Taobao cries foul over study's claim that it sells fake, substandard goods
Online shopping giant publishes open letter questioning official survey's findings
China’s largest online shopping platform Taobao.com has hit back at the results of an official quality survey that accused it of selling fake and substandard goods, saying that the poll’s sampling methods were questionable and its test standards unfair.
More than 60 per cent of products randomly chosen from Taobao failed to meet China’s retail-goods standards, according to a recent survey commissioned by the state commercial regulator and conducted by the China Consumers’ Association.
In an open letter published on Taobao’s Weibo account, the e-commerce giant said the survey selected only 51 products out of the more than 1 billion that it had on sale.
It also said it was unfair of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce to compare the quality of goods sold on Taobao – whose platform comprises millions of e-commerce businesses operated by individual sellers – with those sold by self-operated retailers.
One of China’s major self-operated e-commerce businesses is Taobao’s major rival, Jingdong Mall. It is also the country’s second largest online shopping platform. The survey results showed that 90 per cent of Jingdong Mall’s products met official standards.
About 80 per cent of goods sold on Yihaodian, a Chinese online grocery business controlled by Walmart, met standards.
