China is the world's largest e-commerce market, boasting a highly developed and diverse e-commerce ecosystem. Whether catering to consumers (C2C, B2C) or businesses (B2B), Chinese e-commerce platforms exhibit significant differences in business models, logistics capabilities, user targeting, and technological innovation. To experience the joy of shopping like Chinese users, understanding the characteristics of these major e-commerce platforms is crucial. This article will provide a brief introduction to China's main e-commerce platforms, helping everyone comprehensively understand their features and market positioning.
(In no particular order)
I. Alibaba Group Platforms: Taobao, Tmall, and 1688, etc
1. Taobao [C2C]
Shopping website: https://www.taobao.com
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅
Taobao is China's largest C2C platform, primarily serving individual sellers and buyers, offering a rich variety of product choices. As one of Alibaba's core platforms, Taobao is like a "supermarket" that never closes, meeting the daily shopping needs of ordinary consumers.
2. Tmall [B2C]
Shopping website: https://www.tmall.com
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Using Taobao account)
Tmall is Alibaba's brand direct sales or authorized sales platform, emphasizing product authenticity and service standards. Currently, it has over 800 million buyers and 150,000 merchants, making it the primary choice for China's mid to high-end consumer market. Products on Tmall, especially those in Tmall flagship stores, are of higher quality assurance but naturally come at a higher price, particularly suitable for consumers who prioritize product quality and after-sales service.
3. 1688 [B2B]
Shopping website: https://www.1688.com
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Using Taobao account)
1688 is Alibaba's largest B2B wholesale platform for the Chinese domestic market, concentrating a large number of factories, manufacturers, and suppliers. It supports bulk purchases and customized production, making it one of the top choices for cross-border e-commerce small businesses seeking sources of goods. 1688 focuses on wholesale business, like a "bulk trading market" in the e-commerce world, mainly serving businesses and enterprises. Its target users are primarily B-end clients such as small businesses, retailers, and entrepreneurs. Due to its wholesale nature, product prices are usually lower, but this also means that the quality of some products may vary.
4. Xianyu [C2C]
Shopping website: https://www.goofish.com/
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Using Taobao account, use the App to unlock all second-hand items)
Xianyu platform is a second-hand trading platform where anyone can post listings. Please be cautious in identifying sellers.
Xianyu is China's largest second-hand goods trading platform and consumer community, officially launched on June 28, 2014, by the Taobao team under Alibaba Group. As one of Alibaba Group's strategic innovation incubation businesses, Xianyu has developed into a community that embodies young people's lifestyles.
II. JD.com: B2C Platform Driven by Self-operated Logistics
Shopping website: https://www.jd.com
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅
JD.com is one of China's largest self-operated B2C platforms, known for its dedicated logistics and warehousing infrastructure and rapid delivery services, capable of achieving same-day or next-day delivery. JD.com has strict control over product quality and after-sales service and has formed an economic alliance with Vipshop, becoming a primary choice for middle and upper-class consumers. JD self-operated is JD's B2C online sales model, meaning business to consumer. It's worth noting that JD self-operated doesn't necessarily mean JD purchases and operates the products itself, but rather merchants entrust their products to JD for sale, with goods sent to JD's warehouses and distributed by JD, with a certain percentage of sales profits given. Compared to the "non-self-operated" model, under the "self-operated" model, products are shipped by JD and provided with after-sales service, offering a more consistent experience for consumers.
III. Pinduoduo: Pioneer in Social Group-buying E-commerce
App download website: https://www.pinduoduo.com/
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Only provides mobile app version, no PC version)
The global version of Pinduoduo is Temu.
Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo quickly rose in the Chinese e-commerce market by integrating social and group-buying models. Pinduoduo encourages users to initiate and participate in group purchases through social networks to buy goods, thereby achieving scaled procurement and cost reduction. This model not only accelerates the circulation speed of goods but also enhances user engagement, demonstrating to small and micro business owners how to effectively promote sales through social interactions.
Pinduoduo employs various innovative strategies to enhance platform activity: social sharing incentives (encouraging users to share group-buying information through WeChat and other social media), time-limited offers (providing time-limited group-buying discounts to increase users' sense of urgency to purchase), and user participation rewards (offering additional discounts or rewards to users who initiate and successfully organize group purchases). These strategies effectively reduce users' shopping costs, increase consumer purchasing power, and enhance user engagement and satisfaction through social interactions, giving Pinduoduo over 530 million active buyers.
