Taobao is establishing its own warehouses in 50 cities of China

淘宝欲在全国50城市自建仓储

2010-10-21 04:52:36　来源: 京华时报(北京)　
本报讯 (记者 李斌) 社会物流拖住淘宝后腿，淘宝决定自建以求突围。昨天，记者从接近淘宝网的一位可靠消息人士处获悉，淘宝网乃至整个阿里巴巴集团内部已经制定了计划决心自建物流，具体的运作是今明两年淘宝将在全国52个城市陆续建立分仓，以解决掣肘淘宝网发展的物流问题。同时，该人士透露阿里巴巴还将入股部分物流公司并与它们开展仓储方面的合作。不过，该消息人士强调，“淘宝还是不会把手伸到物流业前端去做配送，也不会抢物流公司的饭碗。”

 

据悉，目前淘宝网在北京、上海、成都已经建立了配送中心，还在全国20多个省市与物流公司合作组建了分仓。按照马云的想法，“希望在5-8年内，企业工厂里面最好不要有货，货直接配送到阿里在全中国20多个城市的仓库，通过信息平台的匹配，企业可以迅速把货送到用户手上。”
但是目前这些配送中心和分仓还远远无法满足整个淘宝的发展，多数快递公司的扩张速度已经难以与其匹配，进而导致服务品质下降。另一方面，居高不下的物流费用也在很大程度上制约了淘宝网的进一步发展，因此淘宝网不得不亲自涉足物流，所以有人指出阿里巴巴违背了当初许下“绝不做物流”的承诺。对此，在今年阿里巴巴的网商大会上，马云回应称“有的时候，你不去做解决不了问题。现在物流又碰上大问题了。”

Taobao is establishing its own network for delivery

阿里巴巴计划自建全国范围物流网络

2010-10-21 08:54:34　来源: 网易科技报道　

网易科技讯 10月21日消息，电子商务公司阿里巴巴集团正计划在全国范围内建立一个庞大的物流网络。该集团对目前国内递送服务的质量感到不满，同时希望在迅速增长的国内市场日益加剧的竞争中保持领先地位。
据来自该公司的消息人士透露，阿里巴巴创始人兼主席马云最近在内部战略会议上告诉管理层，未来两年，该集团将在全国52个城市建立分销中心。
据悉，此项物流服务主要是针对淘宝用户，但具体细节尚未公布。淘宝是阿里巴巴未上市的子公司，在中国消费电子商务市场上占有压倒性地位。
据德意志银行分析师阿伦·赫拉维尔表示，淘宝的C2C及B2C平台，市场份额总计达到83.8%。
在淘宝上的购买已占到国内快递公司每日送货量的70%以上；这已经导致了分销与送货的延误以及质量参差不齐，因为国内物流公司没有能力应对电子商务的迅速增长。
面对这一趋势，美国包裹递送公司——联合包裹(UPS)已计划在中国建立国内递送服务。
阿里巴巴集团旗下的淘宝网，也正面临着新的竞争。搜索引擎百度本周与日本最大网上购物商城运营商乐天市场携手推出了一个网上商城网站。

此外，越来越多的外国零售商也开始在中国建立自己的网上购物商城。阿迪达斯选择了在淘宝开设店面，而日本服饰零售商优衣库去年在中国推出了自己的网上商店，其竞争对手Gap将于下月跟进。世界最大零售商沃尔玛也正准备在中国推出自己的电子商务网站。

Shops and shopkeepers On tabao

source from http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/sinobytes/post.htm?id=63013693

Navigating the bamboo scaffolding of China's rapid-rising tower of technology by Steven Millward,China

Similarly to eBay, there's an emphasis on shopkeepers being rated by buyers to display who can, and can't, be trusted. The same, too, for buyers. In the screenshot to the right, you can see one shopkeeper's stats, displayed on its shop home screen. After every transaction, both parties can optionally rate each other; but it has become polite to give a good rating where one is due. The more "crowns" and "hearts", the better

Text reviews can also be posted under every product. Interestingly, running a Taobao shop has become a national pastime, with even office workers on a good salary running shops, chatting online with potential customers--perhaps even during office hours--and sorting out the mailing of items in the evenings and on weekends. University students, too, provided they have a laptop, have taken to being sellers to give themselves a bit of an income during the semester. Setting up a Taobao shop requires no fees be paid to the site. So it's just a matter of sourcing for some products from a wholesaler--an easy thing to find and do in China, which is the "world's factory" after all--for a fairly small outlay. And then you'll hopefully be able to sell the goods at a competitive price which slightly undercuts the bricks-and-mortar stores with their huge overheads.

Using taobao

source from :http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/sinobytes/post.htm?id=63013693

Navigating the bamboo scaffolding of China's rapid-rising tower of technology by Steven Millward, China


The 10 main tabs across the Taobao front page reveal the core sections of the site, which include "mall", "global", "second-hand", and "plane tickets". Much of what is sold, however, are brand-new products from its legion of hobbyist shopkeepers.

The search box is prominent just above the tabs and allows you to search across the site or within certain categories. Upon searching for anything, you get a list with thumbnails and descriptions, from a variety of sellers across the country. It doesn't really matter where the seller is, as regular- and express-mail options cover the country.

