Alibaba Group news

One of the world’s largest ecommerce websites, Taobao, opened its first physical store in Southeast Asia this week. A decision driven by demand The store is located at Funan mall in Singapore. It is a partnership between Taobao and Virmall, a local distributor.   Known as “ Taobao Store by Virmall ”, there are about 300 products on display that are “ specially curated for Singapore Shopp...

Alibaba has confirmed it will acquire NetEase’s cross-border ecommerce platform Kaola for about US$2bn. Platforms to operate independently Alvin Liu, Tmall’s import and export GM, will serve as Kaola’s new CEO. Alibaba says it plans for Kaola to continue to operate independently under its current brand, but the deal means it will no longer compete as a rival to Tmall Global. Maximising c...

Alibaba has opened its first bricks-and-mortar AliExpress store in Europe. AliExpress opens in Madrid Alibaba has opened a 740 sq m store in one of the largest shopping malls in Europe, Madrid Xanadu, Spain, under the AliExpress Plaza banner. It carries around 1,000 products from over 60 brands. The product range mainly covers electronics, but includes Chinese, multinational and local brand...

Chinese online retailer JD.com is reportedly in talks with bankers for US IPO in May next year. Talks still in early stage The company, a joint venture that is 48% owned by JD.com and 10% by Walmart, is seeking to raise around US$500m in an IPO. The talks are still in early stages, and the timing of the stock marketing offering, and the actual amount could change. The joint venture sec...

Alibaba has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019. Total revenue was up 42% to CNY114,924m (US$16,741m) YoY. Continue to invest in technology In a press release, Daniel Zhang, Alibaba’s CEO, said, “ We will continue to expand our customer base, increase operating efficiency and deliver robust growth. With strong cash flow from our core commerce business...

Alibaba is reportedly in talks with NetEast to acquire its cross-border ecommerce platform  Kaola . Ecommerce landscape consolidating While neither Alibaba nor Kaola have commented on the potential deal, Sina Finance reports Alibaba could pay as much as US$2bn for the takeover. Alibaba could merge Kaola with Tmall Global, sharing logistics and expertise to drive growth. For the longer term,...

After launching its 88 VIP membership program last year, Alibaba has added new perks and privileges to its top-tier loyalty program. New benefits for VIP members The new benefits include discounts at more online flagship stores, memberships for Alibaba’s different services, and wider access to other platforms within the Alibaba economy. The retailer has extended the 5% 88 VIP member discoun...

Chinese ecommerce giant has opened its doors to US small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on its platform, Alibaba.com. Helping US SMEs access global ecommerce market The business-to-business (B2B) platform is traditionally China focused, with more than 95% of sellers from China. This move enables the 30 million SMEs in the US to have better access to the global ecommerce market, which...

New leader for Indonesia’s ecommerce operations. Another new appointment at Lazada Earlier on, we reported the new CEO of Lazada Vietnam . Now, the Lazada Group has announced that Mr. Chun Li, co-president of the Lazada Group, has been appointed as the new CEO of Lazada Indonesia. In this role, Li will lead the strategic development and growth of Lazada in the country. At the same ti...

Alibaba continues to expand its presence in bricks and mortar in China, with plans to reach at least 2,000 stores across the market by 2022.  Accelerating expansion and coverage Alibaba currently operates 160 Freshippo stores in 21 cities. It hopes to cover 200 cities by 2030, targeting cities with populations in excess of one million. The first store opened in Shanghai back in January 2016...