How mobile apps improve the lives of Chinese people

Internet food stores attract city slickers

No 2: Online-to-offline retail

Shanghai entrepreneur He Zhizhao used to drive at least two hours to a store once a week to buy his family's groceries. That was until March when he downloaded an app called Hema Xiansheng.

The app is an online-to-offline supermarket operated by e-commerce giant Alibaba. It allows users to order goods, including fresh fruit and vegetables, on a mobile device and have them delivered to their doorstep.

Customers who live within 3 kilometers of a brick-and-mortar Hema supermarket can even receive their purchases within 30 minutes.

The app has become hugely popular among busy residents in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. He, 54, said he was hooked right away.

"Online shopping has made my life easier," he said. "The delivery service is always on time, and I can buy almost everything I need on the app. It saves me the travel time and the hassle of picking up goods.

"There's a detailed introduction for each product on the app, which you just don't get on a supermarket shelf. Plus, the prices are reasonable."

Quality service at a reasonable price is the result of intense competition in the online-to-offline supermarket sector. In addition to Alibaba's Hema, shoppers have the option of using Tencent's Miss Fresh and JD Fresh.

According to a report by Cheetah Global Lab, users of fresh food delivery apps in China tripled last year.

HE QI