What Signal Does Alibaba’s Adjustment to E-Cigarette Sales Rules Send?

Starting from May 1 last year, Alibaba's international platform prohibited the sale of e-cigarettes and related products such as accessories, atomizers, and nicotine for e-cigarettes. Why has Alibaba adjusted its e-cigarette sales rules again after just a year and a half?

[Two Supremes Original] Recently, Alibaba's international platform announced that it has modified its control rules regarding e-cigarette products based on the legal regulations and standards of different countries and regions for selling e-cigarette products. Some e-cigarette parts will be back on the shelves around October 12. Since May 1 last year, Alibaba's international platform has prohibited the sale of e-cigarettes and related products. Why has Alibaba adjusted its e-cigarette product sales rules again after just a year and a half? What reactions do e-cigarette-related companies have to this?

How significant is the adjustment of sales rules for the industry?

According to Alibaba's notice, complete e-cigarette products and core components and materials are still not within the scope of sale, and only some accessories for e-cigarettes can be sold online. The sale of disposable e-cigarettes and their accessories is strictly prohibited.

The notice states that merchants who have passed the qualification access for e-cigarette products can publish e-cigarette devices and their accessories on Alibaba's international platform, including but not limited to: e-cigarette-related atomizers, vape pens, mouthpieces, batteries for e-cigarettes, e-liquid filling devices, e-cigarette packaging, and other related products.

The notice also specifies that prohibited merchants cannot publish products that combine e-cigarette pods, atomizers, disposable e-cigarettes, and any products containing e-liquid, e-juice, or nicotine. Any disposable e-cigarettes and their related accessories, packaging, etc., regardless of whether they indicate e-liquid information, are considered disposable e-cigarettes and are prohibited from being published.

How will Alibaba's modification of e-cigarette product control rules trigger reactions from e-cigarette-related companies? On October 7, Two Supremes inquired with several e-cigarette-related companies.

Well-known e-cigarette companies such as Smoore stated that they have not received any information regarding Alibaba's modification of e-cigarette product control rules and are not in a position to comment.

The He Yuan Group, which operates electronic products, e-cigarette devices, and accessories, stated that the company's products are mainly sold through offline channels, so Alibaba's modification of rules does not significantly impact the company.

A marketing manager from an e-cigarette company in Shenzhen believes that Alibaba's move will have limited short-term impact on the e-cigarette industry. During the time when Alibaba removed e-cigarettes and accessories, manufacturers with overseas demand may have already shifted to other online platforms. Platform purchasing is a matter of habit, and once established, it is difficult to change in the short term.

This manager stated that the current trend among leading e-cigarette companies is to deeply bind MD+DDP direct sales. Currently, the company's positioning for Alibaba's international platform may be to fill the gap between MD and DDP, but it also depends on Alibaba's future direction. If Alibaba International can indeed help the relevant industry chain rise, it would be a good channel for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Is Alibaba looking to enter the e-cigarette industry?

An anonymous insider in the e-cigarette industry told Two Supremes that Alibaba may be testing the waters and has the potential plan to enter the e-cigarette industry. "As an e-commerce giant, Alibaba has advantages in the industrial chain, logistics, and warehousing. They are very likely to leverage these advantages to enter the e-cigarette industry. After all, in the past two years, e-cigarette companies have reported impressive financial results, and there are already successful cases like BYD and Foxconn."

Additionally, this insider believes that Alibaba has brand influence overseas, and the re-listing of some e-cigarette parts helps some small and medium-sized e-cigarette companies overseas. Once these companies grow stronger, they may become competitors to Chinese companies in the local market.

Chen Liteng, an e-commerce analyst at the China E-commerce Research Center, stated that in March 2022, the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued the "E-cigarette Management Measures," which took effect on May 1 of that year. It clearly prohibits the sale of e-cigarette products to minors and requires those who are difficult to determine as minors to present identification; it also prohibits the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavor and e-cigarettes that can add atomizers by oneself.

At that time, Alibaba's international platform, as an e-commerce platform, had to strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations and adjust its e-cigarette product sales policy at the beginning of the document's release. Now, in the context of e-cigarettes being profitable, it is understandable to make adjustments without crossing the illegal "red line," but this does not mean that Alibaba must enter the e-cigarette industry. #p#分页标题#e#

Two Supremes contacted Alibaba's international platform regarding the adjustment of e-cigarette sales rules, and the relevant person in charge stated that they would respond to related questions on a later date.