Company Overview
Alibaba Group is a family of Internet-based businesses which makes it easy for anyone to buy or sell online anywhere in the world. Since its inception, it has developed leading businesses in consumer e-commerce, online payment, business-to-business marketplaces and cloud computing, reaching Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions. Alibaba Group consists of 25 business units and is focused on fostering the development of an open, collaborative and prosperous e-commerce ecosystem.
Alibaba Group was founded in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma, a former English teacher from Hangzhou, China who has aspired to help make the Internet accessible, trustworthy and beneficial for everyone. The privately held Alibaba Group, including its affiliated entities, employs some 24,000 people around the world and has more than 70 offices in Greater China, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Alibaba Group’s major businesses and affiliated entities include:
Alibaba.com International - Leading global e-commerce platform for small businesses
Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com International (www.alibaba.com) is the leading global e-commerce platform for small businesses around the world. It aims to be the go-to English-language platform for cross-border trade and help small businesses worldwide expand to overseas markets. As of December 31, 2012, the platform had around 36.7 million registered users from more than 240 countries and regions and showcased more than 2.8 million supplier storefronts.
Alibaba.com International is a business within Alibaba Group.
Alibaba.com China - Leading domestic e-commerce platform for Chinese small businesses
Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com China (www.alibaba.cn) is China’s leading e-commerce platform for small businesses engaged in domestic trade. It aims to provide Chinese small businesses with a comprehensive domestic e-commerce solution that comprises more than product listing, sourcing and large-quantity wholesale services. As of December 31, 2012, the platform had around 77.7 million registered users and showcased more than 8.5 million supplier storefronts.
Alibaba.com China is a business within Alibaba Group.
AliExpress - Leading global e-commerce marketplace for consumers
Launched in 2010, AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com) is a leading global e-commerce marketplace made up of small business sellers that offer a wide variety of consumer products at great prices. With more than 50 million products in over 40 major product categories as of March 2013, AliExpress is dedicated to bringing unique products to its 7.7 million registered users in more than 200 countries and regions.
AliExpress is a business within Alibaba Group.
Taobao Marketplace - China's most popular C2C online shopping destination
Launched in 2003, Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com) is the most popular consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online marketplace in China. Its mission is to foster a comprehensive e-commerce ecosystem that will provide partners and consumers with the best user experience possible. With more than 800 million product listings and more than 500 million registered users as of June 2012, Taobao Marketplace is one of the world’s top 20 most visited websites*. In 2012, the combined gross merchandise volume (GMV) of Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com exceeded RMB1 trillion.
Taobao Marketplace is a business within Alibaba Group.
* According to Alexa site rankings.
Tmall.com - China's leading B2C shopping destination for quality, brand-name goods
Launched by Taobao in April 2008, Tmall.com (www.tmall.com) is an online shopping landmark in China with an extensive brand selection. An open business-to-consumer (B2C) platform, Tmall.com has established itself as the destination for quality, brand-name goods catering to increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers and is the most visited B2C online retail website in China*. In June 2011, it was separated from Taobao’s consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace and became an independent platform.
Tmall.com currently features more than 70,000 major multinational and Chinese brands from more than 50,000 merchants. It offers several product verticals with customized customer services, including Consumer Electronics mall; Book mall; Home Furnishing mall; Designer Footwear mall; and Beauty mall. Brands with flagship retail storefronts on Tmall.com include UNIQLO, L’Oréal, adidas, P&G, Unilever, Gap, Ray-Ban, Nike and Levi's. Tmall.com and Taobao Marketplace set a record for highest single-day transaction volume during a special promotion on November 11, 2012, facilitating the sales of goods totaling RMB19.1 billion (US$3.1 billion) on the day. In 2012, the combined gross merchandise volume (GMV) of the two platforms exceeded RMB1 trillion.
Tmall.com is a business within Alibaba Group.
* According to Alexa site rankings.
Juhuasuan - Comprehensive group shopping platform in China
Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com) is a comprehensive group shopping platform in China. It was launched by Taobao in March 2010 and became an independent platform in October 2011. Juhuasuan’s mission is to aggregate consumer power and offer the widest selection of high-quality merchandise and localized lifestyle services.
In 2012, Juhuasuan achieved a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of RMB20.75 billion, which more than doubled that of 2011. During the year, more than 20 million consumers have purchased services and products from Juhuasuan.
Juhuasuan is a business within Alibaba Group.
eTao - Comprehensive shopping search engine in China
eTao (www.etao.com) is a shopping search engine in China which provides comprehensive information about products, merchants and promotional offers. It was beta-launched by Taobao in October 2010 and became an independent platform in June 2011. Its mission is to create a “one-stop shopping engine” which can assist Chinese consumers in making online purchase decisions, and help them identify low-cost, high-quality merchandise on the Internet faster.
