Page 122 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

102 4 Business-to-Business E-Commerce

The Opportunity the buyers’ space and get quotes from suppliers. Buyers
can verify the suppliers’ worthiness. (See a video about
The Alibaba Group was started in 1999 by Jack Ma and his suppliers’ assessment at sa.alibaba.com). Alibaba.com
partners. Ma envisioned an opportunity to connect foreign provides inspection services with reliable experts. Buyers
buyers with Chinese manufacturers, especially the small can compare prices and terms of service as well.
ones. These companies wanted to go global but did not • Services for Buyers and Suppliers: Alibaba.com helps
know how to do it. The initial business was Alibaba.com, a to communicate, negotiate, and assist in reaching a deal.
B2B portal, which later on developed into a comprehensive They also arrange the payment process, insurance, and
B2B marketplace. The Alibaba Group also added a delivery details. Alibaba.com provides all the technology
consumer-to- consumer (C2C) marketplace called Taobao necessary to support the activities on its site. It also pro-
(taobao.com). In 2004, Alibaba added the “Alipay Cross- vides services such as escrow and handling customer
Border E-Payment Service” (alipay.com). In 2007, the complaints.
Alibaba Group founded Internet-based business manage- • My Alibaba: A personal communication and trade man-
ment software company Alisoft (alisoft.com; introduced agement tool on Alibaba.com. It is now separated for buy-
into alibaba.com in 2009), followed by Tmall.com (tmall. ers and suppliers.
com), a giant B2C platform. The company established a • Tools and Resources: Alibaba.com provides information
cloud computing platform and restructured over time. In and tools for export and import. It also provides a trade-
2014, Alibaba Group had an IPO in the USA raising over show channel.
$20 billion. This case concentrates on Alibaba.com, the • Alibaba Cloud Computing and Other Infrastructure:
B2B company (herein “Alibaba.com”). The company is a developer of cloud computing services.
The company is committed to supporting the growth of
Alibaba Group companies and providing a comprehen-
The Solution sive suite of Internet-based EC-oriented computing ser-
vices, which include e-commerce data mining, high-speed
Alibaba.com is an online marketplace composed of a plat- massive e-commerce data processing capabilities, and
form for buyers, a platform for sellers, a community, and B2B data customization.
services. The company’s mission is to provide all the neces- • Alipay (alipay.com) is a cross-border online payment
sary support for buyers, suppliers, and traders. The compo- platform, mainly used by buyers and sellers engaging in
nents and role of the company are illustrated in Figure 4.1 e-commerce transactions. It offers an easy, safe, and
secure way for millions of individuals and businesses to
• Suppliers: Post their catalogs, company information, make and receive payments on the Internet. By 2016,
special promotions, etc. on the suppliers’ space. Alibaba. Alipay had 400 million registered users who made over
com helps to reach international buyers. Suppliers can get 519 billion monthly payments; mobile users, through
free online training. Mobile Alipay. Mobile Alipay is now the largest mobile
• Buyers: Search for potential products and suppliers and platform in the world. See expandedramblings.com/
also have the option to post what they need (requests) on index.php/alipay-statistics.

Figure 4.1 The role of
Alibaba.com in B2B

Community My Alibaba

Buyers Suppliers

Alibaba.com
Marketplace

Services, Platforms, Tools, Resources