Sites target weakest links in Alibaba's armor

Small companies like haixuan.com hope to beat the online giant in the race for marketplace dominance

As Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's largest e-commerce company, prepares for what promises to be a record-breaking initial public offering in New York, a small online shopping website based in Beijing is hoping to become the giant's Achilles' heel.

"Overseas online shopping is most likely the last sector that no one is able to claim dominance in - even Alibaba," said Shaun Xu, vice-president of haixuan.com, a site that sells imported goods to Chinese shoppers.