Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant continues its preparation for what many think will be a huge IPO listing on the stock exchange, has just launched its latest US shopping site known as 11 Main. 11 Main is a new e-commerce site that intends to deliver the Main Street experience online, using an invite-only online marketplace which will target small-business retailers.
11 Main has been seen by certain quarters to be Alibaba’s most adventurous and definitely largest foray into a market that is currently spearheaded by Amazon and eBay. Developed by Vendio and Auctiva, where both of these happen to be fully owned by Alibaba, will host over 1,000 merchants that offer a slew of categories including clothing, fashion accessories, jewelry, interior goods and arts and crafts, with no plans of slowing down. Instead, 11 Main will see more categories thrown into the mix in the near future.
Apart from 11 Main, Alibaba has been working hard to increase its deal activities in the US since last year, having thrown money in the direction of US companies, targeting sectors such as e-commerce and mobile messaging. It remains to be seen whether 11 Main will be as popular as the likes of Amazon or eBay, considering there is so much competition around. Perhaps some US merchants might want to give 11 Main a go, as the platform currently charges a commission rate of 3.5%, which is roughly 33% that of what majority of the other US shopping sites charge. The screening process is also said to have a pretty high bar set, which ought to add more peace of mind to users.