The online consumer marketplace company belonging to Alibaba.com launched business-to-consumer sales and has deals in place with several major international brands.
Taobao’s dominant hold on China’s e-commerce business, with 67 percent of the market share in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, could extend as the company extends into B2C sales.
That could prove to be a barrier to MSN’s China aspirations and another blow to eBay’s business in the country. Taobao.com’s General Manager Toto Sun said in a statement his company has no fear of American businesses:
“While American B2C models have failed to succeed in China, Taobao’s model will make B2C a reality in China. Because we are simply connecting large sellers to consumers, rather than taking possession of the goods and serving as a middleman, we are offering a solution that will benefit both manufacturers and consumers in China.”
Taobao.com said companies it has deals with now include Motorola, Nokia, Haier, Aigo, Lining, Adidas, Giordano, and UT Starcom. They plan to add more in the future.
Yahoo invested $1 billion in Alibaba last year, and in turn sold Yahoo China to Alibaba. Since then, Alibaba has spent $750 million of that money as of two months ago, and possibly more of it at this time.
Judging by Taobao’s entry into B2C, it is likely some of that investment found its way into laying the groundwork for that service.
—
Add to document.write(“Del.icio.us”) | DiggThis | Yahoo! My Web | Furl It
Bookmark Murdok –
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
