Recently, one was enlightened by one’s classmate, Siyan Luo’s posting about Alibaba, an online retailer based in China, whose stocks have recently gone public on the NYSX. The release of the stocks should not only be the beginning of a new chapter in the company’s life, but also the beginning of a competitive race with the giants of North American online retailers. Moving into a new market is quite difficult, especially one with established brands. However, Alibaba is not just any novice on the playground. While Amazon and eBay were raking in the dough, Alibaba began slowly expanding into North America through Chinese websites. It also has many comparative advantages relative to Amazon and eBay. Being based in China, it has direct access to a wide network of suppliers that offer products from custom tailored clothing to used cars, from high-end jewelry to fake dog poop, and to make it even better, all those products are offered at rock-bottom prices. Being a Chinese based company, Alibaba is also one of the few online retailers that many Chinese suppliers can access to take their products to market. Luo’s blog said that Alibaba’s namesake is a folklore character who became rich after finding a cave of gold. Alibaba (the firm) also found its cave of gold, and it might just be saving it for later.
Alibaba’s logo and motto
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