Alibaba's Tmall launched an "AI Space Station" marketplace in September 2026, allowing users to buy AI subscriptions, top up tokens, and purchase packages from Alibaba Cloud, Z.ai, MiniMax, and DeepSeek.
Beijing-based Z.ai opened an online storefront on Alibaba's Tmall in early September 2026 to sell subscriptions to its GLM Coding Plan.
Moonshot AI and MiniMax were in talks to open official flagship stores on Alibaba's Tmall as of September 7, 2026.
Chinese artificial intelligence developers are selling AI subscription plans on Alibaba's Tmall to convert soaring user numbers into recurring revenue.
Transactions involving AI tokens and subscription products across Taobao and Tmall jumped by more than 160 percent within 48 hours of Z.ai opening its storefront.
While Alibaba Cloud and Z.ai operate their own official storefronts on Tmall, packages for Kimi, MiniMax, and DeepSeek are sold through third-party vendors as of September 2026.
By selling AI model access on digital retail shelves, Chinese developers are turning software subscriptions into everyday retail products to reduce reliance on direct website sales.
Hello China Tech founder Poe Zhao stated that selling subscriptions on Tmall provides AI developers with a more efficient channel to acquire paying users.
Hello China Tech founder Poe Zhao noted that using Tmall makes AI developers more dependent on traffic controlled by the e-commerce platform.
The digital marketplace on Tmall packages AI services in a consumer format similar to topping up a prepaid mobile phone plan.
A Tmall spokesperson reported on September 7, 2026, that early market signals for AI subscription sales on the platform were positive following the launch of Z.ai's storefront.
