Eddie Wu: E-Commerce and AI technology are the most strategically important directions for Alibaba
Alibaba Group announced on Thursday the formation of the new Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group, which integrates various e-commerce businesses under one unified umbrella.
The new business group will drive significant synergies across global supply chains and support merchant growth opportunities with expanded market access and success in China and beyond.
Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group will include Taobao, Tmall, AliExpress, Alibaba.com, Lazada, Trendyol, 1688, and Idle Fish. Jiang Fan, CEO of Alibaba International Digital Commerce, has been appointed CEO of this new business group, reporting directly to Eddie Wu, CEO of Alibaba Group and Alibaba Cloud.
The new structure marks the first time that all its e-commerce businesses are under a single leadership within Alibaba Group. This decision reflects Alibaba’s unwavering commitment to investing in its core commerce business and enhancing the quality of operations to win in the highly competitive e-commerce sector.
New structure doubling down on E-Commerce
E-commerce business models within China and internationally are transitioning into a new phase where expertise in global supply chains, fulfillment, and the ability to provide quality online shopping experience will dictate competitive success.
Alibaba has seen robust growth momentum, which Taobao and Tmall achieved during the most recent 11.11, including record-breaking results in gross merchandise volume (GMV) and active consumer participation. Beyond China, the growth of cross-border businesses, especially AliExpress’ Choice, has driven Alibaba’s international commerce business to deliver a strong 29% year-on-year revenue increase in the most recent September quarter.
The creation of the new business group, will further integrate all of Alibaba’s e-commerce resources and harness its core capabilities to serve merchants and consumers in China and worldwide to accomplish the following:
- Expand Market Access: Enable merchants, especially more small and medium businesses, to better reach new buyers and expand their businesses globally.
- Enhance Supply Chain Integration: Leverage Alibaba’s resources and insights to optimize logistics and fulfillment capabilities and drive more significant synergies across global supply chains to capture growth momentum and positive consumption trends, meaning consumers will get their products faster at competitive pricing. Case in point, Taobao began offering free shipping to Hong Kong for orders above RMB99 in October and saw strong sales growth during 11.11.
Dual strategic pillars: “E-Commerce + AI”
In an internal letter to announce this business decision, Eddie Wu stated that “E-Commerce and AI technology are the most strategically important directions for Alibaba.”
As CEO of Alibaba Group and Alibaba Cloud, Wu will continue overseeing the broad strategy, which includes orienting how AI can be leveraged to unlock value among individual business groups and how they can better work in synergy.
Alibaba is committed to increasing its investment in AI to spearhead a productivity revolution, enhancing its AI infrastructure and support systems, and upholding its commitment to openness and open-source initiatives.
The integration of Alibaba’s e-commerce businesses will not only strengthen its core competitiveness, but also represent the company’s commitment to driving the future of commerce. Under the “E-Commerce + AI” core strategic pillars, Alibaba will continue to invest in AI product development across the “to-B” and “to-C” sectors and seize the opportunities presented by the new AI era.
