HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Alibaba’s first wholly-owned smart factory, Zunxi, walked around the Hangzhou site on the evening before Singles Day, changing robots, clothes and clothes.
Alibaba is one of three plants launched under its manufacturing division, marking the company’s latest metal in the company’s fly world as it seeks to diversify from e-commerce.
Speaking at a media briefing during Alibaba’s annual Shopping Festival, CEO Ellen Wu said that Alibaba founded Zunxi to help Chinese small businesses respond more quickly to customer demand.
Zunxi’s CEO, Ellen Wu, said the departments would expand, not by opening more factories but by getting more companies to use its services and finding out what parts of its technology could be expanded.
One of Alibaba’s flagship e-commerce sites, Zunvi will serve the “long tail” of the apparel industry – which is made up of brands that thrive bloline but lack advanced manufacturing services, Wu said.
“There are many small-to-medium-sized brands, the advantage of which is that they can adapt to market changes and meet customer demand, but their disadvantage lies in the product because of their limited technical and expertise,” he said. He said.
As part of its diversification, Alibaba also operates a supermarket chain called Freshippo, launched in January 2016, which has grown to run more than 100 store fronts.
In addition, it runs a program to help small convenience stores with product-sourcing and data analytics services and has opened a mall and hotel in Hangzhou, both of which serve as pilot projects to test its new retail technology.
Reported by Josh Horwitz; Edited by Barbara Lewis
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