Alibaba Exploring Opportunities To Directly Enter Indian Market

Alibaba is the new Wal-Mart for Indian retailers as it wants to directly enter the Indian e-commerce market.

Alibaba Group Holding is looking to improve its international market presence in the coming times. It already dominates more than 80% of the domestic market share and is a dominant force irrespective of the competitor. Now it wants to build its business outside China and aim for global domination. The company’s main target is to expand in the Indian e-commerce market, which is currently the fastest evolving market in the world. On many previous occasions, it mentioned to not directly enter the Indian market.

Recent news indicates that Alibaba indeed is ready to directly enter the market and it seems to be the similar case that happened in Wal-Mart a decade ago. Alibaba Group has brought the Wal-Mart ghost for the Indian retailers. In April 2006, the US retailer ‘Wal-Mart’ hinted to enter the Indian retail market, which made most headlines during that time. On top of it, it threatened other retailers. Exactly seven months later of the announcement, Wal-Mart showed its intention to enter the Indian market but through a joint venture with the Bharti group.

During that time, Wal-Mart wanted to enter the wholesale domain. The direct entry was stopped by the foreign investment rules of the Indian market hence it had to work its way to enter through different means. Its entry set off the alarms in the retail sector as the entrance of a multinational retailer could mean sidelining the local established online or brick and mortar business.

Now the fear factor is similar in 2016, as Alibaba has provided a slight hint of directly entering the Indian e-commerce market. As it announced, panic buttons were pressed by the local businesses as the Chinese tech giant explores opportunities for directly entering. However, Wal-Mart has still not managed to enter as a multi brand retail or direct selling. The executives and the analysts who know the Indian e-commerce market agree on the fact that Alibaba is the new Wal-Mart for Indian retailers.

Alibaba is pitched against Wal-Mart in international market as well like never before. It recently announced that it had surpassed the Gross Merchandize Volume (GMV), which is the total value of goods sold on the online marketplace which Wal-Mart previously set in a fiscal year. Furthermore, the company also posted more sales than Wal-Mart and broke records. It is yet to announce its fourth quarter results in the coming time.

Analysts believe that Wal-Mart posted revenues of $482 billion in 2015 whereas Alibaba has done enough to touch revenues of $490 billion at the end of its fiscal year.

The executive chairman of Flipkart, Sunil Bansal, and the CEO of Snapdeal Kunal Bahl took this matter to Twitter. Mr. Bansal tweeted, “Alibaba deciding to start operations directly shows how badly their Indian investments have done so far.”

On this, Bahl replied, “Didn't Morgan Stanley just flushes $5 billion worth market cap in Flipkart down the toilet? Focus on your business, not commentary.” 

Alibaba Sports Group Enters E-Sports With YuuZoo

The sports arm of Alibaba Group will launch multiple e-sports tournaments in collaboration with YuuZoo Corporation.

Alibaba Group Holding is expanded in several subsidiaries and its business is extensive. Almost everyone is familiar with the financial arm and the media arm of the company but Alibaba also has an infamous sports subsidiary known as Alibaba Sports Group (ASG).

Established in September 2015, it has been quiet and not making much news. It is never too late to get a big breakthrough. According to sources, the Singapore-based social networking firm, YuuZoo Corporation, has agreed a deal with Alibaba’s sports arm to the e-sports sector this year.

The deal suggests that Alibaba Sports Group collaborates with Yuuzoo Corporation that will launch multiple e-sports tournaments for various games and titles in the coming weeks. The tournament will be named AliSports World Electronic Sport Games (WESG), which will be the highest paying e-sports tournament in the world. The e-sports tournament will showcase Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Hearthstone, and Star Craft 2. It is expected to begin in April.

Being the world’s highest paying electronic sports tournament, the prize money for the winners is exceptional. Players who participate for the CS:GO and win will receive $1.5 million as winners and the same hefty cash prize will be awarded to the winners of Dota 2 as well. The winners of StarCraft 2 will get $400,000 for winning whereas $300,000 will be rewarded to the winners of Hearthstone.

YuuZoo Corporation said in a statement, “Through this deal, YuuZoo will gain a significant number of new users, who will be added to YuuZoo's fast-growing user base. Further, YuuZoo will generate additional revenue from promotional fees, advertising revenue, and e-commerce sales”. According to the agreement signed by both parties, the Chinese joint venture of YuuZoo, known as YuuGames, will receive millions of dollars in fees for this mega e-sports tournament.

Alibaba Group debut its sports division last year as it planned to improve its present in the markets other than e-commerce. The plan revolving around Alibaba Sports Group was ambitious. The company said in a statement that its sports division would be able to compete in different sports sectors such as copyrights, media, events and ticketing.

This move will help Alibaba in increasing its growth in the e-sports industry as well as the overall tech market. The famous games such as Counter Strike and Dota etc. have already led several event organizers to launch million dollar tournaments in the region.

Alibaba To Introduce Flea Markets In China

Alibaba is investing $15.4 million to introduce flea market in over 100 cities of China.

Alibaba Group Holding is the biggest and largest online retailer in the world. The company was already one of the largest but considering the performance it just put in the current fiscal year, it is set to surpass US Wal-Mart Stores as the biggest retailer in the world.

The Chinese tech giant, however, is now planning to enter a market where it has not already set its foot before. According to the company’s owned South China Morning Post, it will invest almost $15.4 million (100 million Yuan) in order to develop a digital flea market in China this year.

Alibaba Group previously expressed its wish to open a physical store soon that would further help the business. Now the idea of developing a flea market would not surprise many people but it is surely not its strength.

In June 2014, Alibaba came up with a mobile app, which offered used goods and items to the customers. The app was called Xianyu and within a short span of time, it became one of the most used mobile applications in the country. A news website yicai.com reported that Xianyu has almost 100 million registered users.

According to a report, nearly 170 million used-goods have been traded through the mobile app since then. The $15.4 million (100 million Yuan) investment will help Alibaba in introducing flea markets in 100 urban cities of China. This will allow the users of the smartphone app to trade purchase, sell, and trade second hand products physically in local areas.

CBNData – a reputable Shanghai-based data analysis firm – said that with this move, the flea market trading or used-good trade market could easily reach the 400 billion Yuan mark by the end of this year in China.

Alibaba suggests that it will provide convenience for the users. Users of Xianyu app can easily manage their stores in flea market through the mobile app. They can take and upload images of their products, put an impressive caption on the images, and can add promotional voice notes in order to increase the trades.

The company said, “Both buyers and sellers can get a sense of belonging, and recognize and assess each other, which makes the app more akin to a social network than a shopping website.”

The transactions of buyers and sellers will be supported by Alibaba’s online payment service Alipay, which also works like a money remittance service.