* Shifts focus to wealthier customers after rural push
* Competition with JD.com set to intensify
* Alibaba (N:BABA) reports Q3 results Thursday
By John Ruwitch and Paul Carsten
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce
giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N is expected to post its
weakest quarterly revenue growth on record, Thomson Reuters data
shows, a slowdown analysts say will heat up the battle with
smaller rival JD.com Inc JD.O in a tougher economy.
Alibaba's revenue for the quarter ending December is
projected to grow at 26.6 percent, according to a Thomson
Reuters SmartEstimate survey of 28 analysts, which would be the
slowest rate since the company started publishing such data
3-1/2 years ago.
The pace also lags the 47-51 percent revenue growth JD.com
projected for the same period, which is also the slowest
expansion since the company started releasing records.
Alibaba and JD.com declined to comment, citing the
pre-earnings quiet period.
"When the market starts to slow you start to have real
winners and real losers," said Brian Buchwald, chief executive
of consumer intelligence company Bomoda. "I think that they need
to pay attention to their immediate competition."
JD.com has focused on more affluent shoppers in China's
biggest cities, a strategy that may be paying off in an economy
that last year grew at its weakest pace in a quarter of a
century.
While the two companies calculate the total value of goods
sold - known as gross merchandise volume (GMV) - differently,
JD.com's GMV grew 82 percent in the nine-months to September
while Alibaba's rose 34 percent, suggesting China's biggest
e-tailer was losing market share.
Earlier this month, Alibaba Chief Executive Daniel Zhang
said the company will pivot towards these "first-tier" cities
like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, after having
trumpeted a push into China's countryside, as well as abroad.
In an article on Alibaba's blog page, Zhang also said the
company was seeking to retain and win over more customers by
"enhancing reputation and optimising user experience".
This may be a tough ask, as quality concerns still dog
Alibaba and as JD.com has already carved out its own space in
these cities by offering speedy delivery and quality assurances.
"They have faster shipping speeds, and the quality is more
trustworthy," said Zoe Li, who works at a tech start-up in
Beijing, referring to JD.com compared to Alibaba.
Last month, the Chinese e-commerce giant avoided being named
on a U.S. blacklist for sites hosting the sale of fake goods,
and appointed a new head of anti-counterfeiting.