Among a host of announcements pertaining to its expanding menu of cloud computing products on Tuesday (June 8), Alibaba pushed further into the rapidly expanding world of eCommerce livestreaming with the launch of a new cloud-based product designed for online shopping. The tool will allow eCommerce players to design and launch their own livestream shopping experiences for their websites or apps, which will be hosted on Alibaba’s cloud.

The move comes as Alibaba looks to expand its cloud computing offering, which is increasingly seen as a critical profit driver — logging 37 percent growth in the firm’s last quarterly earnings report — and as the firm has worked aggressively to expand its services outside of China.

In addition to its livestreaming expansion, Alibaba also announced a planned data center for the Philippines, which is expected to launch before the end of 2021, alongside a third data center in Indonesia.But as Alibaba looks to expand its cloud services in the Asia-Pacific region, it faces growing competition from U.S.- based rivals Microsoft and Amazon. Alibaba is the biggest public cloud player in the market with a 19 percent share, according to reports, followed by Amazon with a 10.5 percent share.`

Following The Global TrendLivestreaming eCommerce has been a growing global trend — particularly over the last 16 months, as consumers sharply curtailed their shopping in physical stores.”

At a time with stores across America closed, we help provide people with their live digital storefront and be the digital Main Street where people can tell the story behind their product,” Bryan Moore, founder and CEO of livestream eCommerce startup TalkShopLive, told PYMNTS earlier this year.

Source: Alibaba Pushes Into Growing Livestreaming Trend | PYMNTS.com