Taobao's payment method is Alipay, created by its parent company Alibaba, the business-to-business e-commerce site which also runs Yahoo's China operations. Alipay has been vital to their victory over eBay and its unfamiliar Paypal. For regular users, Alipay (Chinese name: 支付宝--Zhīfùbǎo) is the payment method and safety intermediary. It accepts payment on a wide variety of bank-issued debit cards and Visa.

The buyer first pays money--using an Internet shopping-enabled bank card--to Alipay, which then holds the money until the buyer has received the goods. If satisfied with the items, the buyer logs back into Taobao, and with a few clicks, can allow Alipay to pass on the payment to the seller. This eliminates the possibility of card fraud and items that don't get sent. Though for the shopkeepers, there's still the possibility of some wantonly dishonest customers damaging the goods themselves and sending them back.

Taobao to launch customised mobile phones in 2010

By Aaron Back, Dow Jones Newswires Monday 14 December 2009

Handsets to come with applications enabling consumers to shop, shopkeepers to manage online stores.

Chinese online retailer Taobao.com will release three customized mobile phones early next year, in partnership with Lenovo Group Ltd., China Telecom Corp. and TCL Corp., a person with knowledge of the matter said Monday. The phones will come with applications allowing customers to shop and pay for goods, and shopkeepers to manage their online stores, said the person, who declined to be named. Taobao, based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, may be hoping to emulate the success of eBay Inc. in the U.S. in moving online shopping to mobile platforms. Following the launch of a popular application for Apple Inc.'s iPhone, eBay said last month customers will buy more than $500 million in merchandise on its site with mobile phones this year. Computer-maker Lenovo Group confirmed its partnership with Taobao, saying in a statement the Taobao-branded phone will come equipped with software allowing customers to shop on the e-commerce site. The Taobao phone released with China Telecom will run on the carrier's third-generation mobile network, said the person with knowledge of the matter. Taobao has also just released a downloadable application for other mobile devices, including the iPhone and devices that run on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile. Taobao is China's dominant e-commerce site, where individuals can buy goods from one another and directly from major retailers. Taobao parent company Alibaba Group is also the parent company of Hong Kong-listed business platform Alibaba.com Ltd. In the first half of the year, Taobao handled CNY80.9 billion ($11.8 billion) worth of transactions, nearly double the year-earlier figure. Last month, Lenovo said it plans to buy back its mobile phone unit for $200 million in cash and shares, signaling its intent to get more involved in China's burgeoning mobile Internet market. The company had sold off the unit in 2008 for $100 million to focus on its personal-computer business. China Telecom spokesman Jacky Yung said he wasn't aware of any collaboration with Taobao. TCL wasn't immediately available for comment.

By Aaron Back, Dow Jones Newswires Monday 14 December 2009

shop management software on the phone.

Taobao Launches New Taobao App Store

source from: http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/alibaba/100237896-1-taobao-launches-new-taobao-app.html

Company invests RMB10 million in top 30 applications

BEIJING, January 15, 2010 -- Taobao, the largest online shopping destination in China, has launched the Taobao App Store and will invest RMB10 million (US$1.46 million[1]) to foster promising independent software developers via the Taobao Open Platform (TOP) fund every year.  The Taobao App Store (http://app.taobao.com) will offer solutions created by independent developers through TOP for Taobao merchants and consumers.  The first batch of applications available in the store is the top 30 applications identified through the “Win at Taobao” competition held by TOP.

“With an increasing number of third-party developers registering and the emergence of exceptional software on TOP, the Taobao App Store will serve as an incubator of innovative technology for Taobao users,” says Wang Wenbin, vice president of Taobao Open Platform. “The Taobao App Store is a convenient channel for developers, investors and customers to interact directly and it will ultimately allow the market to evaluate the independent developers’ creations.”

The Taobao App Store will offer products across a range of categories to meet the needs of all Taobao users, including tools for sellers and buyers; extensions for Taobao community sites; tools for product recommendation; and mobile phone applications.  For Taobao sellers, the applications will aim to improve their business management and back-end operation functionality while buyers will be offered tools to improve their shopping experience.  Software developers will be able to generate revenue from their applications through subscription fees, commissions or advertising, depending on the type of service offered and popularity of the product.

Established in October 2009, the TOP fund will make an annual investment of RMB10 million to foster and encourage innovation in online application development among independent developers.  The TOP fund aims to incentivize independent developers to create original and novel tools for Taobao users and support their growth on TOP.  The TOP fund is jointly financed by Taobao, Alibaba Group and outside investors.  Several external parties including government entities in China and around the world, funds and investment companies have expressed interest in becoming potential investors.

The top three winners of the “Win at Taobao” competition, launched in September 2009, will receive investments from the TOP fund totaling RMB5 million (US$732,000).  Another RMB5 million of investments will be shared among the rest of the top 30 contestants.  As of December 31, 2009, more than 25,000 independent software developers have registered on TOP and more than 4,000 applications have been created using the application programming interface (API) provided on TOP.

Taobao FOCUS: Buy from China Taobao.com in English, Taobao agent

Buying on Taobao.com out of China is NOT REALLY A PROBLEM!
Taobao FOCUS: Buy from China Taobao.com in English, Taobao agent
TaobaoFOCUS.com is a website dedicated to shopping on Taobao.com in English.

"We help you buy all kinds of products offered at incredibly low price from China's biggest domestic online shopping website. We are your Taobao agent who can find, purchase, check and deliver the items from Taobao.com. Our offer includes sourcing, buying and international shipping from China."