Alibaba's E-Commerce App Has a Social Network Facebook Would Love

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has tried to shake the perception that it's just the EBay Inc. or Amazon.com Inc. of China, by pushing into social media and entertainment and actively investing in startups like Snapchat Inc.

Case in point: Alibaba’s Taobao mobile app, which allows users to join chat groups dedicated to fishing and more, book travel tickets, read the news, order takeout—and, yes, buy stuff. To the Western eye, Taobao may seem chaotic and overwhelming, but the app has resonated with China's young users, who are spending longer on the site than visitors to Amazon or Twitter Inc.'s mobile sites. Taobao has helped Alibaba more than double mobile revenue in the most recent quarter, evidence that Chairman Jack Ma's push beyond e-commerce is finally starting to pay off.