Alibaba said to invest in women’s clothing app operator Ably to tap into South Korea’s booming online fashion market

AliExpress, the international online retail platform of Alibaba, has been in talks to invest US$72.4 million for a 5 per cent stake in Ably Corp

A successful investment in Ably would enable Alibaba to gain a bigger foothold in South Korea, where AliExpress competes against Gmarket and Coupang

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Ably Corp operates the top women’s shopping app in South Korea. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:01pm, 23 Apr 2024

Alibaba Group Holding is eyeing its first investment in South Korea’s e-commerce sector, according to a local media report, as the Chinese online shopping giant steps up its overseas expansion amid the global push of younger rivals Shein and PDD Holdings’ Temu.

AliExpress, the international online retail platform of Alibaba, has been in talks to invest US$72.4 million to acquire a 5 per cent stake in Ably Corp, operator of South Korea’s top women’s shopping app, according to a report on Monday by daily newspaper The Korea Economic Daily, which cited banking sector sources.

Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, and Ably did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

A successful investment in Ably would enable Alibaba to gain a bigger foothold in South Korea, where AliExpress, Shein and Temu compete against major domestic retail platforms such as Gmarket and Coupang.

Alibaba Group Holding’s AliExpress is one of the fastest-growing online retail platforms in South Korea. Photo: Shutterstock

The Ably shopping app, currently valued at more than US$1.5 billion, has grown to become the largest in terms of user accounts in Korea’s online fashion arena, with 8.05 million monthly active users in March, according to local mobile intelligence firm Wiseapp. Ably has said in local reports that it was the only fashion e-commerce platform to be profitable last year.