The most important perk of online shopping is that there is no time limit as it is open 24/7. There are no physical shipping centres in China. Most buyers purchase their products from sellers based overseas and that has been the trend ever since Alibaba took the online shopping giant market by storm.
The reason for the popularity is the ease of use in purchasing goods from online stores, besides all the online offers available on websites like Raise. For instance, all a buyer has to do is fill in some simple fields and click on the “Buy” button which will automatically send them to the seller’s website. There are no transaction fees, no payment details, no physical delivery and no handling or delivery costs. There are no physical stores either. A user can simply click on their favorite product and the goods will arrive within 30 minutes of placing the order.
The ease of purchasing online products made China to become the largest online shopping market in the world, overtaking the US and the UK. As a result, the price of goods has also increased substantially. For instance, you can get an iPhone 6 for only $249 in the US but the same phone can cost you over $1,000 in China. In addition, you can also order with credit card, bank transfer or cash. However, it is important to note that the majority of goods that you find online on Alibaba, and the majority of products in general, are produced in China and imported to China and then sold on Alibaba.
So, what is Alibaba’s goal with its business?
Alibaba has grown to become the world’s largest retail business by making it as easy as possible to buy anything. Alibaba now sells over 45 million products to customers across China and has over 150 million registered users and 100 million daily page views. This is not the first time that a company has tried to conquer the global retail market. The company is backed by Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group with his father, former Hong Kong and Chinese Communist Party leader, Li Ka-shing. Alibaba’s business model is based on the model of Amazon and eBay, a business that was initially based in China and the United States, now being seen as a global juggernaut.
However, a lack of direct physical presence in America means that Alibaba is only competing with Walmart, Toys R Us and others in the U.S., which are dominating in sales figures. For example, Walmart is selling over 300 items in its store every minute. So how does Alibaba beat the other big retailers when it comes to buying on the cheap? This is where the ‘Buy China First’ policy comes into play, whereby local sellers are lured with free shipping and the promise of an eventual exit from China. Alibaba believes it can tap into the Chinese market through this and bring in even more people from countries that have traditionally resisted online shopping. “It’s hard to describe the market that Alibaba can reach in China,” explained CEO Martin Lau, in a recent interview with Bloomberg. “There is a hunger for the experience, the knowledge, the culture and the information.