Alibaba’s Freshippo rolls out $185m coupons for May 5 festival

It was bringing offerings from 500 merchants for the holiday season.

Alibaba’s new retail-powered supermarket Freshippo distributed $185.33m (RMB1.2b) worth of coupons to use during the May 5 Shopping Festival, a consumption-stimulating campaign initiated by the Shanghai government, according to a news release.

Freshippo’s Shanghai locations, including its new membership-only warehouse club Freshippo X, was looking to bring together special offerings from about 500 participating merchants and serve more than 10 million visitors over the holiday.

Freshippo launched the warehouse club last November delivering a two-part experience for shoppers and featuring a cross-border import showroom and a warehouse-style store.

Spanning over 18,000 sqm, the mega membership store offers a growing inventory of roughly 2,000 types of products, covering everything from imported snacks, regional specialties, home electronics to baked goods and the freshest catch of the day.