Taobao celebrated its 20th anniversary on May 10
Taobao Tmall Commerce Group is set to make a significant investment into enhancing overall user experience and attracting customers for merchants on its digital marketplaces, said the group’s chief executive Trudy Dai this week.
The group plans to upgrade users’ experience on its marketplaces, form new partnerships and innovate in response to rapid technological change and evolving consumer behavior.
“Taobao has always been technology-driven,” said Dai. “The next step for Taobao is to make AI-powered tools for merchants popular and inclusive,” she added.
Alibaba Group said in March it would restructure into six companies and other investments, a move designed to unlock shareholder value and foster market competitiveness.
Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, one of those six companies following the restructuring, includes digital marketplaces Taobao and Tmall, value-for-money platform Taobao Deals, community marketplace business Taocaicai, wholesale marketplace 1688.com and other businesses.
This is the first time that Dai has spoken publicly after the reorganization was unveiled. It is also the 20th anniversary of Taobao’s creation.
Investment Drive
Chinese consumer-to-consumer retail platform Taobao will boost its investment in areas including expanding merchants’ users, logistics, content creation and personalized stores.
Livestreaming was earmarked for a boost as it has become one of the fastest growing sales formats across digital marketplaces.
Taobao Live provides 24/7 interactive livestreaming, where KOLs and merchants market products to their audiences. Taobao Live broadcast users swelled between April 1 and May 8 by over 70% year-on-year, and the number of people entering stores, guided by livestreams, has nearly doubled year-on-year.
Taobao Tmall’s brand business development center will focus on assisting larger brand-focused companies broadly; while its small and medium-sized enterprise development center will has set its sights on developing over 200,000 specialty stores. The platform will also offer discounts to merchants to help further cut merchants’ operating costs.
Taobao plans to upgrade merchants’ tools and create user products and services. This year, Taobao will waive fees for merchants on 15 new private domain tools covering new customers, regular customers, members and fans.
