Alibaba’s supermarket chain Freshippo has suspended new membership subscriptions since Dec. 13, according to local media outlet Yicai, which quoted a Freshippo source. The move comes two months after the grocery retailer introduced large-scale discounts across most of its product range. The activation fee for a one-year membership is RMB 258, which is very close to rival Sam’s Club’s annual membership fee, and grants customers a discount of 12% off every Tuesday. Freshippo, however, caused dissatisfaction among its members in October after it allowed all offline shoppers to purchase goods at a price 20% lower than the original in an unexpected move. “The ultimate goal of is to ensure ‘price reduction for all consumers’ in stores,” Freshippo told Yicai. [Yicai, in Chinese]
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