Dive Brief:
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Amazon rival ShopRunner, an online retailer, has inked a deal with Alibaba to sell and deliver goods in China. Alibaba owns 39% of the U.S. company.
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This deal adds ShopRunner to marketplaces Tmall and Taobao that Alibaba already operates in China.
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The venture presents U.S. retailers with fresh opportunities to launch into China without the usual risks.
Dive Insight:
Four-year-old ShopRunner sells items from several retail brands including American Eagle Outfitters, and is boldly taking on Amazon by keeping its two-day free shipping annual membership fee at Amazon’s old rate of $79. In fact, it’s sweetening the deal for Amazon Prime members who don’t renew their membership by giving them a free ShopRunner membership for a year.
While ShopRunner has been cheeky in its competitive moves against Amazon, it still operates in the e-retailer’s shadow. But this Alibaba opportunity swings the doors wide open for ShopRunner and its participating retailers to enter the huge and growing, but hard-to-conquer, Chinese retail market.
