Alibaba has also opened channels for buying goods online from overseas and is using its global payment system, Alipay, to bring in more players from abroad, including US retailing giants Macy's, Bloomingdale's and luxury brands like Prada and Hugo Boss.

Targeted and tailored services

China's e-commerce giants are also using Big Data technologies to grasp consumer trends and exploit analysis of personal consumption habits.

Li Xi, vice president of JD.com, told Xinhua that adopting Big Data was allowing JD to customize its products to consumers based on their previous orders.

"Data mining has become an important driver for business innovation and decision-making," said Li.

In other words, Big Data is fulfilling sellers' dreams of knowing what their customers want, and is helping bosses make business decisions.

As Suning's Sun Weimin has put it, no matter how the online business mode, science and technology develop, the purpose of e-commerce will remain unchanged: "to always serve the customers."