IV. Weidian: WeChat-based Social Economy Platform
Official website: https://www.weidian.com/
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Only provides mobile web version and app, no PC version)
Weidian allows individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises to open stores for free, using WeChat for zero-cost marketing. As a social platform with over a billion users, WeChat provides Weidian with a vast traffic entrance, allowing merchants to push products to potential users through various channels such as WeChat Official Accounts, Mini Programs, and Moments, achieving precise marketing.
WeChat has an inherent social attribute, with high trust between users. Merchants can use WeChat's social functions to build communities, engage deeply with users, increase user stickiness and conversion rates. At the same time, WeChat Pay, as a leading payment tool in China, provides Weidian with a convenient payment solution, allowing users to quickly complete purchases through WeChat Pay, improving the shopping experience.
V. Xiaohongshu (RED): Content-driven Lifestyle and Fashion Platform
Official website: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Only provides mobile web version and app, no PC version)
Xiaohongshu integrates social networking and e-commerce functions, with users sharing fashion and beauty products through images and short videos, forming a "planting grass—trust—conversion" business closed-loop model.
VI. Vipshop: Flash Sales and Brand Discounts
Shopping website: https://www.vip.com
Supports overseas phone number registration: No ❌
Vipshop (Vip.com) only supports mainland China phone numbers
Vipshop features an online outlet model, focusing on flash sales and brand discounts, equipped with powerful inventory and data management capabilities, partnering with over 18,000 brands. As a flash sale e-commerce platform, Vipshop's annual special sale conference is one of the periods with the lowest prices. For example, the annual special sale conference starting at 8 PM on November 30, 2024, is divided into multiple stages including the opening ceremony, winter scene rotation period, anniversary peak 38 hours, and 12.12 year-end celebration.
In Vipshop's promotional activities, the limited-time flash sale events that go live at 10 AM and 8 PM daily are a highlight, especially the "50% off special" that goes live at 8 PM on specific dates, where popular items from big brands are sold at only 50% or less of the lowest price in the past 60 days, covering popular products from well-known brands such as Erdos, Belle, Swisse, and Xtep.
VII. Douyin E-commerce: New Economy of Short Video Marketing
Shopping website: https://mall.douyin.com/
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅ (Requires using the Douyin App to complete purchases, does not support web version ordering)
Douyin is a short video social platform that has become a new type of marketing model after integrating product and store functions. Merchants can achieve traffic conversion through recommendations, premium videos, and live streaming, especially suitable for fashion categories such as women's clothing, beauty, and food. Douyin store merchants can set up influencers to promote their products, allowing more influencers to help promote products.
VIII. Dangdang: One of China's Earliest E-commerce Platforms
Shopping website: https://www.dangdang.com
Supports overseas phone number registration: No ❌
Dangdang only supports mainland China phone number registration
Dangdang originated from book sales, and its model was initially a typical self-operated e-commerce platform, directly sourcing from publishers, ensuring the freshness and authenticity of books. Unlike C2C platforms like Taobao, Dangdang adopts a B2C model, acting as an intermediary to provide consumers with a one-stop shopping experience, eliminating the hassle of bargaining while ensuring product quality and service.
As the business developed, Dangdang gradually expanded its product line, including textbooks, electronic products, and household items in addition to books, but always maintained books as its core competitiveness. In recent years, Dangdang has actively embraced mobile internet, laying out online and offline integration to create an omnichannel shopping experience. With its focus and innovation in the B2C model, it has grown from a small online bookstore to a well-known e-commerce giant in China.
IX. Kongfuzi Used Books: China's Largest Second-hand Book Trading Platform
Shopping website: https://www.kongfz.com/
Supports overseas phone number registration: Yes ✅
Kongfuzi Used Books Network specializes in the trading of used books, ancient books, textbooks, and other publications, serving as an important market for book collecting and academic book exchange in China. The platform aggregates a large number of individual sellers and bookstores, suitable for finding rare or out-of-print books. This professional second-hand book trading platform meets the needs of specific user groups for rare books and academic materials.
Summary
China's e-commerce platform ecosystem is rich and diverse, meeting the shopping needs of different user groups. From Alibaba's Taobao, Tmall, and 1688, to JD.com's self-operated model, to Pinduoduo's social group-buying, as well as Weidian's social e-commerce, Xiaohongshu's content-driven marketing, Vipshop's flash sales, and Douyin's short video marketing, each platform has its unique business model and market positioning. Understanding the characteristics and applicable scenarios of these platforms will help users find their most suitable shopping paradise in the vast ocean of Chinese e-commerce. Whether you're looking for high-quality products, low-price wholesale, time-limited discounts, or seeking a social shopping experience, China's e-commerce platforms can meet your needs.