s El Corte Inglés signs Alibaba partnership

El Corte Inglés signs Alibaba partnership

Spanish department store El Corte Inglés has put together a collaborative framework to work with Chinese giant Alibaba Group

The partnership covers commerce, retail, cloud computing services, digital innovation and smart payments.
As part of this comprehensive arrangement, the two companies have agreed to explore a number of cooperation initiatives in order to progress their respective omnichannel plans by combining and getting the best of both physical and online worlds – powered by digital innovation. Main joint initiatives and projects to be explored include El Corte Inglés accessing a comprehensive suite of technology solutions made available by Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group – encompassing big data analytics for real-time business decision making, and artificial intelligence capabilities offering customer personalisation for enhanced relationship management.
Ultimate goal El Corte Inglés will also have the chance to leverage Alibaba B2C marketplaces, including Tmall and AliExpress, in order to offer its products and goods to Alibaba’s users in China and worldwide via, among others, a namesake flagship store. 
The ultimate goal would be to enable Alibaba’s consumers to access a wider range of great Spanish and international brands commonly sold in El Corte Inglés department stores, including a number of the most iconic and finest “made in Spain” goods.
Victor del Pozo, CEO of El Corte Inglés, said: “This agreement will allow us to combine both the physical and online worlds, in order to offer the best shopping experience to our customers. Together, we are writing the future and placing ourselves at the forefront of trade and technology.”