Alibaba says traffic before Singles' Day surpassed last year's peak
Efforts to eradicate sales of counterfeit goods online hogged the limelight on Tuesday, a day before Singles' Day, China's biggest online shopping spree, as major e-commerce companies vowed new measures to fight counterfeits.
E-commerce conglomerate JD.com announced on Tuesday that it would close its customer-to-customer (C2C) shopping site, paipai.com, to avoid the selling of counterfeit goods on its platforms.
In a statement, JD.com said that it will suspend its C2C site by the end of the year, and completely shut it down in April next year to ensure fairness among retailers and protect consumers' rights. The decision was made because of the difficulty in monitoring the C2C model, which is susceptible to fake goods.
JD.com's announcement came a day before the Singles' Day, which falls on November 11 every year. Last year, more than $10 billion in sales was recorded on e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com, according to a Financial Times report on Tuesday.
Experts said Chinese online shopping platforms have been accused of helping the sales of counterfeit products, and announcing measures at this particular time could help draw attention to the issue and help to address it.
Such a move is a positive thing because it can prompt companies to ensure the quality of goods sold online, Xu Zhipeng, an industry analyst at Beijing-based market information provider Zero2PIO Group, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
However, JD.com's move was also viewed by some experts as a shot at its rival competitor, Alibaba, before they face each other on Singles' Day, as the latter has been facing counterfeit allegations.
"It's a strategy which can undermine the competitiveness of its rival, as Single's Day sales events heat up," Ala Musi, director of the Policy and Law Committee of the China E-commerce Association, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Alibaba responds
Alibaba has been accused of allowing the sales of fake goods on its platforms.
In May, Alibaba was sued for the second time by Paris-based Kering SA, which owns luxury brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, for facilitating the sales of counterfeit goods on its online marketplace, Reuters reported.
But Alibaba insists that it had made progress in dealing with the issue.
In a statement sent to the Global Times last week, the e-commerce giant said it had taken various measures to stop the sales of fake goods on its platforms.
Alibaba's main online shopping site, tmall.com, has improved its monitoring procedures and introduced a number of refund policies, which also involve counterfeits, the statement said.
However, experts said that the latest episode of the bitter war of words between the two e-commerce giants is a prelude to the big sales day.
Gearing up
This year, with dazzling promotions, online retailers are expecting huge sales, as many shoppers have already placed orders online. Alibaba said Tuesday night that online traffic on its platforms topped last year's peak even before opening time.
"I feel there are much bigger discounts this year," said Shi Ying of Beijing, who already filled up online shopping carts with orders and is ready to check out on Single's Day when the discounts take effect. She told the Global Times Tuesday that many of her friends had done the same.
Since millions of orders are expected to be placed online on Single's Day, it will be a big day for courier services as well.
Xiang Feng, president of Shanghai YTO Express, said he believes his company will deliver about 200 million packages in the next 10 days. He told the Global Times on Tuesday that his company has been preparing for the day, including training sessions and stocking up its warehouse.
