Analysis of taobaos business strategies

Analysis of taobaos business strategies Taobao is the most famous online shopping website in China. It was launched in 2003 and within two years it became the leader of Chinas online shopping market. In order to keep the leadership position in increasingly intense competition and sustain its development, Taobao needs to modify and better its strategies for future development. Furthermore, its marketing strategies can also provide a good example for other online shopping companies. This essay is going to make an overall analysis on Taobaos business strategies by SWOT. Key words: Taobao; marketing strategies; SWOT analysis Taobao operates a website, Taobao.com which is the largest Internet retail website in China. According to its website the transaction volume on Taobao (gross merchandise volume or GMV) exceeded RMB200 billion (US$29 billion) in 2009. Taobao launched in 2003, is owned by Alibaba Group, which is a family of Internet-based businesses. (Taobao, n.d.) Taobao provides not only online platforms but also third-party online payment services (Alipay) and instant messaging services (Aliwangwang) Platforms within Taobao include Alimama (alimama.com), an online advertising exchange and affiliate network for publishers in China. In addition, there is also a classified listing website Koubei.com. (ibid.) SWOT analysis, according to Philip Kolter, is an overall evaluation of a companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. (Kolter, 2003) As the competition in the online shopping market is becoming increasingly fierce, Taobao faces some problems as well. The purpose of this SWOT analysis is to provide a critical review of key factors that may slow down Taobaos future development. 2. Strengths 2.1 Leading position in Chinas online shopping market Taobao is an acknowledged leader in both B2C (business to consumer) and C2C (consumer to consumer) online shopping market in China. Taobao has (should be: had) more than 190 million registered users by (could use: at) the end of April, 2010. (Taobao, n.d.) It has built a strong brand and is recognised by more Netizen (which is defined as the Chinese population who have accessed the Internet in the past 6 months by China Internet Network Information Centre) (CNNIC. 2008, January 15th). The company is well-thought-of by customers which gives Taobao more advantages in competition. 2.2 Effective combination of diversified offerings Taobao combines its three segment businesses effectively to enlarge its customer base. Take Alipay as an example, it is a third-party online payment platform, provides a simpler, efficient and safe payment service for both customers and sellers. This service not only ensure (should be: ensures) the transaction security but also reduces the transaction risk for online consumers, as it enables buyers to confirm the quality of goods before releasing funds to sellers. For example, if goods are found (to be) broken or fake, customers can request Alipay to postpone the release of funds to sellers. (Taobao, n.d.) This service help (should be: helps) Taobao (to) attract more customers. In addition, an instant message (could use: messaging) service called Aliwangwang make (should be: makes) the communication between (the) buyer and seller easier. Moreover, this service enables (the) buyer and seller (to) have a directly private bargain during the transactions, which is the preference of Chinese customers. 2.3 Precise market positioning Taobao analyzed Chinas online shopping market at the beginning of its business. Different from other online shopping websites which prefer older white-collar worker(s) with higher salaries or people who like collecting and sharing, Taobao chose fashionable younger females as the target customer. This market positioning proved more suitable for Chinas market compared to other websites (apostrophe not needed) . This is one of the reasons that the growth rate of Taobao is much higher than other competitors. 3. Weaknesses 3.1 Limiting itself to local market The design of Taobao website and other supporting services were based on Chinas local market. This localisation strategy made Taobao grew (should be: grow) fast at the beginning. However, with the development of the website, this strategy limits Taobao to the Chinese market and (, therefore resulting in a) lack of presence in (the) global market. 3.2 Insufficient screen process to control counterfeit products Although Taobao has taken some measures to control the sale of fake goods, such as rating the sellers by credit value, the result was not as expected. Because of the free strategy that Taobao used, individuals can establish an online shop easily without charge and requirement. This makes it even hard to monitor and select sellers that commit fraud. Lack of effective screening processes to control the sale of counterfeit products has had a negative influence on customers confidence in Taobao. It could also affect Taobaos brand image and sales. 4. Opportunities 4.1 Growing demand for online shopping in China According to CNNIC, the number of online buyers reached 87.9 million by June 2009, increasing from 74 million in 2008 and 46 million in 2007. The online shopping penetration rate achieved 24.8% by June 2009. (CNNIC. 2010, January 15th; 2010, July 15th) As the data above shows, more people in China prefer to buy products online. Convenience and various choices could be two main reasons. This increasingly growing demand for online shopping contributed to the growth of Taobao. 4.2 Government support After the global financial crisis, (the) Chinese government provided a RMB 4 trillion stimulus package in order to boost the domestic economic growth through 2010. (the) IT industry received around 0.5% to 1% of the cash injection. (Xinhua, 2008). This gave online shopping companies strong support for future developments. 4.3 Safer payment systems for online transactions The improved online payment systems play an important role in the growth of Chinese online shopping markets. There are more flexible payment systems for customers to choose. For example, a third-party online payment system ensures the security of transaction(s) and enables customers to get their refunds easily. A simpler and safer payment for online transaction(s) attracts (should be: attract) more customers. 5. Threats 5.1 Low entry barrier leads to fierce competition Because of the low entry barrier and fast growing market, Taobao meets many challenges, particularly in the face of increased competition from new market entrants. In addition, without many technical difficulties, it is easy for other competitors to copy Taobaos business pattern. Therefore, Taobao will be forced to increase investments on advertising or technological innovation. 5.2 Strict policy for third parties payment license Recently, Peoples Bank of China issued an Administrative Measures for the Payment Services Provided by Non-financial Institutions which has raised the entry standard for third payment party. In order to get (could use: obtain) and keep the license, Taobao has to increase its expenditure on online payment. 5.3 Higher logistics costs Taobao will give customers suggestions about the logistic companies which are mostly local third party logistics providers and customers usually take the suggestions because of the lower delivery prices these companies offered, compared to other international express companies, such as DHL and UPS. However, local third party logistics recently announced that they would raise the price. As most online customers are highly prices sensitive, this will have a negative effect on Taobaos sale. 6 Conclusions According to the SWOT analysis, although there are some drawbacks which have negative effects on Taobaos future development, the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages. In addition, there are many opportunities for Taobaos further growth. This conclusion will give some suggestions for Taobaos future business expansion. First of all, in order to keep the leadership position, technological innovation is crucial for Taobao. Taobao may focus on continuous improvement of its online payment system, which is also one of its strengths, particularly in the aspect of transactions (should be transactions, without apostrophe) reliability and security. Moreover, website functions, Internet stability and high-speed access to websites are also important in providing a better user experience, which may help to attract more customers. Secondly, as Taobao has the advantage of large scale consumers and sellers, Taobao may segment its market to provide more specialized services based on different demands so that it can meet customers requirements more effectively. To sum up, it is undeniable that the future of (the) online shopping market in China is promising. Based on the statistics by CNNIC, It is in a steadily (should be: steady) development stage. In this attractive online shopping market, more complete logistics providers and payment systems will appear. These will provide Taobao more opportunities to develop in the future.

