Taobao online transaction volume surges 97pc

Taobao, the mainland's leading online retail shopping portal, saw its first-half transaction volume rise 97 per cent year on year to 80.9 billion yuan (HK$91.78 billion) despite the economic slump, putting the company on track to hit its 200 billion yuan gross merchandise volume target by the end of December.

Privately held Taobao, a unit of Hangzhou-based internet conglomerate Alibaba Group, said spending per order from January to June declined 51.50 yuan from last year owing to the slowdown but was offset by a 184 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of orders as more domestic consumers shopped online.

As of June 30, Taobao recorded a 101 per cent year-on-year jump in registered users to nearly 145 million. The company's first-half transaction volume was already equivalent to 1.4 per cent of total mainland retail sales during the period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

'The convenience of online shopping, coupled with consumers' price-consciousness in today's economic climate, has prompted continued expansion of Taobao's reach,' said Taobao president Jonathan Lu.

A report from Goldman Sachs said the firm's high-turnover categories included garments, household products, mobile telephones, consumer electronics and cosmetics. Online merchants sold an average of 438 household items per minute during the first six months of the year.

Goldman, which valued Taobao at US$8.7 billion, estimated the company had 80 per cent of the mainland consumer retail e-commerce market, far ahead of rivals Baidu and Tencent. By 2011, Taobao's gross merchandise volume is expected to hit 400 billion yuan.