Kroger (NYSE: KR) shares were stirred up somewhat Thursday morning, on word that it’s had early discussion about working together with Chinese e-commerce and technology company Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). Those discussion have included a meeting in which U.S. executives traveled to China.
Sources, declining to be named, have said the business development talks are at an initial stage, and it is not clear if they will lead to any cooperation.
The discussions come as Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) has expanded aggressively into groceries with its acquisition of Whole Foods Market.
The talks between the two firms were reported earlier by the New York Post.
This week Amazon opened to the public its Amazon Go checkout-free grocery store, which relies on cameras and sensors to track what shoppers remove from the shelves.
Amazon's renewed push into groceries with last year's Whole Foods acquisition put pressure on leading U.S. supermarket Kroger to improve technology including mobile ordering and delivery. Kroger is rolling out curbside pickup as one way to fend off Amazon.
The talks with Kroger were not CEO-level, said the person, describing Kroger as one of many U.S. companies holding initial discussions with the Chinese company.
In China, Alibaba's Hema supermarket chain has become a test bed for the e-commerce firm's move into traditional retail, where mobile phones are used to order, pay and get information about items.
Kroger, which wants to sell more general merchandise like Amazon and Walmart, could direct customers to the Alibaba site, where media reports say they could buy general merchandise.
Shares in Kroger acquired 40 cents, or 1.4%, to $29.89, while Alibaba gathered $1.29 to $196.57.
