By Tracy Qu

Alibaba is expanding its partnership with an Instagram-like Chinese social media app to boost online shopping sales as it vies for dominance in the country's lucrative e-commerce market.

Businesses selling goods on Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall platforms will now be able to embed product links directly into posts on Xiaohongshu, the Chinese site that rose to prominence earlier this year as TikTok users fretted about a U.S. ban of the popular video-sharing app.

Alibaba said Wednesday that users on Xiaohongshu, or "Little Red Book", can now click on product links that redirect them to the Taobao app to make purchases.

The tech giant still commands a significant slice of China's e-commerce market, but faces growing competition from younger rivals such as PDD Holdings and ByteDance's Douyin.

Alibaba's latest collaboration with Xiaohongshu follows other recent efforts to boost growth in its domestic e-commerce unit. Analysts say the moves have shown some success. Citi expects Alibaba's March-quarter results to show that digital marketing tool Quanzhantui boosted e-commerce monetization.

The tie-up with Xiaohongshu, which has over 300 million monthly users, could add to that momentum.

Alibaba Vice President Liu Bo said the collaboration, which will also create new services for merchants like enhanced order tracking, will help brands reach customers more effectively.

Taobao and Tmall have been experimenting with content-driven sales since 2023. Last year, they saw a 20% increase in click-through rates and a sharp rise in engagement via Xiaohongshu product recommendations, Alibaba said.

Alibaba is due to report its March quarter and full-year results by mid-May.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 03:38 ET (07:38 GMT)

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