This Chinese e-commerce giant is luxury retail’s worst nightmare
Luxury retailers have been unhappy with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth that’s grown rapidly over the past few years.
Their complaint"Â That it’s a haven for counterfeit products, especially bags.
Michael Kors rose to popularity because of its handbags.
Alibaba itself acknowledges the problem in its marketplaces, but things boiled this week when Gucci made headlines for withdrawing from the International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC). Its departure was apparently because of the Chinese e-commerce giant’s membership in the organization.
In April, Michael Kors did the same, according to the Associated Press, calling Alibaba, “our most dangerous and damaging adversary.”
And then on Friday, the retailers got an inadvertent victory: Alibaba was suspended from the IACC because the organization’s president, Robert Barchiesi, has stock in and close ties to the Chinese company, the AP reported. The company blamed “a weakness in our corporate governance procedures.” Alibaba knows that counterfeit accessories are a problem in its business. The retailer has spent more than $61 million trying to eliminate counterfeit goods, which founder Jack Ma has compared to a “cancer.”
An Alibaba spokesperson told Business Insider:
“Alibaba is proud to have received a unanimous vote from the IACC Board of Directors as the first e-commerce company to join the IACC. We see this membership as another great step in...
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