Alibaba taps AI to defend Chinese e-commerce crown

Group bets on new tools for shoppers and sellers as market share halves in 6 years

20240516N Alibaba

The combined market share of Alibaba Group Holding's Taobao and Tmall platforms in China has more than halved in six years to 37% in 2023. © Reuters

TOMOKO WAKASUGI, Nikkei staff writer

SHANGHAI -- Facing an increasingly cutthroat e-commerce market at home, China's Alibaba Group Holding is relying on artificial-intelligence-powered tools for both shoppers and merchants to regain ground.

Shoppers on Alibaba's Taobao e-commerce platform can ask an AI-based chatbot named Wenwen for product recommendations. Asked for the camera with the best value, Wenwen suggested a Sony product priced around the equivalent of $650, based on the user's needs.

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