Alibaba inks deal with Spanish retail company

Alibaba has inked an agreement with Spanish retail company El Corte Ingle´s to collaborate on projects that cut across multiple areas, including cloud computing, online and offline retail.

The two retail players signed a letter of intent that will see their business units and subsidiaries work on the various initiatives, according to a statement coming from the two companies. On retail, for instance, El Corte Ingle´s will be able to set up a flagship store and tap Alibaba’s online marketplaces such as Tmall and AliExpress to offer its products to consumers in China.

Operational since 1940, the Spanish company runs one of the largest department store chains in Europe. In turn, AliExpress will explore the possibility of setting up physical points at El Corte Ingle´s shopping centres in order to streamline the shopping experience for Spanish shoppers.

Both companies also will assess the potential for collaboration in terms of delivery and supply chains, with Alibaba possibly tapping into El Corte Ingle´s’ logistics expertise and resources in Spain, as well as using its distribution centres as collection points for online purchases made on AliExpress.