Alibaba’s Taobao cuts fees for merchants and subsidises content as it seeks to protect its market lead, reports say
- Taobao said it will provide 10 billion yuan of cash to subsidise content creation, such as live streaming and short videos
- The moves came at a time when Alibaba is refocusing its resources on its core operations to fend off rivals including PDD Holdings
Taobao, the main e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding, has decided to increase subsidies and cut fees for merchants as China’s largest online marketplace moves to defend its lead amid increasing competition, according to local media reports.
The moves came at a time when Alibaba is refocusing its resources on its core operations to fend off rivals including PDD Holdings, Kuaishou Technology and ByteDance-owned Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Douyin launched a stand-alone shopping app, Douyin Mall, for Android users in China this week.
Tabao said it will provide 10 billion yuan (US$1.38 billion) of cash to subsidise content creation, such as live streaming and short videos, on the platform in 2024, Cheng Daofang, general manager of Taobao and Tmall Group’s e-commerce content unit, said at an event on Thursday.
Separately, Taobao announced on Wednesday it would launch a number of merchant-friendly initiatives from April, including waiving the fee for a support service called “business adviser”.
