Alibaba claims “outstanding” quarterly results
Alibaba has announced its review for the quarter ended 31 December was $5,333m, an increase of 32% year-over-year. GMV transacted on the company’s China retail marketplaces was RMB964bn ($149bn), an increase of 23% year-over-year.
Daniel Zhang, Alibaba’s CEO, said: “Alibaba Group had an outstanding quarter, reaching a milestone of over 400 million annual active buyers and continuing our unrivaled leadership in mobile. Our proven ability to deliver an unparalleled consumer experience and to help merchants attract, engage and retain buyers will drive future growth in our core business.
“We remain focused on our top strategic priorities, including global imports, rural expansion, increasing our footprint in first-tier Chinese cities and building a world-class cloud computing business.”
Focusing on the its activities in the logistics sector, Alibaba said: “We continue to fortify our market leadership in both major cities and rural areas in China.
“Through our logistics information systems affiliate Cainiao and its partners, customers enjoy same-day delivery in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Wuhan, and next day delivery was offered in 88 cities in the December quarter, an increase from 41 cities in the June quarter.
“Through efficiency gains in dispatch of parcels, inventory planning and data analytics, faster delivery time in 2015 compared to the previous year has improved customer satisfaction.
“Our category specific logistics strategy is bearing fruit, with specialty services that differentiate our shopping experience from that of our competitors.
“Through Cainiao, we cooperated with RRS, our joint venture with Haier, to increase warehouse capacity dedicated to large appliances, allowing for more efficient inventory placement strategies for merchants.
“Integration of Suning’s logistics systems with Cainiao is complete, allowing for increased parcel tracking and improving customer experience. Suning cooperates with Cainiao to fulfill bulky items for Tmall Supermarket and offers installation and after-sales services through its retail outlets and service locations.
“In the December quarter, our last-mile delivery partner YTO Express and Best Logistics launched a service that guarantees the delivery time to customers, working closely with Cainiao to define the service standard and integrate data flow to enable delivery efficiency.”
