China's Alibaba.com has inked a deal in with Infomedia India Limited to benefit small and medium-size enterprises in India.
Prakash Iyer, managing director of Infomedia, said in a press statement, "As India's largest Yellow Pages company – and now as part of the Network 18 group – Infomedia is delighted to bring Alibaba.com's strength and global reach to Indian businesses. We have a long history of helping SMEs grow their business and this partnership will help Indian companies realize their fullest potential worldwide. The Infomedia-Alibaba.com partnership will bring value to Indian SMEs by giving them a larger, multi-media business platform encompassing domestic and global trade services."
India has more than 8 million SMEs, which account for almost 40% of India's industrial output and employ around 30 million people. It is estimated that 3 million SMEs are engaged in B2B trade and around 1 million are in the export business. Alibaba.com has more than 400,000 members in India, already making it one of the country's largest B2B online marketplaces by member count. Alibaba.com launched a special India Channel in October 2007 to help Indian suppliers find local and global buyers for their products and services. The India Channel has been well received by members, with more than 20,000 Indian companies signing up each month since January 2008.The Alibaba.com and Infomedia partnership will combine the power of traditional print publishing with online media and e-commerce, providing Indian SMEs with a one-stop solution for global and domestic trade. Together they will create a strong online community of Indian business people and provide them with a single cost-effective channel to promote their products and source from quality suppliers in India and around the world. It will also provide SMEs in India with the latest industry news and technical developments in multi-media formats.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Alibaba.com And Infomedia Form Strategic Partnership in India; Why Am I On Indiamart?
ContentSutra: I’ve noticed Alibaba.com advertisements on the Economic Times website over the past week, and sensed that something was up. This explains it: the China-based b2b classifieds portal has announced a tie with Infomedia India. This is, as per the release, a “multi-year" strategic relationship, and extends beyond the Internet into the print domain, where Infomedia has special interest publications.
David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com has said that India is a top priority for the companys global plans, and Infomedia will help provide on-ground support including sales, marketing and customer service. Some numbers: Around 20,000 Indian companies have signed up each month for their India channel since Jan 2008, and Alibaba.com has more than 400,000 members in India, and they hope to double that number. Alibaba has, reportedly, 27 million members from over 200 countries. They’re targeting a market of over 8 million SMEs.
In India, Alibaba will compete with the likes of TradeIndia.com and Indiamart.com, both B2B marketplaces. But here’s the strange thing: I’m listed on Indiamart! On Oct 18 2007, I received a mail from them informing me that I’ve automatically been registered. No permission sought, they just created an account, added my details including my mobile number, and just sent across a username and password. Randomly, they’ve added ContentNext (contentSutra’s parent company) in two categories: “Studios, Film Production & Multimedia Production Services” and “Advertising Agencies, Consultants & Designers”. Other mails and reminders were received 2nd Nov, Jan 16th and more recently on April 15th. Thankfully, they’ve only cold-called once - on the 25th of Feb. None of this changes the fact that I shouldn’t have been automatically added, without my permission being sought.
David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com has said that India is a top priority for the companys global plans, and Infomedia will help provide on-ground support including sales, marketing and customer service. Some numbers: Around 20,000 Indian companies have signed up each month for their India channel since Jan 2008, and Alibaba.com has more than 400,000 members in India, and they hope to double that number. Alibaba has, reportedly, 27 million members from over 200 countries. They’re targeting a market of over 8 million SMEs.
In India, Alibaba will compete with the likes of TradeIndia.com and Indiamart.com, both B2B marketplaces. But here’s the strange thing: I’m listed on Indiamart! On Oct 18 2007, I received a mail from them informing me that I’ve automatically been registered. No permission sought, they just created an account, added my details including my mobile number, and just sent across a username and password. Randomly, they’ve added ContentNext (contentSutra’s parent company) in two categories: “Studios, Film Production & Multimedia Production Services” and “Advertising Agencies, Consultants & Designers”. Other mails and reminders were received 2nd Nov, Jan 16th and more recently on April 15th. Thankfully, they’ve only cold-called once - on the 25th of Feb. None of this changes the fact that I shouldn’t have been automatically added, without my permission being sought.
Alibaba's Sales Restructure
TradeMediaBlog: Global Sources was offering for the very first time a low cost entry package for their export marketing services which was a concern for Alibaba.com. It now seems that these new packages are starting to gain traction.
South China Morning Post reported today that Global Sources’ new pricing plan is being so well received that its largest competitor, Alibaba.com, is making some changes of their own:
1. Restructuring Sales Force - One team will now manage new accounts and another existing accounts/renewals.
2. Updated Commission Structure.
3. Discounts - Rumors of price reductions for its Gold Supplier service.
This news is being seen overall as negative in the near term with Analysts reducing sales forecasts and downgrading the stock. It is hard to say how this new sales structure will work in the long run but it is good to see Alibaba.com taking a serious look at competitive threats and improving after sales service.
We at TradeMediaBlog think these Analysts may be overreacting because:
1. Alibaba.com enjoys an estimated 70% renewal rate.
2. Most suppliers, who pay for the Gold Supplier service, have been clients of Alibaba.com for many years so there is brand loyalty in place.
3. Suppliers who list on one B2B global trade marketplace typically will list across multiple sites.
Thus, we believe that if this does negatively impact Alibaba.com’s overall sales figures for the year that they will be less than expected by these investment banks.
South China Morning Post reported today that Global Sources’ new pricing plan is being so well received that its largest competitor, Alibaba.com, is making some changes of their own:
1. Restructuring Sales Force - One team will now manage new accounts and another existing accounts/renewals.
2. Updated Commission Structure.
3. Discounts - Rumors of price reductions for its Gold Supplier service.
This news is being seen overall as negative in the near term with Analysts reducing sales forecasts and downgrading the stock. It is hard to say how this new sales structure will work in the long run but it is good to see Alibaba.com taking a serious look at competitive threats and improving after sales service.
We at TradeMediaBlog think these Analysts may be overreacting because:
1. Alibaba.com enjoys an estimated 70% renewal rate.
2. Most suppliers, who pay for the Gold Supplier service, have been clients of Alibaba.com for many years so there is brand loyalty in place.
3. Suppliers who list on one B2B global trade marketplace typically will list across multiple sites.
Thus, we believe that if this does negatively impact Alibaba.com’s overall sales figures for the year that they will be less than expected by these investment banks.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Alibaba Killer? Chinese Ministries Unveil New B2C Website
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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Zhengjiaweb.com, a new B2C portal website jointly promoted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Commerce, has been formally unveiled.
The website, which is jointly created by China International E-commerce Center, Guangzhou Zhengjia Network Modern Service Company and Guangzhou Zhengjia Square, is expected to open formally in June this year.
