Hema has achieved profitability for the whole year (from April 2024 to March 2025) for the first time, and plans to open nearly 100 stores in 2025 and enter dozens of new cities.Nine years after its establishment, Hema finally achieved full-year profitability.In 2015, Hema Fresh was officially established as a pilot project of Alibaba's new retail. It is China's first new retail platform and new retail pioneer driven by data and technology, and is also an "old player" in the new retail industry.
In January 2016, Hema opened its first offline store in Shanghai Jinqiao Plaza, marking its transition from concept to physical business.
In March 2024, Hou Yi, vice president of Alibaba and founder and CEO of Hema, retired, and former CFO Yan Xiaolei took over as CEO of Hema.
On the last day of 2024, Yan Xiaolei issued a letter to all employees, mentioning that Hema has only done three things in the past nine months: return to user value, focus on strategic direction, and promote organizational construction.In addition, she emphasized in her letter that in 2024, Hema will focus on Hema Xiansheng and Hema NB, with the former copying the successful model and the latter polishing the optimal model.
In 2024, Hema achieved double-digit growth on the basis of nine consecutive months of overall profitability, with the number of customers increasing by more than 50%.
Under the new strategy, Hema has accelerated its deployment across the country. In fiscal year 2024, it has opened more than 70 Hema fresh food stores, one-third of which are located in second- and third-tier cities and counties, and has achieved significant growth in the number of Hema customers across all channels.
On April 10, Hema officially announced that “Hema Yunchao” was upgraded to “Yunxianghui”.Users who are not Hema X members or Hema X members can also place orders on the Hema App to purchase nearly 4,000 Hema self-operated products, breaking the physical restrictions of stores and having them delivered to their homes in almost all markets across the country.
At present, retail competition is still fierce. Foreign investors such as Sam's and Aldi are quite popular, and rivals such as Pandonglai, Dingdong Maicai, Xiaoxiang Supermarket, and Pupu Supermarket are accelerating to carve up the market.
Under sufficient market competition, Hema still faces pressure for performance growth, and coming up with its first full-year profit report may also be a key starting point.