Alibaba opens up Taobao and Tmall to app makers, teases funding for startups

Alibaba has just allowed third-party app developers and retailers to integrate its Taobao and Tmall marketplaces as part of a new program dubbed Baichuan, according to company blog Alizila.

App makers are invited to create new mobile shopping, social/sharing, location-based, and online-to-offline apps. Alibaba hopes the move will help it reach narrow market segments that it doesn’t have the time or manpower to do itself. The blog writes:

Now, with the explosion of the mobile Internet in China, demand is growing for smartphone solutions that are tailored to niche markets and individual user needs—demand that Alibaba cannot meet alone.

Alibaba says this makes development much cheaper and faster for startups. Alizila mentions financing, venture capital, and even workspace in Alibaba offices could be available for promising startups that use Baichuan.

Developers will get access to data analytics and software programming tools. They can tap technical support from Aliyun, which operates the network infrastructure behind Taobao and Tmall. That includes software development kits and private mentoring. Umeng, a data analytics firm that Alibaba acquired last November, will also pitch in some tools so app makers can harvest transaction data and spot consumer buying patterns. Alibaba says development teams “no longer need a CTO,” and “a project manager full of ideas could quickly develop an outstanding app.”

Users will be able to make purchases from within the third-party apps without actually having to visit the Taobao or Tmall apps or websites.

See: WeChat and Alipay ramp up ecommerce race with new features for online and offline merchants

Shanghai-based Liuyou Pet Information Technology, a pilot company that’s been working with Alibaba, has signed up more than 150,000 users since launching in February. The startup’s app Liuliu is a social network for pet owners, and it just integrated Taobao two months ago.

Users often exchange information about pet care products on Liuliu, and the Baichuan integration allows them to easily buy those items from Taobao merchants. The app has access to over 100 pet care suppliers with both in-app purchases and delivery tracking.

(Source: Alizila; top image via Flickr user bfishadow)