Taobao could be the ace up Alibaba’s sleeve

Facing mounting pressure from ecommerce rivals at home and abroad, Alibaba merged its local and international ecommerce businesses in November 2024. One overlooked weapon in its arsenal? Taobao.

Launched in the early 2000s, Taobao was one of Southeast Asia’s first cross-border shopping platforms.

Despite Alibaba’s global ambitions, Taobao mostly serves domestic China and Chinese-speaking users abroad. It has never had an international feel. However, that could be changing.

Taobao has recently ramped up its cross-border efforts, starting in Southeast Asian markets like Singapore and Malaysia.

It has rolled out an English-language app in nearly a dozen Asian markets. It also offers free shipping on apparel by Taobao sellers and actively incentivizes China-based Taobao merchants to sell overseas via its international marketplaces like Lazada.

But what lies ahead for Lazada as Taobao steps onto its turf?

Pushing past the Chinese diaspora

For overseas customers, shopping on Taobao was far from seamless. Listings were in Chinese, prices had to be converted manually, and there was no direct shopping – meaning buyers often had to rely on third-party dropshippers.

Now, in select markets – including Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand – listings and product descriptions are in English, thanks to AI. Meanwhile, prices appear in the user’s local currency.

Taobao’s recent initiatives in the region could turn its prospects around as Alibaba already has a solid grasp of consumer behavior and reliable delivery operations in Southeast Asia through Lazada.

To reach more customers, Taobao also runs a joint fashion channel on Lazada, where goods are eligible for free international shipping and delivered from China in as fast as five working days.

The joint channel builds upon Taobao Collection, a consignment service that lets shoppers in Southeast Asia access products in China. It also draws on Taobao’s strengths – its large assortment of fashion products and deep supplier relationships in China.

With this integration, Lazada users have one-click access to millions of Taobao fashion items while still enjoying Lazada-native discounts and promotions.

How fast is fast enough?

Is Lazada at risk?