Question

In your own words, write a short business report (400-500 words) about Alibaba Group business model.

Answer 1

Q- In your own words, write a short business report (400-500 words) about Alibaba Group business model?

Answer- Alibaba's Busines model is made up of three major web portals: Alibaba.com, Taobao, and Tmall. All of them serve to connect various types of buyers and sellers. However, there are 6 more subsidiaries of Alibaba which include Aliexpress, 1688, Alimama, Alibaba Cloud, Ant Financial, and Cainiao Network.

While many people understand that Alibaba is an online retailer similar to Amazon or eBay , the company's business model is surprisingly different from the leading e-commerce businesses in the United States. Whereas Amazon is housed under one roof, Alibaba is divided into three core businesses:

1. Alibaba
2. Taobao
3. Tmall

All three of these e-commerce websites serve to connect various types of buyers and sellers, allowing Alibaba to act as a middleman in China's emerging e-commerce industry.

Key Takeaways

• Alibaba Group is a Chinese e-commerce platform represented by three businesses: Alibaba, Taobao, and Tmall.
• The company's businesses account for more than half of all e-commerce sales in China.
• Alibaba.com is a business-to-business website, connecting manufacturers from a variety of countries with buyers around the world.
• Taobao.com is more similar to eBay or Amazon, connecting international businesses to consumers or consumers to consumers.
• Tmall.com is a marketplace geared towards China's middle class, focused on large, multinational brands.

• Alibaba B2B

  Alibaba.com was launched in 1999 in Hangzhou by Jack Ma, a former English teacher, along with a group of 17 friends. It is a business-to-business trading platform, connecting manufacturers from countries such as China, India, Pakistan, the United States, and Thailand with international buyers.

  Merchants can list their products for free on Alibaba.com but also have the option to pay for a range of benefits such as greater exposure on the site and unlimited product listings.

  Taobao B2C

  In Chinese, Taobao means “search for treasure.” Taobao.com has grown to become China's largest shopping website and is ranked the ninth most popular website in the world by Alexa.com. Launched in 2003, Taobao lists hundreds of millions of products and services from millions of sellers. Taobao doesn't charge transaction fees and the site is free to join for merchants, a policy which helped the site gain its enormous user base in China.

  Mall Multinational Brands

  Tmall.com, which launched in 2008, offers a wide selection of branded products oriented towards China's growing middle class. While Taobao caters more to small merchants and individuals as sellers, Tmall is focused on larger companies, including multinational brands such as Nike (NKE) and Apple (AAPL).

  Main Shopping Website

  In 2014, Alibaba launched the US shopping website 11Main.com. 11 Main hosts thousands of merchants selling products in a variety of categories. The site charges merchants a percentage of sales and goes up against eBay, Amazon, and Etsy (ETSY) on their own territory.

  Investments in Other Businesses

  Alibaba Group has made major investments in Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website similar to Twitter Inc. (TWTR), and Youku Tudou, China's answer to YouTube. Alibaba has also invested in a number of US startups, including video messaging application Snapchat and Lyft. In 2014 it even bought a 50 percent share of the Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club for $192 million.

  Alibaba Group's Ecosystem

  In addition to its leading e-commerce portals, Alibaba Group created an ecosystem of companies to complement them:

  Alipay

  Alipay is an online third-party payment platform, launched in 2004 by Alibaba Group. It provides payments and escrow services for transactions on Alibaba Group platforms. Alibaba Group spun off Alipay in 2010.

  Alimama

  Launched in November 2007, Alimama is an online marketing platform that provides sellers on Alibaba Group's marketplaces a range of marketing and advertising services.

  China Smart Logistics

  China Smart Logistics is a proprietary platform that provides real-time access to information for both buyers and sellers with a view to improving the efficiency of e-commerce package deliveries.

  Aliyun

  Aliyun develops platforms for cloud computing and data management, ensuring that Alibaba's e-commerce portals can handle its massive traffic and transaction volumes.