According to Lin Jianguo, chief operation officer of zhengjiaweb.com, the project will be completed in three schedules with a total investment of about RMB1.6 billion. The part that will see an opening in June is the first phase of the project and will consist of about 20 channels centered on retailing. Lin says that different from Alibaba and Taobao.com, zhengjiaweb.com is strictly a B2C website, so all the businesses on the website must also have offline stores. To ensure goods quality, the website will cooperate with four logistics companies of EMS, ZJS Express, YTO Express and Shentong Express and have the businesses undertake the goods delivery fee acquisition.
Zhengjiaweb.com will be first based in Guangzhou and it will later expand across the country with branches set up in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuhan. Lin introduces that the Beijing branch will be set up in July, Shanghai branch in October, Chengdu branch in February 2009 and the Shenzhen branch in July 2009.
The company plans to get its businesses fully listed in Nasdaq between June 2009 and December 2012.
The website, which is jointly created by China International E-commerce Center, Guangzhou Zhengjia Network Modern Service Company and Guangzhou Zhengjia Square, is expected to open formally in June this year.
According to Lin Jianguo, chief operation officer of zhengjiaweb.com, the project will be completed in three schedules with a total investment of about RMB1.6 billion. The part that will see an opening in June is the first phase of the project and will consist of about 20 channels centered on retailing. Lin says that different from Alibaba and Taobao.com, zhengjiaweb.com is strictly a B2C website, so all the businesses on the website must also have offline stores. To ensure goods quality, the website will cooperate with four logistics companies of EMS, ZJS Express, YTO Express and Shentong Express and have the businesses undertake the goods delivery fee acquisition.
Zhengjiaweb.com will be first based in Guangzhou and it will later expand across the country with branches set up in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuhan. Lin introduces that the Beijing branch will be set up in July, Shanghai branch in October, Chengdu branch in February 2009 and the Shenzhen branch in July 2009.
The company plans to get its businesses fully listed in Nasdaq between June 2009 and December 2012.
Monday, April 28, 2008
A downgrade for Alibaba; HOT STOCKS
Monday, April 28, 2008
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The International Herald Tribune, April 25, 2008 Friday
Citigroup downgraded the Chinese Internet company Alibaba.com to ''sell'' from ''hold'' on an increasingly cloudy outlook following an overhaul of its sales force that put growth rates at risk.
Citigroup lowered the target price of the e-commerce company to 10 Hong Kong dollars from 17 dollars. Alibaba shares closed Wednesday at 12.22 dollars.
"We expect rising execution risks from sales force turnover, a material disruption to productivity, and increased customer churn,'' Citigroup said in a report. ''Making matters worse, the IPO lock-up comes off in early May."
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Alibaba sets South China operating headquarters in Guangzhou
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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Alibaba<1688>, the largest B2B e-commerce portal in China, has signed a MOU with Guangzhou Municipal Information Industry Office on making Guangzhou Alibaba's operating headquarters in South China, sources reported.
One of the main focuses of the new headquarters is to promote the e-commerce of those small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Guangzhou so that they can better explore the overseas as well as the domestic markets. Moreover, the headquarters will help train more e-commerce talents and build a better e-commerce environment in the city.
Besides, this move is expected to enhance Guangzhou's competitiveness in international economic and trade cooperation and speed up the economic integration of the Pearl River Delta, said sources.
Based on Alibaba's information service platform, Guangzhou will provide support to some key markets and enterprises covering automobile, steel products, computer, video, plastic, fruits and vegetable, as well as pharmaceutical sector.
It is also reported that the relevant bodies of Guangzhou municipal government will issue the detailed development plan soon.
Alibaba Holds 'E-Business Champion' Contest
Alibaba is holding a contest of "e-Business champions" and will select winners from around the globe who will be eligible for a chance to win a free trip to Hangzhou, China in August to attend the fifth annual Alifest conference.
Companies must share their success stories about doing business online. The contest extends to three global regions, with five winners in each region. Alibaba will select 5 winners in the North America region to participate in an awards event in Chicago on June 18th. The awards ceremony for the Europe, Africa & Middle East Region will be held in London on June 13th, and awards ceremony for the Asia & Oceania Region will take place in Hong Kong on June 15th.
"This will be a great chance for some free publicity for your company, national/global recognition, an all-expense paid trip to Chicago in June, and a chance to win a free trip to Hangzhou, China in August," according to Alibaba's US site.
Alibaba is a Chinese-based B2B marketplace and owns C2C online auction site Taobao among other online businesses.
Companies must share their success stories about doing business online. The contest extends to three global regions, with five winners in each region. Alibaba will select 5 winners in the North America region to participate in an awards event in Chicago on June 18th. The awards ceremony for the Europe, Africa & Middle East Region will be held in London on June 13th, and awards ceremony for the Asia & Oceania Region will take place in Hong Kong on June 15th.
"This will be a great chance for some free publicity for your company, national/global recognition, an all-expense paid trip to Chicago in June, and a chance to win a free trip to Hangzhou, China in August," according to Alibaba's US site.
Alibaba is a Chinese-based B2B marketplace and owns C2C online auction site Taobao among other online businesses.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Canton Fair Refuses Alibaba, B2B Entry
Saturday, April 19, 2008
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Nearly all business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce companies are being excluded from the 103rd China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), reports 21st Century Business Herald. After being cited for self-promotion without intention to trade in previous years, Alibaba.com (1688.HK) has been barred from entering the event, while Guangzhou-based Global Market Group Limited (globalmarket.com) has been rejected for its B2B company status, said the report quoting related insiders.
According to B2B promoters stationed outside the fair, the rental price for space outside the venue is higher than that of indoor booths. Global Market plans to use advertising blimps during the event to supplement its hotel, metro and bus advertisements, said a company employee.
This year's Spring fair is being attended by 18,721 companies, a 24 percent increase from last year, including 514 foreign enterprises, reports Xinhua quoting event spokesman Xu Bing. The fair kicked off on Tuesday and will run in two separate phases through April 30, said the report.
According to B2B promoters stationed outside the fair, the rental price for space outside the venue is higher than that of indoor booths. Global Market plans to use advertising blimps during the event to supplement its hotel, metro and bus advertisements, said a company employee.
This year's Spring fair is being attended by 18,721 companies, a 24 percent increase from last year, including 514 foreign enterprises, reports Xinhua quoting event spokesman Xu Bing. The fair kicked off on Tuesday and will run in two separate phases through April 30, said the report.
The 5th Annual Alifest - August 2008 Alibaba.com
The 5th Annual Alifest is being extended to encompass 3 global regions: Asia & Oceania Region; Europe, Africa & Middle East Region and the American Region. Be selected as one of your region's top 5 e-Business people and you could be a participant in the 2008 Global e-Business Champions of the Year Grand Awards Ceremony in Hangzhou, China.
Apply now to take advantage of this great opportunity, regardless of your location or the size of your business. Learn from other successful B2B and B2C models and ensure that your e-commerce success continues.
Become one of our 10 Grand Finalists and attract the attention of more than 20 million potential e-commerce partners worldwide!
