Alibaba's E-Commerce Platforms Now Accept WeChat Payments, Aiming for Market Expansion in China

Alibaba Group Holding’s BABA Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platforms have started accepting payment from rival Tencent Holding’s TCEHY WeChat app in September, CNBC cites a familiar source.

The move reflects Alibaba’s attempts to trigger growth in its China e-commerce business, which intense domestic competition and price wars have battered. Alibaba stock is down 13% in the last 12 months.

Alibaba’s move has the potential to help it expand its market share in less developed parts of China, CNBC cites the source.

So far, Alibaba’s Chinese e-commerce sites have promoted Alipay, a preferred payment method of its fintech affiliate Ant Group. WeChat has over 1.3 billion users globally, most of whom are in China.

Last week, Alibaba scored a big win by bagging a clean chit from the Chinese market regulator, signaling the completion of a three-year regulatory crackdown.

Also, Taobao and Tmall Group created a new “digital technology” company to focus on importing and exporting goods, selling food and daily groceries, household appliances, and technology-related services.

In August, Alibaba reported a fiscal first-quarter topline growth of 4% year-on-year to $33.47 billion, missing the analyst consensus of $34.81 billion. Taobao and Tmall Group revenue decreased by 1% to $15.60 billion.

Investors can gain exposure to Alibaba Group through Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF AVEM and Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF AIQ.

Price Action: BABA stock traded lower by 0.34% at $82.19 premarket at the last check Thursday.

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