Monday, September 16, 2013

Alibaba.com IPO

As long as Alibaba.com has existed, I've argued serious small business international traders should steer clear of the enterprise, and pursue direct contact with suppliers and customers is a far better approach to business.  I still believe that, yet how to account for alibaba's growth?
Sales of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's e-commerce business are expected to surpass those of the total retail e-commerce market in the United States by year-end, Alibaba's chairman said on Friday.
Partially by changing from B2B to B2C, and then diversifying into, well everything... Let's break that down...
Alibaba's e-commerce empire includes Alibaba.com, Taobao Mall and Taobao Marketplace. Taobao Mall and Taobao Marketplace recorded 1 trillion yuan ($163 billion) in total transactions last year.
OK, so it is eBay and Amazon.com combined...
In the finance business, Alibaba has made loans to more than 10 million small to medium-sized enterprises in China and provided 300 million customers with payment-related services.
and banking and credit cards combined...
The company is also working with partners to build a national logistics network.
And Fedex and UPS combined...
Alibaba on Friday signed an agreement with China's biggest fixed-line network operator, China Telecom, for a strategic partnership in areas including basic telecommunication services, mobile Internet, cloud computing and data centers.
And AT&T, Sprint, Comcast combined....  This is just unwise, having so much under one roof...  it will become unwieldly and customer service nightmare.  Best to stick with the old-fashioned approach to B2B.

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