Alibaba’s push to rival Amazon by bringing US businesses on to its ecommerce platform has struggled to meet its targets, dealing a blow to the Chinese tech giant’s global expansion plans, reports the Financial Times. The group launched Alibaba.com, its business-to-business ecommerce website, in the US three years ago with the aim of signing up more than 1 million local businesses and compete globally with the likes of Amazon, which has a similar platform for wholesalers.
But Alibaba.com’s US operation has failed to meet its initial targets, forcing the Chinese company to readjust its growth plans, according to three people familiar with the operations. The project has also been hit by dozens of staff departures from its New York office.
The troubles at its US business-to-business arm come as Alibaba steps up its international push as its domestic operations continue to get hit by Beijing’s tech crackdown, slowing economy and rising competition.