Aldi opens online shop in Shanghai

It was some Grand Opening in Shanghai this Tuesday. Five weeks after the soft launch, Aldi Süd (Aldi South), Germany's most profitable discounter, officially presented its new online shop to the People's Republic of China. No pains or expense were spared for the official ceremony at the Waterhouse in Shanghai.The gentle-voiced and incredibly popular, local singer Chen Kun had been recruited for the occasion. Perhaps a little incongruously for a retailer whose initial offer only includes 100 own-label food lines, the audience were also treated to a fashion show where young ladies with willowy bodies strutted their stuff on the catwalk.Of course, it could all have been just a glamour item, but perhaps the privately-run retail giant is hinting at introducing its successful fashion collection to the Middle Kingdom?At any event, when one considers that Aldi has opened an office with 40 staff in the centre of Shanghai and a big distribution centre in the port of Ningbo, its cooperation with Alibaba B2C platform Tmall Global looks far more than a toe-dipping exercise in the South China Sea.And as journalists we can only exult because the low-profile retailer authorised country manager Christoph Schwaiger to talk with Lebensmittel Zeitung.