Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. on Wednesday said it would distribute
merchandise relating to Walt Disney Co.'s Avengers sequel, as the
company continues to grow its Tmall.com online shopping
platform.
The partnership with Disney marks the first movie-related deal
for Tmall. Superhero-themed merchandise relating to the Disney film
Avengers: Age of Ultron is available on Disney's flagship store on
the site. The film has topped the U.S. box office and opened in
theaters in China on Tuesday.
Alibaba, the world's largest online-shopping company, launched
Tmall in 2008 as an alternative to its sister shopping site Taobao,
which has been plagued by counterfeiting. Alibaba has billed the
site as a "fast track into China" for foreign brands new to the
mainland and says it is China's largest third-party platform for
brands and retailers.
By becoming a Tmall seller, Disney becomes Alibaba's customer.
Retailers and brands that operate their flagship stores on Tmall
pay a commission to Alibaba for each transaction.
Costco Wholesale Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are other U.S.
companies that have launched products on Tmall.com. In March,
Amazon.com opened a flagship store on the site, offering products
including California wine, women's shoes and Legos. Some U.S.
brands, like San Francisco-based Benefit Cosmetics, have closed
Tmall shops due to stiff competition from local rivals charging
deeply discounted prices.
"This marks another effort into further enhancing the
collaboration between the participants within our platforms and to
also fully utilize the resources we have across Alibaba," said
Sherry Lang, director of co-marketing for Tmall.com.
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