Recent media reports indicate that Freshippo [3], the Chinese supermarket brand launched by e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2015, is closing all of its membership stores. According to industry insiders, the shutdowns are part of a strategic business adjustment initiated by Freshippo.

On July 29, a Freshippo X membership store in Beijing announced that it would cease operations on July 31. That same day, two additional stores — one in Suzhou and another in Nanjing — also shut down. Currently, only one location remains open: the Shanghai Senlan store, which has also confirmed that it will close on Aug. 31. With the complete closure of its membership stores, Freshippo is officially abandoning a business model once viewed as its “second growth curve” and intended to compete with Costco and Sam’s Club.

Freshippo X offered two membership tiers: gold at 258 Chinese yuan ($35.93) per year and diamond at 658 yuan ($91.61) per year, primarily targeting middle-class families and high-end consumers. The first store [4] opened in Shanghai in October 2020, prior to expansion into Beijing in June 2021. By October 2023, Freshippo X had established 10 locations across Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou and other cities. However, this initial momentum proved short-lived, and by the end of 2023 the membership store model had begun to lose traction.

Now, as physical membership stores close one after another, member benefits remain in effect and are gradually transitioning online. In April, Freshippo upgraded its former Freshippo Cloud Supermarket (盒马云超) into Yunxianghui (云享会), featuring over 800 MAX private-label products. Members enjoy exclusive pricing and unlimited free delivery on orders over 49 yuan ($6.82) throughout the year. Although some products are available to non-members, members benefit from lower prices.

In a year-end internal letter from CEO Yan Xiaolei in 2024, Freshippo outlined a strategic shift [5] toward two core business formats: its standard stores, catering to middle- and high-income consumers, and its NB stores, positioned as discount outlets. In the current fiscal year, the company still plans to continue its expansion efforts, aiming to open nearly 100 new locations and enter dozens of additional cities. This growth strategy emphasizes deeper market penetration in second- and third-tier cities and counties, as well as achieving a larger footprint in northern China.

Image: © 2025 Produce Report

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article [6].