How Alibaba’s Taobao solved the trust problem in China and changed the way people shop
From humble beginnings as a local platform going up against then-incumbent eBay, Alibaba is now the clear leader in China’s vast US$1 trillion e-commerce market
Every month, some 634 million consumers – nearly half of China’s population – pull up Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao Marketplace and Tmall e-commerce apps on their smartphones. Whether you are a farmer after crop fertiliser or a new homeowner looking to spend 18,000 yuan (US$2,630) on a 15-piece, Victorian-style furniture set, there is something for everyone.
In China, Alibaba has become synonymous with e-commerce, while its Taobao and Tmall platforms are household names. The Hangzhou-based firm, which is the parent company of the South China Morning Post, has a market capitalisation of about US$460 billion, making it the world’s second most valuable e-commerce company after Seattle-based Amazon.com.