to pilot an on-road, fully autonomous delivery service. This will allow consumers to make same-day delivery orders and make it accessible everywhere. Kroger will also be offering low prices to customers, who can also avail Nuro service to collect and deliver sundry items from a place to another in the city.

In the recently completed first-quarter, Kroger had an identical supermarket sales growth without fuel of 1.9%. And the company expects a 2% to 2.5% sales growth in 2018. For strengthening its digital business, the company has been combatively investing in buying firms. Experts believe that the supermarket sales growth might increase further during the next year helped by Kroger’s presence in China.

Related: Kroger stock soars on Q1 earnings beat

Shares of Kroger ended Tuesday’s regular trading session up 2.35% at $30.45 on the NYSE and were down about 1% in the first hour of morning session today. The stock has gained more than 29% for the past year and 10% for the year-to-date period.