Worldwide ecommerce giant Alibaba Group is doubling down on ecommerce.

The China-based company said today it is combining all its domestic and international ecommerce businesses — including the global B2B marketplace Alibaba.com and the world’s largest online retail marketplaces, Taobao.com and Tmall.com — under the Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group in a worldwide effort to build on corporate synergies and bolster Alibaba’s overall sales in a competitive industry.

Alibaba invests in its core ecommerce business

Jiang Fan, CEO, Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group

“The new structure marks the first time that all its ecommerce businesses are under a single leadership within Alibaba Group,” Alibaba said in announcing the new structure. “This decision reflects Alibaba’s unwavering commitment to investing in its core commerce business and enhancing the quality of operations to win in the highly competitive ecommerce sector.”

Jiang Fan, who has headed Alibaba International Digital Commerce, has been appointed CEO of Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group, reporting to Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu.

Under Fan’s leadership, the new group “creates significant new synergies across global supply chains and supports small and midsized enterprises to expand their markets in China and internationally,” Alibaba said.

Alibaba addresses the transition in global supply chains

The company added, “Ecommerce business models within China and internationally are transitioning into a new phase where expertise in global supply chains, fulfillment, and the ability to provide quality online shopping experience will dictate competitive success.”

Alibaba said the new E-Commerce Business Group will:

⦁ Expand market access for all types of merchants, particularly “small and medium businesses to better reach new buyers and expand their businesses globally.”
⦁ Enhance supply chain integration by using Alibaba’s “resources and insights to optimize logistics and fulfillment capabilities and drive more significant synergies across global supply chains to capture growth momentum and positive consumption trends, meaning consumers will get their products faster at competitive pricing.”

Alibaba builds on recent ecommerce momentum

Alibaba said it expects to build on its recent growth momentum, including what it described as “record-breaking results in gross merchandise volume and consumer participation” during this month’s annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, when it said 589 brands surpassed a combined RMB 100 million (US$13.82 million) in GMV, up 45% from a year earlier.

In addition to Alibaba.com, Taobao and Tmall, the Alibaba E-Commerce Business Group includes:

⦁ The international retail sites AliExpress.com, Lazada, Trendyol and Daraz.
⦁ 1688, a wholesale marketplace with international suppliers for the China domestic market.
⦁ Idle Fish, an online trading platform for second-hand goods.

Taobao ranks No. 1 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest such marketplaces by GMV. Tmall ranks No. 2.

Alibaba also said today that CEO Eddie Wu will continue to oversee the company’s broad strategy, “which includes orienting how AI can be leveraged to unlock value among individual business groups and how they can better work in synergy.

For Alibaba Group’s fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, the company reported revenue of $33.7 billion, up 5% year-over-year. Alibaba International Digital Commerce Q2 revenue rose 29% to $4.51 billion.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. [email protected].

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