Ma's latest foray: 11 main

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's largest e-commerce company, is expanding its US operations through an invitation-only website for retailers called 11 Main.

The site is meant for specialty shops and boutiques offering clothes and jewelry that aren't available through mass-market retailers, according to a statement on the website. The home page of the soon-to-open platform asks customers who want to shop early to request an invitation.

Alibaba has expanded its US foothold with investments in ShopRunner, Quixey Inc and Fanatics Inc as it seeks to move beyond China and compete with sites such as Amazon.com.

As it headed toward an IPO this year in New York, Alibaba set up an investment team in the US in October to work with entrepreneurs focused on Internet commerce and to help the company learn about local operations.

"The US is still a huge market where per capita spending is a lot higher than in China," said Mark Tanner, the founder of China Skinny, a Shanghai-based research and marketing agency. "The acquisitions of local companies could be part of their plan to learn."

Alibaba filed for its IPO last month, and the company has been valued at $168 billion, according to analysts. The Hangzhou-based company operates websites such as Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com, and generated about $8 billion in revenue last year.

The new website's name is a reference to the "Main Street" shopping experience, San Mateo, California-based 11 Main Inc said in its online statement.

"We're constantly introducing new shop owners who represent the diversity of Main Street," said Mike Effle, president and general manager of 11 Main.

Abbygail Reyes, a California-based spokeswoman for 11 Main, did not respond to e-mails or text messages seeking additional comment.

Florence Shih, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Alibaba, said the company is happy to support 11 Main, but she declined to comment further.

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/13/2014 page23)