Shop online to save for a home?

But the developer's operating revenue and profit dipped by 1.04 percent and 3.5 percent respectively from January to June.

Vanke said in the report that it "will actively market its real estate projects."

China Vanke posts first profit decline in 12 years

Alibaba takes giant strides

"It is difficult to target potential buyers. We need to find them across all channels," said Vanke President Yu Liang.

Although the deal is based on Taobao shopping last year, the marketing is also expected to lure more Internet users to the site and encourage purchases on the largest business-to-customer platform in China.

The website's parent company, Alibaba, is about to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, in an IPO that is expected to be one of the largest in US history.

Taobao is one of Alibaba's major revenue sources and sells a huge range of products. It has been reported that more than 100 Taobao users have already been granted discounts on homes under the new program.

Still, it remains to be seen whether the cooperation between Vanke and Taobao will substantially boost home sales and bolster online shopping.

"Vanke's tactics may be a tradeoff of price for sales. But more likely, it's just a gimmick," said Deng Haozhi, an economist familiar with the real estate industry.

His remarks were echoed on microblogging service Sina Weibo. Some speculated that Vanke would simply have inflated the initial home prices on which it is offering discounts. Besides, one's spending on Taobao is usually a small amount of money compared with the price of a home.

Nevertheless, the program at least excited some female Taobao shoppers. One microblog posting read "Honey, quit criticizing me for buying too much. I am saving for a home!"

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