Alibaba’s Freshippo to Shut Last X Member Store in Strategic Revamp
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Freshippo, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s offline grocery business, is pulling the plug on its warehouse-style, premium X Member stores, marking a full retreat from its ambitious bid to emulate the success of American retail giants Costco and Sam’s Club.
The last remaining X Member store, located in Shanghai’s Pudong district, will close on Aug. 31, according to a store notice. The move concludes a four-year experiment aimed at building a membership-based, bulk-buying format in China — a market that has proved difficult for domestic entrants despite increasing consumer interest in value-driven retail.
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- Freshippo is closing all its X Member warehouse stores by August 31, 2025, ending a four-year effort to copy Costco’s membership model in China.
- Freshippo is refocusing on its Fresh supermarkets (over 420 in 50 cities) and NB discount stores, with 9 consecutive months of profitability and over 75 billion yuan in gross merchandise volume in 2025.
- Alibaba has paused Freshippo’s IPO plans, emphasizing core businesses, but rules out selling Freshippo, aiming instead for further strategic integration.
- Freshippo
- Freshippo, also known as Hema, is Alibaba's offline grocery business. After a strategic shift, it is focusing on its core Freshippo Fresh supermarkets and NB discount stores, moving away from its premium X Member warehouse stores. The company has achieved profitability and is integrating more closely with Alibaba's ecosystem.
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is divesting non-core assets to prioritize profit-generating operations. Its grocery business, Freshippo, is closing its X Member stores to focus on core supermarket and discount store formats. Freshippo recorded nine consecutive months of profitability, with gross merchandise volume exceeding 75 billion yuan ($10.4 billion), and is integrating with Alibaba's e-commerce ecosystem.
- Sun Art Retail
- Sun Art Retail was divested by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as part of its strategy to focus on core e-commerce and cloud computing businesses, and shed non-core assets. This move by Alibaba aligns with its broader financial strategy.
- Intime Department Store
- Intime Department Store is a non-core asset that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has divested. This divestiture is part of Alibaba's strategy to increase focus on its core e-commerce and cloud computing businesses and prioritize profit-generating operations.
- October 2020：
- Freshippo launched the X Member chain.
- May 2023：
- Alibaba said Freshippo would pursue an initial public offering after a business revamp.
- October 2023：
- Freshippo launched a 'discounting reform' aimed at cutting prices.
- By November 2023：
- Alibaba put Freshippo's IPO plan on hold.
- By the end of 2023：
- The X Member chain expanded to 10 locations.
- 2024：
- Freshippo opened 72 new Fresh stores.
- Late 2024：
- CEO Yan Xiaolei wrote a letter to employees, signaling focus on Freshippo Fresh supermarkets and NB discount stores.
- As of the end of Q1 2025：
- Freshippo operates more than 420 Fresh supermarkets.
- February 2025：
- Freshippo began phasing out the X Member brand.
- February 2025：
- Alibaba CFO Toby Xu stated there were no plans to sell Freshippo during an earnings call.
- July 2025：
- X Member stores in Beijing, Suzhou, and Nanjing closed.
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