Alibaba subsidiary Taobao, which recently earned the ire of the public for counterfeit goods allegation, will venture into the social networking sector. (Photo : Reuters)
Taobao, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has ventured into the social networking sector as it recently launched Xiaopu service allowing vendors to open and run Web-based businesses on mobile gadgets, according to a China Business News report.
The vendors can have their online businesses promoted by sending a code via microblogs and WeChat's Moments.
In a statement of Zhang Kuo, Alibaba's wireless business unit chief, location-based services will also be incorporated on Xiaopu after a month.
Unveiled on April 14, the Xiaopu service run for a half-a-month trial period wherein more than two million vendors availed, the Shanghai-based newspaper stated.
According to Qin Fen, one of the senior product experts at the e-commerce firm's wireless business arm, 60 percent of those who availed are new clients, while the rest are already part of its already existing 8.5 million customer base.
The large 60 percent comprises handicrafts sellers and fishermen from Zhoushan in the province of Zhejiang.
The world's leading e-commerce firm is expected to allow its vendors on its Tmall portal to start their online business via the Xiaopu service soon, the newspaper added.
In China, the recent years have seen the burgeoning sector of e-commerce and social networking services, as evidenced by Tencent's popular instant messaging app, WeChat. However, the issue of counterfeit products has also been plaguing the industry.
On this light, Alibaba has ensured that its vendors are still required to comply with the e-commerce's policy countering fake goods and commodities.
The release of the Xiaopu service marks its parent company's goal of boosting its startup mobile business. The newspaper said that this sector has accounted for almost half of Alibaba's Nov.11 Single Day mega sale in 2014.
