Alibaba.com seeks to woo merchants from TikTok after ByteDance ends social commerce activity in Indonesia

Indonesia has imposed a ban on e-commerce transactions via social media apps to protect the country’s small businesses

Alibaba.com, the B2B platform created in 1999, says it has launched S Plan to help merchants affected by Indonesia rule change

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Alibaba.com targets merchants in Indonesia. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00am, 18 Oct 2023

Alibaba.com, the international online wholesale arm of Alibaba Group Holding, is trying to woo merchants from ByteDance-owned TikTok who sell in Southeast Asia after the short video app was forced to suspend e-commerce activities in Indonesia.

Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, in late September imposed a ban on e-commerce transactions via social media apps to protect the country’s small businesses. TikTok complied, ceasing sales on its e-commerce platform TikTok Shop.

Alibaba.com, the B2B platform created by Alibaba in 1999, said in a statement on Tuesday that it has launched S Plan, which offers “traffic flow, operations and logistics” support to those merchants affected by the Indonesia rule change. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Under the plan, Alibaba.com offers a “one-button relocation” service for merchants to open new stores on Alibaba.com and to move their online presence, including translation and smart-sorting tools. Alibaba.com made no reference to TikTok in its statement.