Hong Kong (CNN Business) Online grocery startup Honestbee is betting a brick-and-mortar store will help it compete against tech giant Alibaba (BABA).

Singapore-based Honestbee, best known for its grocery app, has opened a massive cashless store called Habitat that offers a mix of online and offline shopping.

Habitat users scan an app on their phones to enter the store. To check out, they push their carts through a gate into a secure area behind a panel. Shoppers can then grab a coffee or snack at one of Habitat's restaurants while their goods are scanned and packed.

When the groceries are ready, they get a notification on their app and then head to a pickup area where a small robot retrieves a locker containing their bags. Shoppers can also order groceries at the store online and have them delivered to their homes.

"We use phones to track, we use tech to make shopping easier, we use as much data as possible to make [our] inventory smarter," Honestbee co-founder Joel Sng said. "To be honest, any store should be doing that."

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