During her lunch break, Xiao Lin, who works in an office building near Xinjiekou, pushes her shopping cart directly towards the bakery section of the Wumart supermarket, where freshly baked croissants and egg tarts are neatly arranged. “The bakery items from this supermarket are as good as those from a dedicated bakery, perfect for an afternoon snack,” Xiao Lin says. A young companion stops at the counter opposite: “They have freshly baked durian pizza today. I came too late yesterday and missed it, so I made sure to come early this time.”

In the evening, Ms. Zhou, who lives in Majiapu, takes her dog for a walk and then pops into the Wumart supermarket, heading straight for the familiar “pet check-in area” near the entrance. Clean water bowls and soft mats are already set up, and her dog happily trots over. “I used to worry about her running around, but now shopping and walking the dog can be seamlessly connected,” Ms. Zhou says with a smile.

In Huangcun, Daxing District, Xiao Yang, an employee from the Wumart maintenance department, is crouched on the floor, skillfully tightening the screws on a wheelchair with his tools. The wheelchair belongs to an elderly gentleman with grey hair. “I was worried about the wheelchair malfunctioning, and I never expected the young man at the supermarket to offer to fix it,” the elderly man remarks with emotion.

These heartwarming scenes are becoming part of the daily routine at Wumart supermarkets. Since the debut of its first AI-powered new retail transformation store on Xueqing Road in Haidian District in March 2025, Wumart has completed the upgrade and revitalization of nearly a hundred stores nationwide, executing a comprehensive transformation from the inside out. The Huangcun store in Daxing has now marked one year since its own AI retail transformation.

Standing at the crossroads of traditional retail transformation and shifting consumer habits, this veteran supermarket chain with over thirty years of history is attempting to use technological innovation and human warmth to recapture the essence of the “ideal supermarket” that belongs to the neighborhood and is filled with the lively atmosphere of daily life.

The Traditional Supermarket Grows an AI Brain

From Wumart's perspective, AI-powered new retail revolves around consumer needs, using AI and digital capabilities as a foundation to completely restructure products, supply chains, operations, and services across the entire chain. Once this concept was implemented, the most immediately noticeable change for consumers was the store's completely refreshed appearance.

Shelves are lower, aisles are wider, and lighting is brighter. The once slightly cramped store layout has been reorganized, creating an open and spacious feel. Cleaning robots occasionally navigate the aisles, giving audio prompts to "please move aside." This spatial simplification has become the design philosophy for the AI transformation stores.

“It used to be disorienting to walk around, but now you can see where you want to go at a glance. Shopping is much more comfortable,” remarked Auntie Sun, pushing her cart. While shopping has become more comfortable, consumers are also buying with greater peace of mind.

Wumart has developed a highly efficient “AI brain” for its transformation stores. On the product supply side, these stores rely on the digital systems of DMALL (Duodian Digital Intelligence), such as AI Freshness Calculation, AI Product Selection, and AI Clearance, to precisely match the consumption needs of surrounding community residents, university students, and faculty, implementing a tailored strategy for each store.

Product selection no longer relies on individual experience but is determined by consumer purchasing behavior based on three core metrics: penetration rate, sales velocity, and repurchase rate. For the fresh food category, which is central to community consumption, the transformation stores have undergone a comprehensive upgrade of the fresh produce area, implementing a same-day clearance system for fresh meat and freshly prepared goods, and adding a standardized food safety testing lab.

In the bakery section, the “AI Freshness Calculation System” automatically tracks real-time sales and wastage data for each bread item, factoring in variables like holidays, weather changes, and even surrounding community consumption habits to calculate precise stock recommendations. “In the past, there was concern about excessive clearance leading to losses, but now AI forecasting has helped control this issue,” said an employee at the Huangcun store. The bread wastage rate at that store has now dropped from around 8% to 3%.

In the fresh produce area, the AI system executes a precise clearance strategy of “20% off after 4 hours, 40% off after 6 hours, removal from shelves after 8 hours.” “Looking at the time on the electronic price tag, it's clear when the item was made and when the discount applies. There's also a dedicated food safety testing lab, so I feel confident buying,” said a young person selecting items for dinner.

The AI system has also freed up employees. “Before, we spent a lot of time each day putting up price tags. Now, electronic price tags update automatically, and our work focus has shifted from managing goods to serving customers,” said a produce section employee at the Xueqing Road store. Freed from tedious daily planning tasks, employees now have the capacity to improve service levels.

At the Shuangjing store, employees at the roast duck counter chat familiarly with regular customers about daily life, while staff at the staple food counter patiently explain the differences between two types of meat pie recipes. “We used to be too busy to even look up. Now we can finally have a proper conversation with customers,” an employee noted.

Achieving 'Freedom to Browse and Dine' Beyond the Shelves

After AI addressed efficiency issues, a new question emerged: What makes today's supermarket a place consumers want to visit? The answer lies in the convenience service areas of the transformation stores.

Next to the service counter at the exit, a large screen displays a list of over twenty convenience services: fruit peeling and cutting, umbrella rental, free raincoats, blood pressure measurement, first aid kits, free tea, free ice provision... Nearby, facilities like microwaves, shared power banks, height and weight scales, and vision test charts are available.

Additionally, the supermarket has set up a dining area equipped with a tea bar and power outlets, allowing consumers to sit down, eat, charge their devices, or rest. Here, you find grandparents sharing a purchased boxed meal with their grandchildren, as well as young couples enjoying crayfish together. An auntie charging her phone remarked, “Before, you'd just buy your groceries and leave. Now you can sit down, have a drink of water, and charge your phone. It feels less like a supermarket and more like a community service station.”

Simultaneously, the transformation stores have comprehensively upgraded their freshly prepared food sections. Bread is baked fresh and stocked immediately, cold noodles are assembled and dressed to order, boxed meals feature hot dishes served on the spot, staple foods like pancakes have their own dedicated kitchen, seafood can be purchased and processed immediately, and with summer's arrival, counters are stocked with fresh zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and bright red crayfish.

According to previously disclosed data from Wumart, daily average sales and customer traffic at transformed stores in Beijing have generally increased by 50% to 300% compared to pre-transformation levels. Among these, prepared foods and bakery categories have shown particularly strong growth, becoming key factors in attracting repeat customers.

The steaming, lively atmosphere is quietly changing the supermarket's customer demographics, with a noticeable increase in young consumers. Data shows growth among consumers under 30, faster growth in the 30-40 age group, and the proportion of female consumers has risen from 55% to 60%. A young person working nearby said, “Before, dinner meant ordering takeout. Now, I can just go downstairs for a hot, freshly made meal and sit down to eat it leisurely. It's so much more convenient.”

This also signifies that Wumart supermarkets are transitioning from being a “place to buy groceries” to a “place to eat,” a “place to socialize,” and a “place to solve problems.”

In essence, Wumart's transformation is fundamentally a “return”—a return to the original intent of serving the community and a return to a people-centric business logic. Although Wumart may not have been the earliest starter in this regard, its pace of progress is accelerating.

Facing the digital era, Wumart's AI-powered new retail transformation has already taken a solid step forward alongside the industry in transformation and upgrading, turning to become a hub within the “15-minute便民生活圈 (convenient living circle)” and the “first stop for daily needs” for community residents.

Empowering efficiency with technology and warming hearts with humanity—this may indeed be the path for traditional retail to break through in the new era.