Alibaba Says Chinese Consumers Are Obsessed With Sneakers and Supplements – TheStreet.com

Alibaba's (BABA) data on its 500 million users in China will be invaluable to U.S. sellers looking to break into the $4.89 trillion China retail market.

Alibaba invited certain U.S. small businesses to its conference on Tuesday and Wednesday in Detroit to teach them more about breaking into the China market. The invite list was focused on fashion, apparel and everyday goods, including cosmetics, bicycles, fresh food, supplements, baby products and running shoes, Alibaba president Michael Evans told TheStreet.

Alibaba CEO Jack Ma and other company executives used the Gateway '17 conference to convince the selected U.S. businesses that they can no longer ignore the opportunity to sell goods to China's population of 1.4 billion. Ma noted China has 300 million in the middle class that wants to buy higher quality products from the U.S. He expects the middle class in China to double to 600 million in the next 15 to 20 years.

The company wants to reach 2 billion users in the next decade, meaning it needs more sellers to sign up for its platform.

Here's a look at two specific items Alibaba highlighted at the conference for their popularity in the current China retail market.

1. Sneakers

Demand for running shoesis surging in China and New York-based sneaker consignment shop Stadium Goods is benefiting big time.

Stadium Goods CEO John McPheters spoke on Wednesday at Gateway '17 and said he knew he wanted to sell in China after a customer came into his New York store and bought $10,000 worth of Nike Air Jordans to resell back in China. "That opened our eyes to the opportunity," he said.

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Alibaba Says Chinese Consumers Are Obsessed With Sneakers and Supplements - TheStreet.com