Ultra-cheap and super current: Alibaba’s new fast fashion platform AllyLikes eyes Western consumers

Fast fashion gets a bad rep for its environmental repercussions and cheap labor, but that’s never hampered consumer demand. Now e-comm gigantor Alibaba has created its own fast-fashion platform, AllyLikes, to cash in on the ever-growing market.

First revealed by Chinese tech blog, Tech Planet, the e-commerce platform is reportedly in its nascent stages and set to compete against Chinese shopping site Shein. (Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment for this story.)

What’s the tea? The AllyLikes website lists everything from apparel to accessories at ultra-cheap prices, with sunglasses starting at $4.99 and dresses priced as low as $8.99.

• It currently ships across the US, Canada, France, and Italy, with free shipping to the US for orders over $49.
• AllyLikes sets up an attractive value proposition with low prices and already has 100+ new styles to choose from.
• But giants like Shein, which reported about 5 million app downloads from the Apple store and 9 million from Google Play, are setting up a tough competition.

What’s next: Erin Schmidt, senior analyst at Coresight Research, expects Alibaba to pull out all the stops, leveraging influencers, live streaming, and its “deep data expertise” to ensure success.

• “Alibaba is not just an online company but a vast ecosystem, driven by data,” she said. “It has a vast network of sellers, logistics networks, and manufacturers it can leverage which will make it a powerful competitor in fast fashion.”
• But with the growing debate around sustainability in fashion, Michael Olaye VP, managing director of experience community at R/GA, a digital agency, also anticipates some backlash.

“I foresee significant consumer pushback coming in the not-too-distant future against this sort of business model, not dissimilar to what the auto industry and aviation face today,” Olaye said. “Until then, this is a big profits strategy for Alibaba and a huge threat to established players.”—JS