Why Alibaba's 11 Main Threatens the Status Quo of U.S. E-Commerce

With immodest pride, Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce powerhouse, announced it would launch 11Main.com. This will be the first time American customers will be able to buy merchandise from an Alibaba affiliate. The site is now in a beta stage and will soon open its doors to customers. The offerings will be strong competition to Amazon.com and eBay. According to reports the site will offer "hundreds of thousands of products" from 1,000 to 2,000 upscale specialty fashion shops for women, men and children.