(Yicai Global) June 14 -- Alibaba Group Holding aims to bolster its New Retail strategy by linking up its premium e-commerce platform with Sina Weibo, one of China's most popular microblogging sites.

The Hangzhou-based firm will introduce its Uni Marketing advertising platform on Weibo to help brands reach consumers more efficiently on the social media platform, People's Daily reported. 

Under the plan, Alibaba's Uni Marketing service and Weibo will work together to promote the integration of social networking with consumption scenarios. Uni Marketing's advertising platform Uni Desk will fully embrace Weibo's advertising products to help major brands already present on Tmall reach consumers more efficiently and promote product sales.

Alibaba, the world's biggest retailer has been pioneering the New Retail model for a while. Executive Chairman Jack Ma describes the concept as "the integration of online, offline, logistics and data across a single value chain."

Some of Tmall's biggest names are already benefiting from the new approach. A recent campaign from Dyson for its new smart cleaning robot reached some 20 million people on Tmall and some 3 million followers on Weibo. The UK firm found that closer interaction with followers on Weibo can substantially boost Tmall sales.

Editor: William Clegg