<p>Alibaba Group said on Tuesday it would sell its Chinese department store unit Intime and book a $1.3 billion loss from the deal, as the retail giant reshuffles its business portfolio to focus on its core e-commerce operation.</p><p>The sale marks a further acceleration of Alibaba's restructuring after the group split into six business units last year in its biggest-ever revamp and announced a series of top management reshuffles afterwards.</p><p>The company last month unveiled a plan to integrate its domestic Chinese and international e-commerce platforms into a single business unit run by one leader for the first time, as it faces growing competition from discount-heavy retailers at home and abroad.</p>.Gucci quits US anti-counterfeiting group after Alibaba joins.<p>Rival platforms such as PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo and Temu, along with ByteDance's Douyin and TikTok, have stepped up competition with Alibaba by targeting cost-conscious shoppers with rock-bottom prices on everything from headphones to sweaters.</p><p>China's challenging consumer environment has put pressure on all retailers and e-commerce platforms.</p><p>"I think in the short term Alibaba just doesn't have the attention to actually do offline retail and do it well," said Jianggan Li, founder and CEO of Momentum Works, a venture and insights firm, though "finding the right buyer at the right price" for offline assets remains a challenge.</p>.<p>Alibaba said on Tuesday it would sell Intime to a consortium comprising Youngor Fashion and members of Intime's management team for 7.4 billion yuan ($1.02 billion), subject to customary regulatory approvals.</p><p>Alibaba purchased Intime in 2017 in a $2.6 billion deal to expand into the bricks-and-mortar retail segment and currently holds a 99% stake in the business.</p><p>The e-commerce giant has been looking to sell a number of consumer sector assets, including Intime, grocery business Freshippo and retailer RT-Mart to focus on its core business, Reuters reported in February.</p>.<p>At the time, Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai told analysts that while it made sense to exit the businesses, challenging market conditions meant it would take time.</p><p>Alibaba, under former boss Daniel Zhang, expanded its presence in the retail sector by taking over several brick-and-mortar chains, including electronics retailer Suning and hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail, which runs RT-Mart.</p><p>The once vaunted "New Retail" model, a term coined by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, was meant to offer the best of both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar but also featured higher rents and labour costs than pure e-commerce, and the expense of integrating complex systems.</p><p>In April, Ma expressed support for the internet giant's restructuring efforts, and acknowledged past mistakes in a lengthy memo to employees.</p>
<p>Alibaba Group said on Tuesday it would sell its Chinese department store unit Intime and book a $1.3 billion loss from the deal, as the retail giant reshuffles its business portfolio to focus on its core e-commerce operation.</p><p>The sale marks a further acceleration of Alibaba's restructuring after the group split into six business units last year in its biggest-ever revamp and announced a series of top management reshuffles afterwards.</p><p>The company last month unveiled a plan to integrate its domestic Chinese and international e-commerce platforms into a single business unit run by one leader for the first time, as it faces growing competition from discount-heavy retailers at home and abroad.</p>.Gucci quits US anti-counterfeiting group after Alibaba joins.<p>Rival platforms such as PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo and Temu, along with ByteDance's Douyin and TikTok, have stepped up competition with Alibaba by targeting cost-conscious shoppers with rock-bottom prices on everything from headphones to sweaters.</p><p>China's challenging consumer environment has put pressure on all retailers and e-commerce platforms.</p><p>"I think in the short term Alibaba just doesn't have the attention to actually do offline retail and do it well," said Jianggan Li, founder and CEO of Momentum Works, a venture and insights firm, though "finding the right buyer at the right price" for offline assets remains a challenge.</p>.<p>Alibaba said on Tuesday it would sell Intime to a consortium comprising Youngor Fashion and members of Intime's management team for 7.4 billion yuan ($1.02 billion), subject to customary regulatory approvals.</p><p>Alibaba purchased Intime in 2017 in a $2.6 billion deal to expand into the bricks-and-mortar retail segment and currently holds a 99% stake in the business.</p><p>The e-commerce giant has been looking to sell a number of consumer sector assets, including Intime, grocery business Freshippo and retailer RT-Mart to focus on its core business, Reuters reported in February.</p>.<p>At the time, Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai told analysts that while it made sense to exit the businesses, challenging market conditions meant it would take time.</p><p>Alibaba, under former boss Daniel Zhang, expanded its presence in the retail sector by taking over several brick-and-mortar chains, including electronics retailer Suning and hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail, which runs RT-Mart.</p><p>The once vaunted "New Retail" model, a term coined by Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, was meant to offer the best of both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar but also featured higher rents and labour costs than pure e-commerce, and the expense of integrating complex systems.</p><p>In April, Ma expressed support for the internet giant's restructuring efforts, and acknowledged past mistakes in a lengthy memo to employees.</p>