This August, e-business people around the world will be focusing on the 2008 Global e-Business Champions of the Year awards ceremony.
Apply now to take advantage of this great opportunity, regardless of your location or the size of your business. Learn from other successful B2B and B2C models and ensure that your e-commerce success continues.
Become one of our 10 Grand Finalists and attract the attention of more than 20 million potential e-commerce partners worldwide!
This August, e-business people around the world will be focusing on the 2008 Global e-Business Champions of the Year awards ceremony.
AOL planning to invade China
A RUMOUR circulating in Chinese media has it that America On Line (AOL) has plans to move into China's online market.
Everyone's least-favourite ISP has reportedly been looking for recruits via local headhunters. The rumours are that AOL plans to set up an R&D centre in Beijing and will be focusing on mobile communications, web technology research and online publishing.
AOL launched websites in Taiwan and Hong Kong earlier this week, so it's too soon to tell yet whether the walled garden Internet company is attracting very many Chinese wibblers. Word in the Chinese media is that AOL is very late entering the Chinese Internet market and might have difficulty selling its US-centric brand to Chinese surfers.
US based Internet brands have had rather mixed success in China. The Chinese search engine Baidu is far more popular there than Google. Microsoft's MSN and its instant messaging service lag behind China's QQ. Yahoo does have some subscribers in China, but it pays Alibaba to manage its Chinese web presence.
AOL bought an interest in the second-tier Chinese website China.com nearly ten years ago but didn't get very far with it and eventually abandoned the project.It's hard to imagine what China might have done to deserve invasion by AOL, which is widely abhorred by savvy Internet users everywhere else. However, it's no secret that parent company Time Warner would like to flog AOL to the first sucker it can find, so perhaps the proposed move of AOL into China is a way to groom the dog a bit prior to sale.
Everyone's least-favourite ISP has reportedly been looking for recruits via local headhunters. The rumours are that AOL plans to set up an R&D centre in Beijing and will be focusing on mobile communications, web technology research and online publishing.
AOL launched websites in Taiwan and Hong Kong earlier this week, so it's too soon to tell yet whether the walled garden Internet company is attracting very many Chinese wibblers. Word in the Chinese media is that AOL is very late entering the Chinese Internet market and might have difficulty selling its US-centric brand to Chinese surfers.
US based Internet brands have had rather mixed success in China. The Chinese search engine Baidu is far more popular there than Google. Microsoft's MSN and its instant messaging service lag behind China's QQ. Yahoo does have some subscribers in China, but it pays Alibaba to manage its Chinese web presence.
AOL bought an interest in the second-tier Chinese website China.com nearly ten years ago but didn't get very far with it and eventually abandoned the project.It's hard to imagine what China might have done to deserve invasion by AOL, which is widely abhorred by savvy Internet users everywhere else. However, it's no secret that parent company Time Warner would like to flog AOL to the first sucker it can find, so perhaps the proposed move of AOL into China is a way to groom the dog a bit prior to sale.
New benchmark for China currency
China domestic manufacturers who settle their business deals with customers in US dollars are forced to bite the bullet as the dollar continues to slump.
Alibaba posted a story, revealing the damage that a stronger yuan would have on Chinese exporters.
China Daily (中国日报), a China state-run English-language newspaper, also reported that rising costs in labor, materials, energy and yuan appreciation attributed to the closure of many factories in the Pearl River Delta.
Last Thursday, the dollar ended trading at 6.9916 yuan on the over-the-counter market, after dipping to an all-time low of 6.9907.
These are hard times for us,” said Wei Yaoting, a textile trader in Shanghai that exports to the United States.
A typical U.S. order, received July and delivered in November last year, was not paid for until February this year, said Wei, manager of Shanghai HTC Holdings Import & Export Co. Over those seven months, the dollar-denominated payment slumped.
“We end up swallowing the losses,” he said.
“The more exports, the bigger the losses. We just break even,” Wei said. “We’re even considering giving up selling to foreign markets that trade in U.S. dollars.”
In your mind, what’s the biggest challenge that Chinese small and medium manufacturers are facing now?
Alibaba posted a story, revealing the damage that a stronger yuan would have on Chinese exporters.
China Daily (中国日报), a China state-run English-language newspaper, also reported that rising costs in labor, materials, energy and yuan appreciation attributed to the closure of many factories in the Pearl River Delta.
Last Thursday, the dollar ended trading at 6.9916 yuan on the over-the-counter market, after dipping to an all-time low of 6.9907.
These are hard times for us,” said Wei Yaoting, a textile trader in Shanghai that exports to the United States.
A typical U.S. order, received July and delivered in November last year, was not paid for until February this year, said Wei, manager of Shanghai HTC Holdings Import & Export Co. Over those seven months, the dollar-denominated payment slumped.
“We end up swallowing the losses,” he said.
“The more exports, the bigger the losses. We just break even,” Wei said. “We’re even considering giving up selling to foreign markets that trade in U.S. dollars.”
In your mind, what’s the biggest challenge that Chinese small and medium manufacturers are facing now?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Alipay To Cooperate With Amazon.cn
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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Chinese media reports that Alibaba's affiliate Alipay may enter a cooperation with Amazon.cn, a potential competitor for Taobao.com, another subsidiary of Alibaba.
Under their cooperation, Amazon.cn will support online payment via Alipay's platform. The parties are said to be signing a contract right now whose details will soon be released.
Not long ago, Taobao.com announced plans to enter the B2C market. Hence it has become a competitor of Amazon.cn and Dangdang.com, while at the same time its sister service Alipay began to cooperate with many vertical B2C websites, including redbaby.com.cn and 360buy.com.
So far, Alipay has not made any comment on the cooperation with Amazon.cn, though Joyo's PR has confirmed that they are indeed negotiating with Alipay on the cooperation which will be publicized soon.
Under their cooperation, Amazon.cn will support online payment via Alipay's platform. The parties are said to be signing a contract right now whose details will soon be released.
Not long ago, Taobao.com announced plans to enter the B2C market. Hence it has become a competitor of Amazon.cn and Dangdang.com, while at the same time its sister service Alipay began to cooperate with many vertical B2C websites, including redbaby.com.cn and 360buy.com.
So far, Alipay has not made any comment on the cooperation with Amazon.cn, though Joyo's PR has confirmed that they are indeed negotiating with Alipay on the cooperation which will be publicized soon.
Alipay To Cooperate With Amazon.cn
Chinese media reports that Alibaba's affiliate Alipay may enter a cooperation with Amazon.cn, a potential competitor for Taobao.com, another subsidiary of Alibaba.
Under their cooperation, Amazon.cn will support online payment via Alipay's platform. The parties are said to be signing a contract right now whose details will soon be released.
Not long ago, Taobao.com announced plans to enter the B2C market. Hence it has become a competitor of Amazon.cn and Dangdang.com, while at the same time its sister service Alipay began to cooperate with many vertical B2C websites, including redbaby.com.cn and 360buy.com.
