Alibaba sees bridging the online and in-store experience as a way to spur growth

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is set to report earnings Thursday. In the midst of the U.S. trade war with China and a slowing economy there, Alibaba has focused on bringing more retailers into its ecosystem.

“They want the experience for consumers to be the same whether online or in a store,” said Gil Luria, director of research at DA Davidson. The problem is that it’s more expensive to run stores than it is to run a website. “What it means for their business right now is much lower margins.”

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