File photo taken on Nov. 12, 2014 shows two staff members walking past the logo of Alibaba at Alibaba Group's Xixi base in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. [Photo: Xinhua]

Alibaba has purchased a 9-percent stake of US e-commerce site Zulily.

The acquisition has been disclosed in a securities filling.

It shows Alibaba has spent some 56 million US dollars on Zulily shares.

Zulily is a Seattle-based site that hosts "flash" sales of clothing for women and children.

The buying will give Alibaba more exposure to US consumers market.