So far, Alipay has not made any comment on the cooperation with Amazon.cn, though Joyo's PR has confirmed that they are indeed negotiating with Alipay on the cooperation which will be publicized soon.
Under their cooperation, Amazon.cn will support online payment via Alipay's platform. The parties are said to be signing a contract right now whose details will soon be released.
Not long ago, Taobao.com announced plans to enter the B2C market. Hence it has become a competitor of Amazon.cn and Dangdang.com, while at the same time its sister service Alipay began to cooperate with many vertical B2C websites, including redbaby.com.cn and 360buy.com.
So far, Alipay has not made any comment on the cooperation with Amazon.cn, though Joyo's PR has confirmed that they are indeed negotiating with Alipay on the cooperation which will be publicized soon.
Alipay in Australia
Sydney based Paymate has gone live with a beta version of its new payments platform for AliPay, the largest online payment service provider in China with 62 million registered users.
Alipay is a subsidiary of the listed Alibaba Group, the operators of international trade portal Alibaba.com.
Paymate was launched by eBay in October 2001, but has been progressively sidelined since eBay international purchased PayPal and brought it to Australia in 2005.
Since then it has weathered a number of big hits including competition from mobile phone payments processor Paymate (India) which has grabbed www.paymate.com
Alipay is a subsidiary of the listed Alibaba Group, the operators of international trade portal Alibaba.com.
Paymate was launched by eBay in October 2001, but has been progressively sidelined since eBay international purchased PayPal and brought it to Australia in 2005.
Since then it has weathered a number of big hits including competition from mobile phone payments processor Paymate (India) which has grabbed www.paymate.com
Tradeindia launches news portal for small and medium enterprises
B2B portal Tradeindia has launched a news portal, SME Times, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Tradeindia.com provides a platform to buyers and sellers across the world.
Launching the portal, Bikky Khosla, CEO, Tradeindia, said, “SME Times will be a one-stop information library for the Exim sector. With our wide reach, the news that we will provide can help improve business practices. As SMEs are exposed to new information, ideas, and values, many will become increasingly aware and interested and, eventually, they will be able to decide what action to take that is best for their businesses.”
“Apart from a daily dose of news, the USP of the portal will rest on the value-added articles written by its staffers, experts and freelancers that will benefit the SMEs,” he added.
The entire business module of Tradeindia revolves around the pledge to help SMEs build a self-reliant India. To keep SMEs informed on the recent policy changes, international trends and how these changes could affect their businesses, Tradeindia comes out with its weekly newsletter, conducts online surveys and organises panel discussions and hosts a Discussion Forum aimed at creating a platform for the business community to exchange business ideas and issues.
News portals are often the SMEs’ first source of new information. Also, news portals help confirm and reinforce the information that people receive about latest developments in the business sector. However, with no news portal devoted entirely to the needs of this sector, SMEs find it difficult to gain reliable information.
SME Times portal has been carefully designed to fulfill the needs of SMEs. Over nine clearly demarcated categories and more than 16 sub-categories will carry news reports that are updated on a minute-to-minute basis. The ‘Editorial’ and ‘Indepth’ sections would carry the views of the Editor and a panel of experts, respectively. The other value-added features include ‘Market Watch’ and ‘Forex Rates’.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Alibaba to Launch Website Establishment Services Tomorrow
Friday, April 11, 2008
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BEIJING (IBTimes) - Alibaba will launch website establishment services tomorrow, which is the forth path to revenue its expansion. There are three income products in Alibaba: Supplies, Chengxintong and value-added services for business companies.
Website Establishment Services will service many medium-sized and pint-sized companies. For the website establishment for medium and pint sized company is very disordered. Though you can find morn than 16,000,000 entries related when you search for website establishment in search engine, for example Baidu, not one company can provide a higher level service, such as e-commerce besides the basic function: brand display, product information and so on.
Also, there another reason for Alibaba will launch its new service, which is its own development.
According Alibaba 2007 annual earnings, there are 300,000 paid members and 25,000,000 registered members. How to make the registered members include the income of Alibaba is a problem. Last year, Alibaba income was 21.6 billion and up by 58.6% compared to 2006.
An analytic company named international Eiguan said that many companies put their products in Alibaba e-commerce platform and have no their own websites, which is not line with e-commerce platform of a transaction channels, as well as products such as mobile share basic characteristics. Through the website, so that enterprises from the traditional to the truly fundamental change in e-commerce.
Alibaba CEO Wei Zhe said the new strategic project in Alibaba is in course of emergency planning earlier. An announcement in Alibaba website says: Alibaba will be formally introduced a strategy of epoch-making significance of the products, the product will ultimately achieve the perfect e-commerce planning trilogy on April 11, 2008.
Website Establishment Services will service many medium-sized and pint-sized companies. For the website establishment for medium and pint sized company is very disordered. Though you can find morn than 16,000,000 entries related when you search for website establishment in search engine, for example Baidu, not one company can provide a higher level service, such as e-commerce besides the basic function: brand display, product information and so on.
Also, there another reason for Alibaba will launch its new service, which is its own development.
According Alibaba 2007 annual earnings, there are 300,000 paid members and 25,000,000 registered members. How to make the registered members include the income of Alibaba is a problem. Last year, Alibaba income was 21.6 billion and up by 58.6% compared to 2006.
An analytic company named international Eiguan said that many companies put their products in Alibaba e-commerce platform and have no their own websites, which is not line with e-commerce platform of a transaction channels, as well as products such as mobile share basic characteristics. Through the website, so that enterprises from the traditional to the truly fundamental change in e-commerce.
Alibaba CEO Wei Zhe said the new strategic project in Alibaba is in course of emergency planning earlier. An announcement in Alibaba website says: Alibaba will be formally introduced a strategy of epoch-making significance of the products, the product will ultimately achieve the perfect e-commerce planning trilogy on April 11, 2008.
China's top auction site Taobao transactions to surpass 100 bln yuan in 2008
HANGZHOU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Taobao, Alibaba's online consumer auction firm and the largest online retailer in Asia, is expected to see its transaction volume surpass 100 billion yuan (about 13.3 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to a report it issued on Thursday.
The report says that the volume of transactions on the auction site Taobao hit 18.8 billion yuan in the first three months, an increase of 170 percent over that of the last year.
"If the same pace is kept up, the yearly transaction volume will surpass 100 billion yuan".
Experts attribute the sharp increase to complex reasons including the RMB appreciation and the wave of more enterprises choosing Internet as their trade platforms.
Nearly 10,000 brand-named enterprises have opened online outlets at Taobao including P&G, Motorola, and the Lenovo.
Alibaba, founded in 1999 by Jack Ma in the country's eastern Hangzhou city, saw its share rise 122 percent on its trading debut in Hong Kong last November.
It dominates the business-to-business section in China, and its unlisted consumer subsidiary includes Taobao, as well as online payments unit Alipay and Yahoo! China.
