According to media reports, JD.com has accused Alibaba of inappropriately pressuring dozens of apparel retailers to pull out of JD.com’s Singles Day promotions.
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In September, SAIC issued a new regulation with a clause that specifically forbids online retail platforms restricting merchants from participating in promotions on other platforms. The online market place of both companies, Alibaba’s Tmall.com, and JD.com’s JD Mall, have also given each other intense competition.
The complaint comes as Alibaba continues to expand in various businesses, having reportedly prepared a US$2.1 billion (HK$16.38 billion) bid for Sina, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
Alibaba’s market capitalization stands at $210 billion, whereas JD.com has a $40 billion market cap.
Alibaba.com is a B2B e-commerce company. The company’s shares fell more than 8 percent on the day after the report.
JD.com is said to have filed a complaint with the State Administration for Industry & Commerce and formally requested an investigation into Alibaba.
Online sales in China grew 40 percent a year ago to about $442 billion, Xinhua said, meaning that across all ecommerce platforms in the country, as much as $177 billion in sales may have been categorised as counterfeit or shoddy – though it’s not a precise science because a few of those sales may have been services, which can’t be easily lumped under “real” or “genuine”.
Competition over the biggest shopping day in the world is getting ugly.
The thousands of vendors featured on Alibaba’s Singles’ Day shopping sites hope to boost sales and gain customers, but a few have complained that discounts, often under pressure from Alibaba, and cut-throat corporate rivalry undercut the benefits.
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This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
