Alibaba’s Founder and executive chairman Jack Ma said Alibaba is aiming to be an e-commerce powerhouse on a scale no one else can match and this message is delivered today at The Economic Club of New York.
During the talk, he addressed the company’s U.S. strategy, saying it wasn’t his intention to compete with eBay and Amazon by selling directly to Americans. Instead, he eyes a much larger opportunity in helping American companies sell their products to a growing Chinese middle class.
We’ve covered that strategy previously in-depth here, but he provided one solid example in the Wall Street Journal. In 2013, he said farmers in the Pacific Northwest sold 180 tons of cherries to China via Alibaba’s platform, setting off a “cherry frenzy in China,” that resulted in sales tripling to 600 tons the following year. These kinds of opportunities is why he felt so confident making the bold prediction that his company could surpass Walmart in terms of revenue this year.
In March, Amazon has launched a storefront on Alibaba’s e-commerce portal, saying that it was savvy move to operate on multiple sales channels. And, in May, Alibaba and Walmart announced a partnership that would allow Walmart customers in China make store purchases using Alipay Wallet, Alibaba’s mobile payment service……
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