Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said Feb. 1 that it launched a new channel on its Taobao e-commerce platform to specifically serve China's senior citizens.
The shopping portal includes a new chat function that allows a senior user's family members to share products, offer shopping assistance and make payments for purchases, according to a post on the e-commerce giant's company news site Alizila.
Alibaba is also planning to hire "senior experience officers" to provide feedback and to help improve the new Taobao channel.
The company said that more than 30 million Taobao users are older than 50, with 75% of that figure in the 50-to-59 age range and nearly 20% aged between 60 and 69, according to the Alizila post.
