Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
September 29, 2014
Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
What is Alibaba?
Amazon, Ebay and Paypal rolled into one
90%+ market share in China, growing in Emerging
Markets
Offers global reach
Customizing to local markets
IPO raised money to fund expansion into US, Europe
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
Alibaba vs. Amazon, Ebay
2014 estimated sales: Alibaba $420b; Amazon
$85b, Ebay $20b
“Singles Day” 2013 sales: $5.6b; entire US 2012
Cyber Monday sales $1.7b
Unlike Amazon, Alibaba is currently profitable
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
Alibaba Lines of Business
Taobao (Ebay-like)
Largely B2B; initial and still primary business
Over 1 BILLION products offered
Free service; revenues come from selling ads, data,
membership fees, web design, cloud computing, SEO and
other services
Success based on dominant market share, liquidity
Blocks spiders so you must go to site to browse its contents
Problems with fakes, nondeliveries, payments systems
other than Alipay
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
Alibaba Lines of Business
Alipay (Paypal-plus)
Easy-to-use payment system…in China…
Loans and Insurance to small businesses
Tmall (B2C)
Similar to Amazon, charges companies a
commission on sales
Better policed so large companies gravitate
toward this site
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
Who is Alibaba’s Target Market(s)?
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
Who is Alibaba’s Target Market(s)?
Small businesses around the world
Lack resources to gather info like corporations
In China, 90% of e-purchases are from a
marketplace matching buyers and sellers…but…
In America, 76% of e-purchases are from a merchant
website
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
4 P’s for Alibaba
Define and advise Alibaba on
Products
Pricing
Promotions
Place (distribution)
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
4 P’s for Alibaba
Products
Access to widest range of products for sale or desired to purchase
Ease of Use
Trustworthy Alipay
Localized by country/culture (Ma is English teacher)
Overcome fears of counterfeit goods
Screening/editing of postings, messages
Pricing
Many services free
Promotions
Data based
Place
Mobile
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Intro to Marketing
Mr. Bernstein
Marketing Information in Alibaba
What info can be gathered?
Demographic
Business results
Unstructured (posts, messages) - similar to social media
How could it be used?
Segment market
Identify mktg strategies with best impact for each segment
I.e. tailor promotions for various products, change pricing,
Requires investment in database management system
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