Recently, New Distribution learned from multiple regions that several Auchan China stores have changed their storefront signage to 'RT-Mart'. According to incomplete statistics, at least 10 Auchan stores have officially been renamed RT-Mart since May. The renaming of Auchan to RT-Mart is actually an inevitable move by Alibaba to integrate the two major brands, RT-Mart and Auchan, under Sun Art Retail after its acquisition. As early as April 8, RT-Mart CEO Lin Xiaohai stated, "Alibaba and RT-Mart will definitely create chemical reactions, first by making RT-Mart independent." According to his plan, RT-Mart is gradually renovating its stores nationwide and will gradually rename the Auchan brand, also under Sun Art Retail, to RT-Mart. According to information revealed by Lin Xiaohai at the time, RT-Mart completed the restructuring of 50 stores last year, and this year the restructuring of hypermarkets will enter its second phase. The Auchan brand is gradually being renamed RT-Mart, and the transformation is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. "We still need to continuously restructure hypermarkets. RT-Mart's nearly 500 stores nationwide should become assets, not burdens," said Lin Xiaohai. Auchan, a well-known supermarket brand that entered the Chinese market in 1997, officially opened its first store in Shanghai in 1999, entering the sight of Chinese consumers. In 2000, the Auchan Group signed a joint venture agreement with Ruentex, the parent company of RT-Mart, and cross-held shares. Ruentex holds 66.38% of RT-Mart through a holding company, while Auchan holds 33.62% of RT-Mart; Auchan directly holds 67.2% of Auchan China, while Ruentex holds 32.8% of Auchan. At the same time, the two parties established a holding company (Sun Art Retail) in Hong Kong to promote their hypermarket businesses in mainland China under the two brands, Auchan and RT-Mart. Sun Art Retail was listed in 2011. Although the two were merged into one listed company to advance their respective hypermarket businesses in mainland China, there was not much overlap in their business development. Auchan China and RT-Mart operated independently in terms of product procurement and store operations. It was not until 2017 that Alibaba first invested HK$22.4 billion in Sun Art, completing the acquisition of RT-Mart. In 2020, it invested approximately US$3.6 billion to acquire a 70.94% stake in Jixin Holdings Co., Ltd., the major shareholder of the company. This meant that French Auchan would completely bid farewell to the Chinese market. For Alibaba, what it values is the warehousing and distribution system and store network that Sun Art has established nationwide, especially in lower-tier markets (more than 70% of stores are in lower-tier markets), which form the supply chain foundation and user transaction base. RT-Mart's fulfillment costs for supermarket operations are actually lower and its efficiency is higher within the Alibaba system. Whether it is Tmall Supermarket, Cainiao, or Lingshoutong within Alibaba's business system, their efficiency may not be as high as RT-Mart's (mainly due to early layout, accumulated time, and a well-trained employee team), especially in the dispersed lower-tier and sinking markets, where this value is more obvious. Therefore, when RT-Mart completes its digital transformation, its supply chain capabilities, after connecting with Tmall Supermarket and others, are enhancing the competitiveness of Tmall Supermarket and others. The importance of RT-Mart to Alibaba is increasing. This may be one of the reasons for Alibaba's controlling stake in Sun Art. Alibaba needs RT-Mart to optimize its competitiveness in the supermarket market. Around the supermarket market, Alibaba has made many layouts, such as Ele.me, Hema, Lingshoutong, Tmall Supermarket, etc. Alibaba may have deeper and more forceful integration of its supermarket business in the future. As for Sun Art's own performance, it is still not easy to achieve significant improvement at present. According to the financial report: For the 12 months ended December 31, 2020, the company's revenue was RMB 95.486 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%; profit attributable to equity shareholders was RMB 2.872 billion, an increase of RMB 38 million from RMB 2.834 billion in the same period of 2019, an increase of 1.3%. During the period, Sun Art Retail's gross profit was RMB 24.343 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5.4%; gross margin was 25.5%, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points from 27.0% in the same period last year. But for Alibaba, continuously incubating new businesses and forming multi-format co-development may be the future direction. Large, medium, and small supermarkets, community group buying business, warehouse-store model, plus its own e-commerce field, if they can be successfully integrated gradually to achieve overall improvements in efficiency, consumer experience, and other aspects, then higher expectations can certainly be placed on it. Once the tip is adopted, a reward of 400-2000 yuan will be paid.