Alibaba has responded to JD.com’s charge of disruption of market order by arguing that the best way to settle their dispute is to let customers decide.
JD.com announced on Tuesday it has reported Alibaba to China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce, SAIC, for allegedly forcing retailers to choose between partnering with Alibaba or JD.com for the upcoming Double 11 shopping festival.
According to the claim, Alibaba is forbidding retailers participating in its Double 11 marketing campaign from participating in similar campaigns on other platforms. It’s alleged if retailers do not cooperate they will face a decrease in traffic and resources during the promotional period.
JD.com poster from Baidu
“Alibaba is bullying consumers by using their position as a big platform to prevent consumers from receiving fair discounts and benefits on other platforms. They are also interfering with retail marketing and promotion on other platforms, severely disrupting the market order,” JD.com stated in the announcement.
Alibaba later responded arguing JD.com was being deliberately provocative.
“Tmall has advantages in quality, service, price and logistics because we see larger volumes. Competitors need to face reality instead of drifting away from the real topic. We hope everyone can understand this rationale and we’ll leave it to consumers to make the final decision,” Alibaba responded to media.
SAIC said a conclusion and verdict will be made after proper investigation of the issue.
The Double 11 shopping festival is the largest shopping event in China. It was first held on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall in 2009. Alibaba’s Tmall alone achieved sales of RMB 57.1 billion (USD 9.1 billion) over the course of the single day event last year.
(Featured photo from Sohu.com)