Features and services offered by eTao include product search, rebates, coupons, group buy search, Tao Bar community and product pinboard eTao Faxian. It currently showcases more than 1 billion product listings, more than 5,000 business-to-consumer and group shopping websites, as well as more than 200 million pieces of shopping-related information.
eTao reflects product results from various major B2C online shopping platforms and individual brand owners including Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com, Amazon China, Dangdang, Gome, Yihaodian, Nike China and Vancl.
eTao is a business within Alibaba Group.
Alibaba Cloud Computing - Developer of platforms for cloud computing and data management
Established in September 2009, Alibaba Cloud Computing is a developer of platforms for cloud computing and data management. Its goal is to build the first platform of choice for sharing data and make cloud computing services more accessible to the public. It is committed to supporting the growth of Alibaba Group and the whole e-commerce ecosystem by providing a comprehensive suite of Internet-based computing services, which include e-commerce data mining, high-speed massive e-commerce data processing, and data customization.
Alibaba Cloud Computing is a business within Alibaba Group.
Alipay - Most widely used third-party online payment platform in China
Launched in 2004, Alipay (www.alipay.com) is the most widely used third-party payment solution in China with more than 800 million registered accounts as of December 2012. It provides an easy, safe and secure way for millions of individuals and businesses to make and receive payments on the Internet. On November 11, 2012, Alipay set a record for the highest daily number of transactions, processing 105.8 million payments during the 24-hour period.
The preferred online payment tool of Internet merchants in China, Alipay provides an escrow payment service that reduces transaction risk for online consumers. Shoppers have the ability to verify whether they are happy with goods they have purchased before releasing funds to the seller.
Alipay partners with more than 170 financial institutions including leading national and regional banks across China as well as Visa and MasterCard to facilitate payments in China and abroad. In addition to Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com, Alipay provides payment solutions for more than 460,000 merchants, covering a wide range of industries including online retail, virtual gaming, digital communications, commercial services, air ticketing and utilities. It also offers an online payment solution to help merchants worldwide sell directly to consumers in China and supports transactions in 14 major foreign currencies.
Alipay is an affiliate of Alibaba Group.
History & Milestones
| 1999 |
Alibaba Group is officially established by its 18 founders, led by Jack Ma, working out of a Hangzhou apartment. |
| 1999-2000 |
Alibaba Group raises US$25 million from Softbank, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and other institutions. |
| 2002 |
Alibaba.com becomes profitable. |
| 2003 |
Consumer e-commerce website Taobao is founded, again in Jack Ma's apartment.
Online payment system Alipay is launched. |
| 2005 |
Alibaba Group forms a strategic partnership with Yahoo! Inc. and takes over the operation of China Yahoo!. |
| 2006 |
Alibaba Group makes a strategic investment in Koubei.com. |
| 2007 |
Internet-based business software company Alisoft is launched. (January)
Alibaba.com Limited lists on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (November)
Alibaba Group launches Alimama, an online advertising exchange company. (November) |
| 2008 |
Taobao Mall (currently known as Tmall.com), a dedicated B2C platform, is introduced to complement Taobao’s C2C marketplace. (April)
Koubei.com merges with China Yahoo! to form Yahoo! Koubei. (June)
Alimama is integrated with Taobao. (September)
Alibaba Group R&D Institute is established. (September) |
| 2009 |
Alisoft merges with Alibaba Group R&D Institute. (July)
Alisoft's Business Management Software division is injected into Alibaba.com. (August)
Koubei.com is injected into Taobao as part of the "Big Taobao" strategy, which positions Taobao as a one-stop e-commerce service provider to promote wider use of e-commerce among consumers. (August)
Alibaba Cloud Computing is established in conjunction with Alibaba Group's 10th anniversary celebration. (September) |
| 2010 |
Alibaba Group creates a cross-business team comprising senior managers from Taobao, Alipay, Alibaba Cloud Computing and China Yahoo! to execute a full-scale roll-out of the "Big Taobao" strategy. (March)
Alibaba Group announces that it will begin in 2010 to earmark 0.3 percent of annual revenues to fund efforts designed to spur environmental awareness and conservation in China and around the world. (May)
Taobao Mall launches a new independent web domain, Tmall.com. (November) |
| 2011 |
Alibaba Group announces its plan to build a network of warehouses across China and, together with its partners, drive major investment in logistics development in the country. (January)
Alibaba Group reorganizes Taobao into three separate companies, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com and eTao, to capture the Chinese consumer e-commerce opportunities. (June) |
| 2012 |
Tmall.com changes its Chinese name to strengthen its positioning as a source of high-quality, brand-name products. (January)
Alibaba.com delists from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (June)
Alibaba Group upgrades its existing subsidiaries’ operations into one of the seven business groups: Alibaba International Business Operations, Alibaba Small Business Operations, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com, Juhuasuan, eTao and Alibaba Cloud Computing. (July)
Alibaba Group completes the initial repurchase of shares from Yahoo! and restructured its relationship with the latter. (September)
Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com reach a combined GMV of RMB1 trillion for the period January to November 2012. (November) |
| 2013 |
Alibaba Cloud Computing merges with HiChina. (January)
Alibaba Group is reorganized into 25 business units to better adapt to China’s fast-growing e-commerce environment. (January) |
|
Top