Alibaba announced Weibo for Taobao on Aug 1 2013, merely three months after investing 586 million in Sina Weibo, which was announced on April 29, 2013.
The collaboration has two major benefits. Users can bundle their Sina Weibo and Taobao account together, saving them time to register and log in. Taobao sellers coud upload more detailed products information card via Weibo, which is beneficial to both sellers and buyers.
When users have linked their Sina Weibo and Taobao accounts, they can use Weibo account to log in Taobao shopping and making payment. This is more convenient for users to share information on the two platforms. More importantly, sellers on Taobao can manage their Weibo posts, interact with their followers and get analysis report on the effectiveness of their promotion activities from the data center.
The new display of Taobao products on Weibo provides more information to users, they can check price, credibility and popularity. If they are interested, they can directly buy the product simply clicking the button.
This is what the new Weibo for Taobao looks like, newly rolled out on Aug 5.
The linking of two platform is just the beginning, next, Alibaba and Sina will launch more bonus for Weibo users. Besides, Alibaba and Sina cooperate to provide a good environment for shopping, they would react promptly on user feedback. Low-credit sellers on Taobao are limited by the number and frequency of Weibo posts.
The collaboration has been a win-win for Alibaba and Sina. Alibaba got access to social network, especially on mobile devices, providing a new way for Taobao sellers to maintain customer relationship. Sina is realizing its commercial value, get balance on commercialization and user experience.