The report says that the volume of transactions on the auction site Taobao hit 18.8 billion yuan in the first three months, an increase of 170 percent over that of the last year.
"If the same pace is kept up, the yearly transaction volume will surpass 100 billion yuan".
Experts attribute the sharp increase to complex reasons including the RMB appreciation and the wave of more enterprises choosing Internet as their trade platforms.
Nearly 10,000 brand-named enterprises have opened online outlets at Taobao including P&G, Motorola, and the Lenovo.
Alibaba, founded in 1999 by Jack Ma in the country's eastern Hangzhou city, saw its share rise 122 percent on its trading debut in Hong Kong last November.
It dominates the business-to-business section in China, and its unlisted consumer subsidiary includes Taobao, as well as online payments unit Alipay and Yahoo! China.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
TradeKey.com, First ISO 9001 & 27001 Certified B2B Directory
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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TradeKey.com is a leading online business platform for importer and exporters. From research and development, to provide global trade expertise. TradeKey.com connects you with worldwide wholesale buyers, importers and exporters, distributors and agents in over 220 countries, quickly & cost effectively. TradeKey.com is the leading global b2b market place for international trade. We have a strong and deep passion for internet based trade. Our goal is to become the worlds leading destination for online trade by 2007.ISO 9001:2000: International Standard for Quality Management ISO 27001:2005: International Standard for Information Security.
TradeKey.com is the first B2B Platform worldwide which has achieved both of these International Certifications. These Certifications are an ample testimony of our firm commitment to continuous quality improvement, foolproof risk management and highest level of focus on customer satisfaction.
TradeKey.com has been ranked in the worlds top 1500 business websites with a monthly traffic of over 5 million visitors and 23 million pages views internationally. Every month, more than 3 million buyers use tradekey.com business platform to find new manufacturer, wholesale suppliers and product that generate transactions worth US$ 100 million.
TradeKey.com is the first B2B Platform worldwide which has achieved both of these International Certifications. These Certifications are an ample testimony of our firm commitment to continuous quality improvement, foolproof risk management and highest level of focus on customer satisfaction.
TradeKey.com has been ranked in the worlds top 1500 business websites with a monthly traffic of over 5 million visitors and 23 million pages views internationally. Every month, more than 3 million buyers use tradekey.com business platform to find new manufacturer, wholesale suppliers and product that generate transactions worth US$ 100 million.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Microsoft-Yahoo war may spur Alibaba buyback
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
0
By Sophie Taylor and Anupreeta Das
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet firm Alibaba is set to speed up plans to buy back a near 40 percent stake owned by Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research), as Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) threatens to go hostile with a lower bid for Yahoo.
Alibaba, keen to calm Beijing's fears that Microsoft's planned $42 billion takeover of Yahoo would increase foreign influence over China's leading Internet firms, wants to fund a buyback of all or part of the 39 percent stake Yahoo owns, said a person familiar with the Chinese firm's plans.
Analysts said this could come from a mix of foreign and local financial investors, including Chinese pension funds or state-backed firms looking to enter the Internet sector.
"Jack's number-one thing is to maintain control," said Hany Nada, managing partner of Granite Global Ventures, an early institutional investor in Alibaba, referring to the group's Chief Executive Jack Ma.
Alibaba plans to exercise its 'right of first offer' on the stake, which is stated in a 2005 agreement with Yahoo, should the two U.S. firms reach a deal, a source told Reuters earlier.
The 'right of first offer' states that Yahoo cannot transfer its Alibaba stake without first offering it to other shareholders. Alibaba believes any change of control at Yahoo, including a deal with Microsoft, would amount to such a transfer, the source said.
LOSING OUT
Alibaba may be unwilling to rule out potential business opportunities with Microsoft, for example in advertising or online trading, that would be lost if it were to buy back its stake from Yahoo. If that were to happen, the U.S. software giant also could miss a chance to expand its foothold in the world's largest Web market by users.
"Alibaba is peripheral to the potential Microsoft/Yahoo transaction, but its decision will create an impact on Microsoft's deal because Alibaba is an important strategic presence for Yahoo in Asia, and Alibaba has global aspirations," said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based research firm BDA.
Another thorny factor is valuation.
Yahoo has so far rejected Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid as too low, in part because Yahoo sees its Asian operations as strategically valuable.
Any offer on the stake in Alibaba -- particularly if it is broken up and sold to several investors -- will likely go through a complicated arbitration process to determine the offer's value.
Perhaps the most important factor is whether Alibaba is able to line up financial support to buy back its stake from Yahoo.
Possible candidates include Chinese pension funds, or even one of the country's state-backed telecoms companies looking to move into Internet services, said Claus Mortensen, analyst at IDC's Asia/Pacific Emerging Technologies Research.
Alibaba's other major shareholder, Japan's Softbank (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research), which holds a 33 percent stake, is unlikely to buy Yahoo's stake as it is heavily in debt after buying Vodafone's (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) Japan unit two years ago.
"There's no way we could raise funds in this environment. We bought Vodafone (Japan) just in the nick of time. We were lucky," said a Softbank contact, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
STAYING INDEPENDENT
Beijing is often wary of what it sees as attempts by foreigners to control prominent Chinese companies.
Alibaba dominates China's business-to-business sector with a 70 percent share of a market that is expected to grow to 2,130 billion yuan ($303.6 billion) in 2009 from 1,250 billion yuan in 2007, according to the Internet Society of China.
Alibaba is expected to maintain its dominant position in the short term, said Ovum analyst Charice Wang, but over the longer term local rivals offering niche services may eat into that lead.
Beijing was stung by its exposure to a foreign firm shortly after a 2005 deal in which Yahoo merged its Chinese operations into Alibaba in exchange for the stake in Alibaba.
Along with Yahoo's operations, Alibaba also gained a role in an international human rights controversy when press freedom watchdogs and U.S. lawmakers attacked Yahoo for turning over a Chinese reporter's emails to the government, which later imprisoned him.
If the Microsoft-Yahoo deal goes through and Yahoo retains its stake, the Chinese authorities are likely to set conditions for the stake's transfer, such as limiting the number of foreigners on Alibaba's board.
RIGHT OF FIRST OFFER
Even if Alibaba manages to shore up finances to buy back its stake from Yahoo, there is a small chance its interpretation of the 'right of first offer' might be challenged by a combined Microsoft-Yahoo entity. Both U.S. companies have declined to comment on Alibaba's interpretation of the right.
But one lawyer said Alibaba's right of first offer -- which applies to both a direct and indirect transfer of Yahoo's stake -- may not apply in case of a change of ownership of Yahoo.
Alibaba's position is that if Microsoft buys Yahoo, what it gets is ownership of Yahoo's stock and not Yahoo's ownership in Alibaba, said the lawyer, who declined to be identified because his firm could advise one of the companies.
