A consumer trend that worked against Alibaba was the shopping shift from search to browsing. While many Chinese consumers still go directly to Alibaba’s Taobao or Tmall to look for products, others have been pulled into purchases while they are interacting digitally or consuming online content.

“The quality is now no different from those merchants on traditional e-commerce sites,” she said. “The platform that can offer consumers more interesting products or persuade them to buy in a more interesting way or offer lower prices wins.”