Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba group, sings a song during an event to mark the 20th anniversary of Alibaba in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province. (Photo: AFP/STR) On Tuesday (Sep 10), he formally bid goodbye to Alibaba, the e-commerce giant he founded 20 years ago. The date also marks his 55th birthday and is Teacher's Day in China - many years ago, Ma was an English teacher. The four-hour celebration, hosted in a stadium meant for 80,000 people, saw him rocking a braided hairstyle and an outfit of spiked leather, while holding an electric guitar in a striking shade of tangerine. Some of his colleagues, including co-founder Lucy Peng and CEO of Alibaba's technology committee Wang Jian, as well as the performers, were also dressed to the nines that day - a tribute, they said, to their founder's colourful personality. Here are more quirky facts about Jack Ma, whose playful image is said to have helped shatter the stereotype of the drab Chinese executive. ALI BABA AND THE 18 … [Read more...] about Jack Ma retires: 6 facts about Alibaba”s colourful founder
Jack ma
Smooth succession: Jack Ma eases out of a thriving Alibaba
Jack Ma is a former English teacher whose often playful image shattered the stereotype of the drab Chinese executive. (Photo: AFP/STR) A former English teacher whose often playful image shattered the stereotype of the drab Chinese executive, Ma officially leaves on Tuesday (Sep 10), his 55th birthday. Ma plans to put his vast fortune - among China's biggest at US$41 billion - into initiatives serving his first love, education, following the footsteps of a fellow tech innovator he admires: Bill Gates. The departure of charismatic founders from big tech companies typically causes hand-wringing and wobbling share prices, but not at Alibaba. The company's operational reins have for a couple of years now been in the hands of a respected team of executives who have kept it on e-commerce's cutting-edge. Ma was Alibaba's driving force and a frequently irreverent ambassador for the company, known for stunts like a Michael Jackson-inspired dance at an Alibaba anniversary celebration two years … [Read more...] about Smooth succession: Jack Ma eases out of a thriving Alibaba
Fake discount trick may happen again in Single Day sales promotions
Lazada is the most highlighted platform resorting to fake discounts, which are a concern during Single Day sales To boost shopping demand during big sales promotion seasons like Black Friday, Christmas, and Single Day, e-commerce firms have been regularly resorting to tricks, making people think that they bought goods at discount prices. Along with trading in fake goods, Lazada, Southeast Asia's leading e-commerce platform has been constantly accused of using fake discount tricks. During Black Friday two years ago (November 25, 2016), Lazada advertised selling iPhone 7 devices with a 42 per cent discount for VND15.2 million ($660). However, some experienced consumers stated that this price was higher than the market price at the time and the discount was referring to the introductory price of iPhone 7, which was VND25.99 million ($1,130). In fact, a significant number of consumers regularly fall into the discount traps of e-commerce platforms, which target buyers with a strong … [Read more...] about Fake discount trick may happen again in Single Day sales promotions
Alibaba Singles’ Day tops $30 billion but growth rate plunges
Shoppers in China and across the world on Sunday snapped up hot items including iPhones, furniture and milk powder starting pre-dawn, with Alibaba recording roughly $10 billion in sales in the first hour after midnight. Singles’ Day, also called "Double 11" is the world’s biggest online sales event, outstripping the sales of U.S. shopping holidays Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. The Chinese event was originally a novelty student holiday to celebrate being single, countering Valentines Day, but has since grown into a month-long online shopping festival that peaks with a 24-hour sale on November 11. This year, the company surpassed last year’s full-day sales record of 168 billion yuan in just under sixteen hours. Despite the record haul, the annual sales growth rate fell from 39 percent to 27 percent, at the low end of analyst estimates, and the smallest rate in the event’s 10-year history. It comes as the company is grappling with a slimmer sales outlook … [Read more...] about Alibaba Singles’ Day tops $30 billion but growth rate plunges
Big foreign investors change Vietnam’s online marketplace
The Hanoitimes - Vietnam’s online marketplace is developed rapidly given by big investments of foreign players, which has helped local consumers access to better quality services at more reasonable prices. Vietnam’s e-commerce market will boom by 2025 with revenue of US$7.5 billion Foreign players have so far spent aggressively in the market and even accepted losses to gain top positions. According to the Map of E-commerce in Vietnam recently published by Iprice Insight, Shopee has beat Lazada to become the top e-commerce platform by traffic in the third quarter of this year. This is the first time Lazada has lost the top position since the second quarter of 2017. Statistics from Iprice Insight, which is an online shopping aggregator’s portal of 7 ASEAN markets, showed that Shopee had a monthly average traffic of 34.5 million in the quarter while the number for Lazada was 30.2 million. Other players in the top five included Tiki with 29.4 million traffic per … [Read more...] about Big foreign investors change Vietnam’s online marketplace