So, if Yahoo is bought, Alibaba's argument is that it amounts to an indirect transfer and triggers the right of first offer, but New York state laws govern the definition of 'indirect' in this case, said the partner at a U.S .law firm who has worked on international M&A transactions.
"Microsoft, it seems, unless there is language or other terms elsewhere, simply will step into the shoes of Yahoo in the Alibaba agreement," he said.
But Carol Glendenning, a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Strasburger and Price LLP, said that "a sale of Yahoo stock would be an indirect transfer of the beneficial ownership that Yahoo owns in Alibaba, which falls into the definition of a transfer."
Both lawyers based their assessment on excerpts of the agreement sent to them by Reuters.
Under the 2005 agreement, which is available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Web site, Yahoo also has a pre-emptive option of refusing to sell to a list of competitors.
But the lawyers said the pre-emptive option applies only if Alibaba plans to issue new shares in case of a transaction.
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet firm Alibaba is set to speed up plans to buy back a near 40 percent stake owned by Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research), as Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) threatens to go hostile with a lower bid for Yahoo.
Alibaba, keen to calm Beijing's fears that Microsoft's planned $42 billion takeover of Yahoo would increase foreign influence over China's leading Internet firms, wants to fund a buyback of all or part of the 39 percent stake Yahoo owns, said a person familiar with the Chinese firm's plans.
Analysts said this could come from a mix of foreign and local financial investors, including Chinese pension funds or state-backed firms looking to enter the Internet sector.
"Jack's number-one thing is to maintain control," said Hany Nada, managing partner of Granite Global Ventures, an early institutional investor in Alibaba, referring to the group's Chief Executive Jack Ma.
Alibaba plans to exercise its 'right of first offer' on the stake, which is stated in a 2005 agreement with Yahoo, should the two U.S. firms reach a deal, a source told Reuters earlier.
The 'right of first offer' states that Yahoo cannot transfer its Alibaba stake without first offering it to other shareholders. Alibaba believes any change of control at Yahoo, including a deal with Microsoft, would amount to such a transfer, the source said.
LOSING OUT
Alibaba may be unwilling to rule out potential business opportunities with Microsoft, for example in advertising or online trading, that would be lost if it were to buy back its stake from Yahoo. If that were to happen, the U.S. software giant also could miss a chance to expand its foothold in the world's largest Web market by users.
"Alibaba is peripheral to the potential Microsoft/Yahoo transaction, but its decision will create an impact on Microsoft's deal because Alibaba is an important strategic presence for Yahoo in Asia, and Alibaba has global aspirations," said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based research firm BDA.
Another thorny factor is valuation.
Yahoo has so far rejected Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid as too low, in part because Yahoo sees its Asian operations as strategically valuable.
Any offer on the stake in Alibaba -- particularly if it is broken up and sold to several investors -- will likely go through a complicated arbitration process to determine the offer's value.
Perhaps the most important factor is whether Alibaba is able to line up financial support to buy back its stake from Yahoo.
Possible candidates include Chinese pension funds, or even one of the country's state-backed telecoms companies looking to move into Internet services, said Claus Mortensen, analyst at IDC's Asia/Pacific Emerging Technologies Research.
Alibaba's other major shareholder, Japan's Softbank (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research), which holds a 33 percent stake, is unlikely to buy Yahoo's stake as it is heavily in debt after buying Vodafone's (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) Japan unit two years ago.
"There's no way we could raise funds in this environment. We bought Vodafone (Japan) just in the nick of time. We were lucky," said a Softbank contact, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
STAYING INDEPENDENT
Beijing is often wary of what it sees as attempts by foreigners to control prominent Chinese companies.
Alibaba dominates China's business-to-business sector with a 70 percent share of a market that is expected to grow to 2,130 billion yuan ($303.6 billion) in 2009 from 1,250 billion yuan in 2007, according to the Internet Society of China.
Alibaba is expected to maintain its dominant position in the short term, said Ovum analyst Charice Wang, but over the longer term local rivals offering niche services may eat into that lead.
Beijing was stung by its exposure to a foreign firm shortly after a 2005 deal in which Yahoo merged its Chinese operations into Alibaba in exchange for the stake in Alibaba.
Along with Yahoo's operations, Alibaba also gained a role in an international human rights controversy when press freedom watchdogs and U.S. lawmakers attacked Yahoo for turning over a Chinese reporter's emails to the government, which later imprisoned him.
If the Microsoft-Yahoo deal goes through and Yahoo retains its stake, the Chinese authorities are likely to set conditions for the stake's transfer, such as limiting the number of foreigners on Alibaba's board.
RIGHT OF FIRST OFFER
Even if Alibaba manages to shore up finances to buy back its stake from Yahoo, there is a small chance its interpretation of the 'right of first offer' might be challenged by a combined Microsoft-Yahoo entity. Both U.S. companies have declined to comment on Alibaba's interpretation of the right.
But one lawyer said Alibaba's right of first offer -- which applies to both a direct and indirect transfer of Yahoo's stake -- may not apply in case of a change of ownership of Yahoo.
Alibaba's position is that if Microsoft buys Yahoo, what it gets is ownership of Yahoo's stock and not Yahoo's ownership in Alibaba, said the lawyer, who declined to be identified because his firm could advise one of the companies.
So, if Yahoo is bought, Alibaba's argument is that it amounts to an indirect transfer and triggers the right of first offer, but New York state laws govern the definition of 'indirect' in this case, said the partner at a U.S .law firm who has worked on international M&A transactions.
"Microsoft, it seems, unless there is language or other terms elsewhere, simply will step into the shoes of Yahoo in the Alibaba agreement," he said.
But Carol Glendenning, a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Strasburger and Price LLP, said that "a sale of Yahoo stock would be an indirect transfer of the beneficial ownership that Yahoo owns in Alibaba, which falls into the definition of a transfer."
Both lawyers based their assessment on excerpts of the agreement sent to them by Reuters.
Under the 2005 agreement, which is available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Web site, Yahoo also has a pre-emptive option of refusing to sell to a list of competitors.
But the lawyers said the pre-emptive option applies only if Alibaba plans to issue new shares in case of a transaction.
Alibaba.com Quickens Page Loads With New Blue Coat Service
Alibaba.com is providing faster loading for users with caching services from Blue Coat.
The Blue Coat appliances operate in front of Alibaba.com's servers, providing Web security, accommodating large numbers of users and accelerating the delivery of content from the individual servers. Rather than the servers having to re-serve information that it has to create for the same user requests, most of requests are "pre-served" by the ProxySG appliances and delivered to the user without requiring the application server to perform repetitive work.
More than 24 million users from over 200 countries and regions conduct business on Alibaba.com's online platforms. Large amounts of product and demand/supply information are continually posted and searched, resulting in significant workload pressure on the application servers.
"Blue Coat ProxySG appliances help Alibaba.com improve its competitive edge by making dramatic improvements in user response time while serving large numbers of users and providing the security that is so critical for a high profile business," said Matt Young, vice president, Asia Pacific, Blue Coat Systems. "Alibaba.com is a compelling example of the results customers can achieve from ProxySG appliances and the value that brings to important, growing businesses."
