As eBay tries to attract branded retailers to its marketplace by creating a special Large Merchant on-ramp and pitching special deals at retail-industry conferences - and even doing deals with high-end fashion designers - its Chinese rival Taobao has taken a different approach by creating an online mall for branded retailers.

Aliababa's Taobao established a B2C platform last year called Taobao Mall. Brands such as Procter and Gamble, Lenovo, Bestseller Fashion Group and Li Ning launched official online retail storefronts in Taobao Mall.

Merchants on Taobao Mall must undergo an authentication and verification process, in addition to agreeing to provide rigorous customer satisfaction and protection measures such as a seven-day, no-questions-asked refund.

According to Alibaba, monthly transaction volume on Taobao Mall tripled by the end of the first half of 2009 relative to the end of 2008 and more than 50 Taobao Mall stores currently report monthly sales exceeding $146,000.

Alibaba launched Taobao in 2003, and the C2C marketplace competed head-to-head with eBay China, and ultimately prevailed. Taobao reports nearly 145 million registered users and Gross Merchandise Volume of $11.8 billion in the first half of 2009.