Tmall to target tier-one cities

E-commerce giant will separate its B2C and C2C offerings to target specific consumers

In a recent interview, Wang Yulei, CEO of Tmall, Alibaba’s popular B2C portal, said the company had decided to reposition Tmall from Taobao, the ubiquitous C2C platform, in a bid to target more fashionable consumers from tier one and two cities.

Unlike the overwhelming majority of internet offerings, Tmall has decided to focus on improving the quality of its services to existing users instead of focusing on simply increasing market share. The platform has announced it will begin working more closely with brands to obtain exclusivity rights and special services, rather than pitting them against other websites and driving them into a price war.

The move would also ease pricing tensions between Tmall and Taobao; shoppers looking for bargains could trawl Taobao while those looking for exclusive offerings could visit a smaller number of branded stalls on Tmall.

Tmall, whose USP was the undisputed authenticity of its products, is under increasing pressure from other B2C platforms offering a similar guarantee. Analysts believe the repositioning could be a bid to reassure investors of Tmall’s long term prospects ahead of Alibaba’s IPO this year.