Alibaba Bets on Foreign Businesses

Paresh Jadhav

10 months ago

The Alibaba Group Holding Limited or ABHL, is a Chinese multinational technology company which offers consumer, business-to-business, logistics services over online marketplaces, mobile Internet and cloud computing technologies. They own and manage numerous subsidiaries worldwide across different business sectors.

The company stated that “solid growth across all of AIDC’s retail platforms, especially from the cross-border AliExpress Choice business,” was the driving force behind the impressive performance.

Since 1999, Alibaba has built a global business through a series of expansions and acquisitions. Since its foundation, they has ventured into entertainment through a film business investment; sports teams including China’s most successful Guangzhou Evergrande FC; banking with stake in local bank; as well as significant investments into online commerce platforms like Taobao and Tmall.

However, Alibaba has recently found itself challenged by newer rivals like Pinduoduo and Temu, while retail market growth in China remains limited. Therefore, Alibaba restructured its operations in order to become more agile and better position itself for future business opportunities.

Taobao and Tmall Group has also seen changes to its management team, replacing former CEO Daniel Zhang with Eddie Wu as head of Taobao and Tmall Group (TMG). Analysts expect this change will make its ecommerce operation more technological-driven; Wu previously headed Alibaba’s Cloud Intelligence unit until taking up TMG chief in 2023.

Alibaba is known for being an innovative leader, but one of its latest innovations involves AI-powered chatbots designed to quickly respond to customer inquiries about products and services. These bots are programmed with all of the knowledge necessary for each category’s products; additionally they understand all of Alibaba platforms’ mechanics – return policies, delivery costs and how to change an order so can assist customers in most instances with any questions about products or services they may need help with.

Alibaba is using machine learning to enhance its service by pairing potential buyers with sellers more efficiently. The platform uses its database to examine what items are selling and determine which are more likely to appeal to specific types of buyers; then it matches up these products with potential customers to increase chances of sale.

Alibaba’s expansion in international markets is driven by their desire to drive sales growth amid slowing Chinese sales growth. They have invested in numerous markets such as Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia as well as expanding their presence in Thailand by injecting $644 million into Lazada – their flagship marketplace there.

Alibaba’s strategy appears to be paying dividends; their third quarter profits rose 47% year-on-year to reach $1.2 billion, with online marketplaces contributing 51% of total revenue. They expect this upward trend to continue as more consumers turn to the Internet for purchases; as more consumers opt for online marketplaces as their main purchasing avenue, Alibaba stands to gain ground through its unique business model.