Wal-Mart will take on Amazon and Alibaba in the Chinese market through its Global Shop service.
Alibaba is currently the uncrowned king of the online retailing industry in China. The company solely dominates the Chinese e-commerce industry and is accountable for a massive 80% market share in the industry. It was the only company, which was running business-to-business platform such as Alibaba.com and business-to-consumer platforms such as Aliexpress.com, Tmall.com, and Taobao Marketplace. Recently, a local player ‘JD.com’ and international rival ‘Amazon’ has been trying to give troubles to the e-commerce leader in China.
In a short span of time, the industry which had no competition for Alibaba Group turned upside down with the entrance of new players competing for the larger market share. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has also decided to take on Alibaba and that too in its mainland. The US retailing giant has already launched an attractive new service to offer excellent quality imported goods and items to the Chinese consumers. Alibaba just announced that it might surpass Wal-Mart to become the world’s largest retailer.
Walmart Stores already owns top name brands of the United Kingdom such as Asda. For now, it still is known as the biggest retailer in the world and being the biggest is no surprise that it is exploring opportunities to expand in probably the biggest e-commerce market in the world.
The President and CEO of Walmart China, Sean Clarke, said in a statement during the launch, “Cross-border e-commerce service is a good supplement and extension to our stores. Wal-Mart aims to be the most reliable retailer in China, no matter online or offline.”
Irrespective of the service and goods that Walmart wants to bring in the Chinese market, it would face a stiff and tough competition from the likes of market leader Alibaba Group and JD.com, which are the local established business. It also meets its domestic rival Amazon in the international market and will go head to head for a larger market share. Amazon also deals in importing global brand to Chinese consumers.
Last year, Alibaba was ramping up its activities to add top name Western brands on its online marketplaces so that the Chinese consumers get to buy the foreign products as well. That time, Alibaba boasted to have brands like Burberry, Estee Lauder, and L’Occitane.
Walmart officials said in a statement that in the beginning, it eyes to sell 200 products in the region that will include the US brand Aveeno and Starbucks. The company currently has 500,000 users on its smartphone app. It initially launched in China in 1996 and since then it has managed to open 400 stores over there. The US retailer holds 51% stake in Yihaodian, which is a reputable Chinese e-commerce platform.
No comments:
Post a Comment