Alibaba.com User Survey: Buying Leads
Alibaba.com is currently reviewing their use of the name, “Buying Lead” and would like your feedback.
Is the meaning of “Buying Lead” clear? Is there a better name?
Which of the following names is the most clear? Which name best describes a buyer telling suppliers what they are looking for?
Is the meaning of “Buying Lead” clear? Is there a better name?
Which of the following names is the most clear? Which name best describes a buyer telling suppliers what they are looking for?
EC21.com makes Indian suppliers happy
EC21.COM, the world’s leading business to business (B2B) marketplace for buyers and sellers, which entered the Indian market late last year, recently announced special promotional package for Indian manufacturers, suppliers and exporters to help them effectively promote their businesses. The company, which made its foray into Indian market in September last year, by opening its first sales and marketing office in the region, providing online marketing services and promotional tools to buyers and sellers to find new trade opportunities and promote their businesses online.
The special offer includes, free online promotion to all the Indian suppliers who join or upgrade to EC21’s premium membership services (TradeOK or TradePRO) before April 30, 2008, thereby giving them great opportunity to reach and promote their products to millions of potential buyers and visitors every month.
Globally, EC21 is recognised as a pioneer in B2B e-commerce that helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) suppliers to promote their products to the Global buyers, and provides an easy sourcing platform for buyers to find and reach new low-cost suppliers. EC21provides free and premium membership services using, which suppliers can easily create their own homepage to showcase products online, locate and contact global buyers, reply to buying leads and post trade offers to sell. Buyers can use the site for free and can easily search for new products, locate and contact suppliers directly, post unlimited buying leads and use advanced e-marketing and communication tools to chat and meet the suppliers.
The opening of new Indian office was formally announced in an official function held in Coimbatore, last year in September. The launch event was attended by over 50 key press and media representatives along with senior management of EC21 Inc, Korea head office that included Kim Tae Sung - executive vice-president, Song Young Look - managing director and Vivek Batra, Global Head - International Business & Strategic Alliances.
The company’s vice-president, Taesung Kim, says, “Our expansion in India is aimed at making international trade easier for Indian companies and our local offices will provide complete guidance to Indian SMEs on how to effectively promote their products to the global buyers. Further, we also want to invite big Indian buyers and large companies to take full advantage of our Global B2B platform to fulfill their sourcing needs. Our trusted and easy to use platform will greatly help Indian buyers to find quality and low cost suppliers from China and other major manufacturing countries”, he added.
V .Suresh Kumar heads the Indian office based in Coimbatore, with sales and service personnel operating directly from strategic locations around the country. The Indian customers can now directly contact marketing team in India for any inquiries or interest in availing EC21 services and to know more about special promotional package. Besides this, Indian companies can also benefit from company’s popular Credit Report service that helps them to check business credentials of any company worldwide, and to know which company is real and which is a fraud.
About EC21.com
EC21.com is one of the world’s largest and most popular B2B networks of buyers and suppliers, where thousands of new buy and sell opportunities are listed every hour. EC21 provides free and premium membership services; keyword and category based top-listing, online advertising, credit reports, and World Trade Zone magazine to buyers and sellers to find new trade opportunities and promote their businesses online.
EC21 is headquartered in Seoul, Korea and has 8 regional sales offices throughout China along with sales offices in Taiwan, Turkey, India, Italy and Pakistan. During last 10 years of successful international operations, EC21 has changed the way, as small and medium enterprises do business. With the trust and support of over 1.5 million buyers and sellers worldwide, EC21 has today become one of the most popular business sites with over 600,000 inquiries exchanged every month.
The special offer includes, free online promotion to all the Indian suppliers who join or upgrade to EC21’s premium membership services (TradeOK or TradePRO) before April 30, 2008, thereby giving them great opportunity to reach and promote their products to millions of potential buyers and visitors every month.
Globally, EC21 is recognised as a pioneer in B2B e-commerce that helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) suppliers to promote their products to the Global buyers, and provides an easy sourcing platform for buyers to find and reach new low-cost suppliers. EC21provides free and premium membership services using, which suppliers can easily create their own homepage to showcase products online, locate and contact global buyers, reply to buying leads and post trade offers to sell. Buyers can use the site for free and can easily search for new products, locate and contact suppliers directly, post unlimited buying leads and use advanced e-marketing and communication tools to chat and meet the suppliers.
The opening of new Indian office was formally announced in an official function held in Coimbatore, last year in September. The launch event was attended by over 50 key press and media representatives along with senior management of EC21 Inc, Korea head office that included Kim Tae Sung - executive vice-president, Song Young Look - managing director and Vivek Batra, Global Head - International Business & Strategic Alliances.
The company’s vice-president, Taesung Kim, says, “Our expansion in India is aimed at making international trade easier for Indian companies and our local offices will provide complete guidance to Indian SMEs on how to effectively promote their products to the global buyers. Further, we also want to invite big Indian buyers and large companies to take full advantage of our Global B2B platform to fulfill their sourcing needs. Our trusted and easy to use platform will greatly help Indian buyers to find quality and low cost suppliers from China and other major manufacturing countries”, he added.
V .Suresh Kumar heads the Indian office based in Coimbatore, with sales and service personnel operating directly from strategic locations around the country. The Indian customers can now directly contact marketing team in India for any inquiries or interest in availing EC21 services and to know more about special promotional package. Besides this, Indian companies can also benefit from company’s popular Credit Report service that helps them to check business credentials of any company worldwide, and to know which company is real and which is a fraud.
About EC21.com
EC21.com is one of the world’s largest and most popular B2B networks of buyers and suppliers, where thousands of new buy and sell opportunities are listed every hour. EC21 provides free and premium membership services; keyword and category based top-listing, online advertising, credit reports, and World Trade Zone magazine to buyers and sellers to find new trade opportunities and promote their businesses online.
EC21 is headquartered in Seoul, Korea and has 8 regional sales offices throughout China along with sales offices in Taiwan, Turkey, India, Italy and Pakistan. During last 10 years of successful international operations, EC21 has changed the way, as small and medium enterprises do business. With the trust and support of over 1.5 million buyers and sellers worldwide, EC21 has today become one of the most popular business sites with over 600,000 inquiries exchanged every month.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Battle of the Blogs: eBay and Alibaba
Monday, April 7, 2008
0
eBay and Alibaba both launched new blogs last week. The eBay Ink blog describes itself as an "official source for information, opinion and perspective on eBay Inc." And the AliBlog is "the latest word from Alibaba.com on our news, events, and community."
While the two companies are rivals in China, Alibaba is actually a source of product for eBay PowerSellers around the world.
