Tag: chinese mobile commerce

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.

China’s mobile commerce sector dominated by highly competitive company

| July 8, 2013

Alibaba reigns over Chinese mobile commerce

China’s mobile commerce sector has been growing at a rapid pace. The sector is currently worth approximately $41 billion and is increasing in value at a nearly daily rate. The popularity of mobile commerce has encouraged many companies to enter into this space in order to find some financial success. Unfortunately for many of these companies, however, they have to compete with the country’s leading online retailer, Alibaba. Before mobile commerce emerged, Alibaba already held a dominating presence in the online retail space. Now, Alibaba has come to dominant mobile commerce as well.

Alibaba boasts of 75% market share in mobile commerce sector

The online retail market in China is currently valued at $177 billion and Alibaba holds nearly 40% of this market. The company is so large and has established such a strong foothold within China that it has effectively shut out its competitors, including eBay and Amazon. While eBay has managed to find some room for growth in China, this growth has largely been dictated by Alibaba. In terms of mobile commerce, Alibaba currently represents 75.1% of the market.

Chinese mobile commerceRumors suggest Alibaba may soon go public

Despite the sheer size of Alibaba, the company remains privately held. There are rumors suggesting that the company may soon go public, which could be a major opportunity for investors interested in online retail and mobile commerce. Given the company’s proficiency for shutting out its competitors, investment interest in Alibaba has been significant for several years. Whether the company will go public in the future remains unknown.

Security concerns derail growth in other countries

Mobile commerce is becoming a major staple in China, but has yet to establish a major presence elsewhere in the world. In the U.S. and the United Kingdom, mobile commerce has established a relatively strong foothold. In these markets, interest in mobile payments is offset by concerns regarding the security of mobile commerce platforms. These security concerns have been enough to slow the growth of mobile payments significantly in many parts of the world.