Alibaba pushes AI tools to merchants wanting to tap overseas markets, as competition with Temu and Shein heats up

The new campaign says Alibaba’s generative AI tools can be used to “lower the threshold for entering into global trade” via its wholesale platform Alibaba.com. New joiners will receive information on about 50 prospective buyers within the first two months, according to the company.

The new push comes as the e-commerce giant faces off against Temu, the overseas shopping app backed by PDD Holdings, and Shein, another popular shopping app that has been wooing Chinese merchants as the preferred channel to reach consumers across the world.

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The new AI tools include a smart assistance chatbot and OKKI AI, a customer relationship management software-as-a-service platform.

The company launched OKKI AI In December and it is designed to allow merchants to automate their customer management, team collaboration and data analysis.

Over 12,000 merchants have subscribed to the AI-powered cross-border trade tools since launch, and products sold on the platform that have been optimised by AI and search exposure increased by 37 per cent, according to the company.

Alibaba’s international e-commerce business unit grew 44 per cent year-on-year to 28.5 billion yuan (US$4 billion) in the December quarter last year, and China’s e-commerce players are pivoting to overseas markets amid sluggish growth at home.

Elsewhere, ByteDance has been doubling down on its AI efforts in e-commerce. Its short video hit app TikTok has already launched e-commerce operations in several countries, including the US, and plans to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, according to CEO Chew Shou Zi.

Meanwhile, budget shopping platform Pinduoduo has ramped up hiring of AI professionals with salaries of up to 60,000 yuan per month for positions such as LLM developers.