Is it a store? Is it a restaurant? No! It’s food experience at its best!

A hybrid of e-commerce and physical shopping, Hema is calculated to appeal to a generation of Chinese consumers who live life through their smartphones. You can pull live crabs out of a large tank before browsing the aisles for packaged goods.

A NEW EXPERIENCE

They scan items as they go and pay for them via the Alipay app that has become a popular alternative to cash in China. Opened by Alibaba in an effort to reinvent food shopping.

The hyper-local business allows customers to shop from the comfort of their homes, using a mobile app. They can order fresh food to cook it at home or have it prepared by the Hema chefs and delivered within 30 minutes.

Customers who prefer the in-instore experience can visit the supermarket to hand-select their fresh food, such as seafood, and can choose to have it cooked for carry-out, delivered to their nearby home or office, or they can eat it on the spot the store’s dining area.