My suspicion is that eBay became bitter towards Alibaba when it lost out to Yahoo in partnering with the Chinese powerhouse a few years ago. (eBay CEO Meg Whitman was quite snarky about Alibaba during an annual shareholders meeting, and the Washington Post's Leslie Walker documented tensions between the two companies during an eBay conference.)
Some old grudges have been forgotten by new eBay President and CEO John Donahoe (the MercExchange patents, for example), but Alibaba is not on the Exhibitors List for eBay's upcoming June conference.
While the two companies are rivals in China, Alibaba is actually a source of product for eBay PowerSellers around the world.
My suspicion is that eBay became bitter towards Alibaba when it lost out to Yahoo in partnering with the Chinese powerhouse a few years ago. (eBay CEO Meg Whitman was quite snarky about Alibaba during an annual shareholders meeting, and the Washington Post's Leslie Walker documented tensions between the two companies during an eBay conference.)
Some old grudges have been forgotten by new eBay President and CEO John Donahoe (the MercExchange patents, for example), but Alibaba is not on the Exhibitors List for eBay's upcoming June conference.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Alibaba.com IPO Prospectus
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
0
We are the leading B2B e-commerce company in China. According to iResearch, we were the largest online B2B company in China in 2006 based on the number of registered users and had a majority of the B2B e-commerce market share in China by revenue. We operate two marketplaces — our international marketplace and our China marketplace. Our international marketplace (www.alibaba.com), which is in English, focuses on global importers and exporters and our China marketplace (www.alibaba.com.cn), which is in Chinese, focuses on suppliers and buyers trading domestically in China.
According to Alexa.com, our combined international and China marketplaces were the most-visited websites in the world in two “Business” categories — “E-Commerce” and “International Business and Trade” — as measured by user traffic during the three months ended June 30, 2007.
Our online B2B marketplaces provide an efficient, trusted platform to facilitate e-commerce between business sellers, whom we refer to as “suppliers”, and wholesale buyers, whom we refer to as “buyers”. Suppliers and buyers come to our marketplaces to establish their presence on the Internet, identify potential trading partners and interact with each other to conduct business online.
Suppliers, and in certain cases buyers, use our marketplaces to host their company profiles and catalogs in standardized formats, which we refer to as “storefronts”, and post product and service listings and trade leads, which we refer to as “listings”. Users can view storefronts and listings in over 30 industry categories and nearly 5,000 product categories by keyword searching or browsing through our online industry directory.
For many suppliers wishing to market products and services through online channels, their storefronts or listings on our marketplaces are their only presence on the Internet. As of June 30, 2007, suppliers had established over 2.4 million storefronts on our marketplaces. In the first half of 2007, our users posted a monthly average of 2.9 million new listings on our marketplaces.
Through active listings, inquiry exchanges, instant messaging, discussion forums and other easyto- use community features provided by us, suppliers and buyers have formed large, interactive online communities on our marketplaces. For example, during the month ended June 30, 2007, there were over 540,000 peak simultaneous online users of TradeManager, our instant messaging tool for trade communications. Users have formed many communities based on common business interests, which further facilitate interaction among them and enhance their community experience. Currently, our international and China marketplaces collectively host over 200 online forums and have over 4.2 million registered forum users.
In order to enhance the breadth and depth of our marketplaces, we offer basic features and services to all registered users at no charge. We earn our revenue from suppliers who purchase services from us, primarily membership packages that provide priority placement of supplier storefronts and listings in the industry directory and search results on our marketplaces. We refer to suppliers who subscribe for our membership packages as our “paying members”. We generate additional revenue by offering value-added services to our paying members, including purchases of additional keywords to improve rankings in search results on our marketplaces and premium placements on our web pages to increase exposure to potential buyers. We strive to balance these free and fee-based service offerings to ensure that we continue to grow our community of users and sustain our revenue growth.
We have experienced significant growth in our user base and revenue. Over the past three years, the number of our registered users increased from 6.0 million as of December 31, 2004 to 11.0 million as of December 31, 2005 and to 19.8 million as of December 31, 2006, and the number of our paying members grew from over 77,000 as of December 31, 2004 to over 141,000 as of December 31, 2005 and to over 219,000 as of December 31, 2006. During the same period, our revenue increased from RMB359.4 million in 2004 to RMB738.3 million in 2005 and to RMB1,363.9 million in 2006. As of June 30, 2007, we had 24.6 million registered users and over 255,000 paying members. Our revenue in the six months ended June 30, 2007 was RMB957.7 million.
Our headquarters are located in Hangzhou, China.
Click Here, Download Alibaba.com (HK:1688) IPO Prospectus
Alibaba.com Limited (01688)
Important
Expected Timetable
Contents
Summary
Definitions
Forward-Looking Statements
Risk Factors
Information about this Prospectus and the Global Offering
Directors and Parties involved in the Global Offering
Corporate Information
Our History and Reorganization
Industry Overview
Our Business
Financial Information
Cornerstone Investors
Future Plans and Use of Proceeds
Relationship with Alibaba Group
Connected Transactions
Supervision and Regulation
Directors and Senior Management
Substantial Shareholders
Share Capital
Underwriting
Structure of the Global Offering
How to apply for Hong Kong Offer Shares
Appendix I - Accountants¡¦ Report
Appendix II - Unaudited Pro Forma Financial Information
Appendix III - Profit Forecast
Appendix IV - Property Valuation
Appendix V - Taxation and Foreign Exchange
Appendix VI - Summary of Constitution of the Company and Cayman Companies Law
Appendix VII - Statutory and General Information
Appendix VIII - Documents delivered to the Registrar of Companies and available for Inspection
About Alibaba:
Alibaba (SEHK: 1688) (Chinese: 阿里巴巴; pinyin: ā lǐ bā bā) is a Hangzhou-based e-commerce/e-auction company, specializing in global trading. It was founded in 1999 by Ma Yun (Jack Ma), and operates five e-commerce sub-companies which operate different aspects of trading.
Ma Yun (Jack Ma) - CEO, Alibaba.com
Jack Ma is among the earliest entrepreneurs in pioneering e-commerce applications in China. His innovative concepts and works, especially the establishment of Alibaba.com in 1999, have greatly enriched the landscape of business Internet applications worldwide. Ma is the first mainland China entrepreneur to be featured on the cover of America’s leading financial magazine, Forbes. He was selected as one of the 100 “Future Leaders” of the globe by “World Economy Forum” in 2001.
Prior to building Alibaba into an international company, Ma founded the China Pages in 1995, the first Chinese language commercial information publishing website, after which he joined the information department of the China International Electronic Commerce Center (CIECC) under China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC). During this period, Ma devoted himself to developing the official website of MOFTEC and China’s on-line commercial transaction market.
With Ma’s recent venture of Taobao.com, Alibaba formally entered the C2C field. Taobao.com has risen to become a leader in China's consumer e-commerce market within two years. Alipay.com, the independent third party payment platform, was simultaneously founded, ensuring Alibaba’s leading role in China’s e-commerce field.
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