It is now possible to have groceries delivered to your door, 24/7 in Beijing and Shanghai as the Alibaba owned Hema supermarkets roll out the service.

According to an item posted on the Alizila news website this week regarding the new Hema service: “Users of the New Retail-driven mobile app who live within a 3-kilometer radius of a store can still get the same “in as fast as 30 minutes” service offered during the day, but now between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. as well.”

Alizila added: “The new offering includes most items in the store, except for some fresh produce. Also, cooked meals, which are a big draw for Hema supermarkets, will be available for delivery until 1 a.m.

The report on Hema concluded “Overnight online shopping is not uncommon among Chinese consumers. According to Alibaba, over 80 million users of its Taobao and Tmall e-commerce sites visit between midnight and 4 a.m., most of whom are women over 30.”

The news website Alizila is owned by Alibaba, as it does the supermarket chain…

This is particularly interesting as Apex Insight has reported how ParcelHero have published a report suggesting that here in Europe and the UK we may well see the launch of similar night-time delivery services. Who will jump first? The supermarkets or the omnichannel retailers…?