E- commerce giants embroiled in fl ame war over sales rights
The ongoing spat among domestic e- commerce giants, Alibaba's Tmall, JD.com and vip.com intensified on Wednesday, with JD. com and vip. com issuing a joint statement saying that Tmall was adopting monopoly practices, while Tmall said they are simply “finding faults .”
According to the statement, Tmall has forced some major clothing brands on its platform to close their shops on other online platforms like JD. com and vip. com in the name of “exclusive partnership.” If the companies don't comply, their sales on Tmall would be aff ected, it said.
The Southern Metropolis Daily in June also quoted some clothing companies as saying that they had been asked to sign a “exclusive partnership” agreement with Tmall, which requested them to close stores on other e- commerce websites.
JD. com and vip. com accused Tmall of hurting companies' operational autonomy and limiting consumers' choice, while blocking fair market competition.
The joint statement was released in order to “maintain a fair, healthy and orderly development of the market,” vip. com said in a statement.
Tmall on Wednesday fought back by saying that Tmall and vip. com are trying to“find fault” with Tmall.
“It's true that more and more brands have chosen Tmall as the only online platform to sell their products, but it's their choice, not Tmall's choice. They made the decision by themselves,” Tmall noted in the statement.
An employee at domestic female clothing brand Yinman that has online shops on both Tmall and JD. com, said that so far it hadn't been forced to withdraw from JD. com by Tmall.
Tmall also accused “some e- commerce companies” of altering product prices and inventories without getting companies' approval, as well as prolonging payment periods.
Hebei Chengdelulu Co, a beverage maker based in North China's Hebei Province, on Wednesday announced that it would stop supplying products to JD. com because the latter had taken the liberty of reducing product prices without informing Chengdelulu of the decision.
On June 20, female clothing maker Liebo announced that it would withdraw from JD. com because JD. com had, it said, forced the company to off er discounts.