Called “Taobao Special Offer Edition”, the new service offers a wide range of goods, including clothes, iPhone cases and potato chips. Most of these offerings carry price tags below USD 3, inclusive of delivery costs.
Alibaba is launching the new low-price service at a time when newer online commerce sites such as Pinduoduo are gaining market share by offering discounted products to cater to consumers looking for cheap buys.
Alibaba’s ecommerce site, Taobao, and its Tmall service, which connects businesses with consumers, have helped the company win more than 400 million monthly active users.
Taobao, JD.com and Pinduoduo are the top three ecommerce platforms in China in terms of active users, according to Analysys, a Beijing-based research firm.
Pinduoduo, launched in 2015, has seen its users reach almost 100 million in 2017, an increase of 13% from 2016.
Ecommerce retailers have been experimenting with new ways of selling to online audiences, with Alibaba and JD.com both hosting live-streaming shopping channels that allow shop owners and brands to either broadcast live video on their own or work with influences to market their products.
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