Chinese goliath Alibaba is the one of the world’s largest retailers and ecommerce companies. It comprises three main marketplaces – B2B Alibaba.com, C2C Taobao, and B2C Tmall – all of which sell an eclectic variety of products. Named after the character Ali Baba from the Middle Eastern One Thousand-and-One Nights folk tales, founder Jack Ma chose the name due to its famous association with the phrase “open sesame” – aiming to open the doors from Chinese retailers to the global market. Since its inception in 1999, Alibaba has grown to boast a 60% share of the Chinese ecommerce market. Its primary sales events on November 11, Singles’ Day, offers massive discounts as well as a countdown-to-midnight gala featuring performances from global stars. Alibaba believes this combination of content, community and entertainment marks a new type of interactive retail of the future. Alternative Chinese marketplace JD.com is Tmall’s biggest competitor – and both have overtaken Amazon as the most popular online marketplaces in Russia and India.
Alibaba is aiming to add 2,600 new international brands to its Tmall marketplace by Singles’ Day, as the coronavirus has led to “significant growing demand” in China for imported goods.
Alibaba may be the world’s biggest retailer, but so far its efforts outside Asia have been lacklustre. But all that may be about to change. With a European distribution centre poised to open and an army of European influencers signed up, Alibaba is now firmly eyeing the West. Can it ...
Alibaba has smashed quarterly profit predictions as online sales surged during lockdown and demand for its cloud computing services soared.
As countries went into lockdown when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, ecommerce was the sole channel still open to retailers of products deemed non-essential.
The Covid-19 crisis has had a global impact on consumer spending, shifting short-term purchase patterns and bringing long-term changes to the way we work, socialise and shop.
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