Is this the biggest threat to Alibaba?

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JD.com, China's largest online direct sales company, is set to be the new challenger to ecommerce giant Alibaba. It has announced UNIQLO as the newest international brand to partner with the company by opening a flagship store on its marketplace platform, enhancing its reputation further within the industry.

The new UNIQLO flagship store is part of JD.com's industry-leading marketplace, which is increasingly becoming the platform of choice for both domestic and internationally renowned brands and manufacturers seeking to reach the company's massive base of active Chinese shoppers. The addition of UNIQLO adds to JD.com's growing reputation as the go-to destination for shoppers looking for authentic, high-quality goods in a broad and growing range of categories.

"UNIQLO's success is built on attention to every detail," said Richard Liu, Founder and CEO of JD.com. "From design to manufacture to distribution, their processes ensure that they can continue offering high-quality apparel choices that are consistently fashionable, innovative and desirable. These qualities make UNIQLO an ideal partner for JD.com. With their new flagship store on our site they will be able to satisfy the demands of Chinese shoppers who are seeking a fast, reliable and secure way to shop for authentic UNIQLO items from the comfort of their homes and with the fingertip convenience of their smartphones."

"Like UNIQLO, JD.com stands for innovation, quality and reliability," said Pan Ning, CEO of UNIQLO Greater China. "We are excited to offer our customers the use of JD.com's amazingly fast and trusted last-mile delivery network, which has proven to be an advantage in China's e-commerce market. We expect that the secure and seamless shopping experience that JD.com offers will turn many shoppers into new UNIQLO customers in China, which is one of its most important overseas markets. "

To commemorate the partnership, the new UNIQLO online store will offer special UT (UNIQLO T-shirt) designs, called "Born in China," which were jointly developed by JD.com and UNIQLO. JD.com customers will also have exclusive access to specially discounted items provided by UNIQLO between April 9 and 16. Upon the April 17 official launch, customers will be able to buy a wide range of UNIQLO products on JD.com's main website, as well as through the company's apps and a Weidian store on Tencent's popular Weixin messaging app (the Chinese version of WeChat).

UNIQLO will also become the first international clothing brand on JD.com's marketplace platform to warehouse its merchandise in the company's facilities. By using JD.com's complete logistics solution, UNIQLO is enabling customers in eligible areas to take advantage of JD.com's unparalleled same- and next-day delivery service.

In choosing JD.com's premier shopping platform to reach China's online shoppers, UNIQLO joins dozens of leading global fashion and apparel brands such as the Gap, Levi's, Lacoste, Marks & Spencer and Skechers,       as well as internationally recognized brands such as Samsung, Lindt & Sprüngli and the NBA in popular categories including apparel, food and electronics.

JD.com is the largest online direct sales company in China. Through its content-rich and user-friendly website JD.com and mobile applications, JD.com offers a wide selection of authentic products. The Company believes it has the largest fulfilment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in China.

The company operates 7 fulfilment centres and a total of 123 warehouses in 40 cities, and in total 3,210 delivery stations and pickup stations in 1,862 counties and districts across China, staffed by its own employees. The Company provided same-day delivery in 134 counties and districts under its 211 program and next-day delivery in another 866 counties and districts across China as of December 31, 2014.

UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing, a leading global retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under seven main brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse Tam.Tam, Theory, and UNIQLO. With global sales of approximately $13.3 billion, Fast Retailing is one of the world's largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Asia's leading specialty retailer.

 For more information, please visit: http://www.jd.com/