Alibaba will provide marketing support for these retailers to raise awareness of their brands in China, Alipay says, and an Alibaba-affiliated logistics company is expected to remove some hurdles that traditionally present themselves when shipping goods into China. Alipay will take a cut of sales in exchange for its services, though the company declined to provide details on how much.

Alibaba's pursuit of the US market continues. Alibaba has yet to formally announce the results of 11 Main but providing Western retailers the option to access Alibaba's Chinese network is invaluable. Payments are step 1 but fulfillment is a bit more difficult when shipping from the US. Companies like Borderfree specialize in cross country/border shipments but unavoidable processing and duties often lengthen the shipment times and overall cost.