Insight - Alibaba’s e-commerce empire under threat

In China, its two main marketplaces – Tmall for established brands and Taobao which welcomes all kinds of merchants – process over US$1 trillion (RM4.2 trillion) in orders annually. (A security officer wearing a face mask walks past an advertisement for a Singles' Day shopping promotion from online shopping platform Tmall, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, in a subway station in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. China's biggest online shopping day, known as "Singles' Day" on Nov. 11, is taking on a muted tone this year as regulators crack down on the technology industry and President Xi Jinping pushes for "common prosperity." - AP)

FOR more than a decade, the Alibaba Group has been China’s undisputed e-commerce king but of late its crown has shown signs of slipping, unsettled by an influx of aggressive competitors into the sector.

This week, Alibaba announced it was reorganising its e-commerce businesses into two units, one for China and one for overseas.