Baidu Aims at Alibaba With E-Commerce Site

BEIJING Chinese search engine Baidu has begun closed beta tests of an e-commerce site that the company hopes will directly rival market powerhouse Alibaba. Baidu has approved up to 10,000 accounts to be testers on the site, which will include business-to-consumer and business-to-business capabilities. According to reports, the site will also offer independent .en domain names, promotion opportunities and customised marketing tools to account holders.

Launching the site is in line with Baidu's recent attempts to expand beyond its search niche, where it enjoys 55 per cent market share.

Lonnie Hodge, CEO of Chinese search agency CultureFish Media, noted that while e-commerce "does not appear to be Baidu's element", it can succeed if it focuses on the needs of small businesses, which Alibaba has veered away from to cater to larger customers. "If it's really committed to the little guy and not wooed away by the megabrands,it'llbeOK,"hesaid.

Alibaba subsidiary Taobao recently unveiled a Shopping Mall site allowing brands to sell direct to consumers.

Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. Sep 4, 2008

(c) 2008 Media; Asia's Newspaper for Media, Marketing and Advertising. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.