Alibaba Group’s purchase of a 36% stake in one of China’s biggest hypermarket operators for $2.88 billion highlights the value of data and scale in food shopping.
The internet firm was willing to pay 18.8 times 2017 earnings for the bricks-and-mortar network of Sun Art Retail Group because it sees physical stores as a stepping stone to becoming the e-commerce grocer to China’s internet savvy 1.3 billion consumers.
“Physical stores serve an...