Tag: jonathan lu

Alibaba may grow more aggressive on mobile commerce

| July 16, 2013

Mobile commerce may have a role to play in company’s future

Alibaba is one of the largest e-commerce businesses in the world and currently dominates the Chinese market. As a native to China, Alibaba was able to succeed in establishing itself as the country’s premier e-commerce businesses due to the lack of competition coming from companies like Amazon and eBay, which had been almost entirely exclusive to western societies in the past. In May of this year, Jack Ma, the company’s founder, stepped down as CEO of Alibaba and was succeeded by Jonathan Lu. Lu has remained relatively reserved concerning the future of the company, but believes that it must adapt in order to retain its leadership in the e-commerce sector, and that means growing more accommodating of mobile commerce.

Competition could force more focus on mobile services

Jonathan Lu and Jack Ma share a many of the same ideologies when it comes to e-commerce and business. Both have been working together for several years and both have taken note of the rising importance that mobile commerce is playing among consumers. With more people beginning to rely heavily on mobile devices, the need for Alibaba to provide comprehensive mobile commerce services to these consumers is becoming too important to ignore. This is especially true as both Amazon and eBay look to provide such services to consumers and find some foothold in the Chinese market.

Alibaba expected to go public in near future

mobile commerce chinaAlibaba already has some mobile payment platforms in place, but the company is beginning to feel pressure to become more aggressive on this front, especially if it plans to go public in the relatively near future. Since 1999, Alibaba has been a privately owned company, but that is likely to change in the coming years under Lu’s leadership. If the company where to go public, its approach on mobile commerce could generate a great deal of traction with investors due to the popularity of mobile technology and mobile-centric services.

Public offering has not yet been announced

Lu has thus far only alluded to Alibaba going public in the future. Before the company launches a public offering, it is likely to take steps to ensure that its mobile commerce foundation is well suited to the current needs of the market. This in itself could be a time consuming endeavor due to the changing interests of consumers and the increasingly problematic security issues that exist within the mobile commerce field.

Alibaba may be showing more interest in mobile commerce

| May 15, 2013

China Mobile CommerceMobile commerce may be part of Alibaba’s future

Last Friday marked a marked a major milestone for Alibaba, one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies. Alibaba is often considered to be the Chinese version of both Amazon and eBay. While both these companies have a presence in China, Alibaba represents the vast majority of online sales that occur in the country. In 2012 alone, the company reported more than $170 billion in online sales, more than that reported from eBay and Amazon combined. Now, Alibaba is looking to expand beyond China and mobile commerce may be able to help in this endeavor.

Jack Ma announces retirement via concert

Alibaba’s interests in expansion come as the company’s founder and chairman, Jack Ma, announced his retirement. This announcement was made in front of more than 40,000 people that had packed into the Yellow Dragon Stadium in Hangzhou, China, where Ma broke the news of his retirement in a semi-concert setting. Ma is succeeded by Jonathan Lu, who has served as Ma’s right hand for the past 13 years. Lu has some ambitious views for the company’s future.

Alibaba showing strong interest in the mobile sector

Alibaba operates the largest online marketplace, and this marketplace is not restricted to consumers as it caters to businesses as well. With the world becoming increasingly reliant on mobile technology, the prospects of mobile commerce have been gaining more attention. Alibaba has been somewhat aloof of mobile commerce for some time, but the company has been seeing strong competition coming from companies like 360buy due to their ambitious use of mobile commerce services. Consumers are beginning to favor this form of commerce and this interest has begun pressuring companies like Amazon to begin offering mobile commerce services. Alibaba is not likely to continue ignoring this growing trend, especially if its plans for expansion are meant to succeed.

Company may be moving to enter into new markets soon

While Alibaba’s endeavors in the mobile commerce field have yet to be fully revealed, business analysts suggest that the company is beginning to position itself to enter into the European and American markets. Over the past several months, the company has been purchasing stakes in prominent mobile-centric companies, such as Autonavi, creators of China’s most successful map application. The company has recently launched its own mobile operating system as well in order to better connect with mobile consumers.