Alibaba.com confirms its status as world champion of e-commerce B2B. The platform for online sales professionals, Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since late 2007, released on Tuesday its results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2009. Performances that demonstrate "the resilience of the economic model of Alibaba. Com in an unstable macroeconomic environment," the group said in a statement.
A model that took advantage of the crisis
"While the global economy has weakened and exports to China fell by almost 20% in the first quarter of the year, small businesses have turned to e-commerce to survive and thrive" , according to David Wei, CEO of Alibaba. com. A trend whose group has clearly benefited.
Its sales jumped by 35.8% yoy in the last quarter to $ 1.1 billion renminbi (RMB), or 161.9 million dollars.In the year 2009 the turnover of the Group amounted to 3.87 billion RMB, up 29% compared to 2008. Alibaba.com saw its net profit soar 48.6% in the fourth quarter, to 281.2 million RMB. Over the year, it reached 1 billion RMB, a decrease of 12.3%.
Operation seduction abroad
For David Wei, Alibaba.com can only congratulate the success of its strategy, combining the right price and catalog of products tailored to demand flexible cash advance payments . The site attracted 9.7 million new members worldwide in 2009, an increase of 25.4% over the previous year. "Community Alibaba 'now has 47.7 million subscribers.Notably, the seduction of the operation site in China has particularly worked abroad, where the membership has increased by 46.3% against 19.9% in the Chinese market.
It must be said that the group gave the package to enhance its visibility. The number of online stores hosted by the platform Alibaba.com surged 47.8% last year, after rising 56% in 2008. Today, Alibaba.com has 6.8 million windows. "We must invest in improving our range of service and prepare to manage the growth we expect," says the owner of the site.
Innovation for the future
The time for optimism, therefore. If Alibaba.com anticipates 2010 still "challenging" global, David Wei does not doubt the soundness of its strategy. "This will be the year of customer service," repeated he.Several innovations are already in the starting blocks, including the site 1688.com, an online platform for wholesale. "In short, we will continue to invest in several areas in 2010, while collecting the benefits of investments made last year," says David Wei. A virtuous circle.