Alibaba’s Taobao Launches Free International Shipping to Compete with Competition

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is rolling out free international shipping on apparel orders via its flagship retail platform Taobao, in a strategic move to compete with cross-border e-commerce rivals. PDD Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PDD) You AND She in.

The program will launch on August 3 and will initially target customers in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, reports Nikkei Asia.

Taobao plans to expand the program to additional Asian markets by the end of the year and is actively encouraging more sellers to participate.

Read also: Chinese stocks rise as central bank cuts interest rates to boost growth

A senior manager at the company described the initiative as Taobao’s most important strategic shift this year.

It aims to address the high number of returns on clothing, especially women’s clothing, ordered during live events.

The new program will cover return costs and items will be sent back to Taobao’s overseas warehouses, reducing risk for sellers.

“Fierce competition across industries in China has resulted in low profit margins for businesses, so we are helping some of the top sellers on Taobao explore overseas markets,” said a senior manager.

Taobao will subsidize shipping costs by requiring sellers to ship items exclusively to Taobao’s warehouse in China. Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics arm, will handle the remaining logistics.

Alibaba has shed nearly 21% in the past 12 months as it grapples with domestic e-commerce competition and seeks to advance its artificial intelligence ambitions amid U.S. sanctions on China over its access to advanced semiconductor technology.

Reduction: BABA shares were trading 0.89% lower at $75.96 as of last check on Tuesday.

Reservation: This content was prepared in part using AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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