Culture in Kenya Essay

British Colonial rule destroyed Kenya’s traditional culture. Colonialism occurs when one nation takes control of another. This is exactly what the British did to the Africans. Even though the British created a developed civilization with many aspects they brought to Kenya, they affected the Africans politically, economically, socially, and culturally. The British colonization of Kenya destroyed the culture of the native people, but it established a democratic government and left Kenya a more modernized country. With this being said, Kenya would not be the country it is today if it weren’t for the British. All through the continent of Africa, foreign occupation and involvement has always been a main point when analyzing the historical university of the enormous continent. Many historians and scholars have researched and studied events that have occurred all through African history with respect to foreign associations, particularly, imperialism and colonialism. By tradition, colonialism has been linked with a series of harsh consequences for the states that lose their freedom due to military problems and war. Colonialism has not been termed to be a current incident, but somewhat a recurring happening in many nations of the world. The history of colonialism provides overpowering evidence of how handling of friendlier people to beat the stubborn people, through ancient expeditions of disagreement of basic social services to the final, laid firm fundamentals for conflict in waiting, a time bomb which exploded when the colonial management was succeeded by free government. Even though colonialism can be checked with two countries, the intention of the stubborn country is not limited. However, there is a strong relationship between the actions of the conqueror that cause the dominated severe disabilities in their social and financial structure. The involvement of the European states and mainly of Britain in the East African region, specifically Kenya, from the late nineteenth century is an example of colonialism still under theory. The role of Britain in the growth of Kenya can be analyzed to estimate the implications and impacts on the cultural, aspect of the Kenya society.

Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal - 1456 Words

Jonathan Swift was an Irish poet and satirist of the eighteenth century. Although the son of Englishmen, Swift was born and raised in Ireland. While living in Ireland, he witnessed the death of thousands of Irish due to starvation which was caused due to crop failure. Swift, who wasn’t even personally affected by the issue, acknowledged that the death of the Irish population which he argues was caused because of the neglect of English landowners. Instead of allowing for the issue to continue to be avoided, he addressed the issue. In 1729, Swift released a very popular narrative known as A Modest Proposal. This proposal is anything but modest but the title goes with the essay. This essay uses satire to get the message of HELP OUT THE IRISH†¦show more content†¦The abundance of children is doing nothing but worsening the starving conditions of the nation. However, babies could become a useful member of society if they were to be sold to the meat market. As mentioned w ithin the text, â€Å"a young healthy Child well Nursed is at a year Old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome Food†. Young children of society would no longer be a burden but a solution to end starvation within the communities. This proposal continues on by advocating that selling children to the meat market will beneficial to all involved. By selling their children into the meat market, parents will be able to have extra cash in their pocket. This will ultimately lead to families being better able to support their families. There as well would be a surplus of food for the dying Irish population. There will be much more meat product available for this starving population. This solution would end brutal abortions and the murder of â€Å"bastard children† by their parents. This would allow for less lives of children being abruptly ended without good reasoning. At least with this proposal, babies will be able to help out the people of Ireland. Obviously not to b e taken literal, Swift’s narrative actually criticizes those who are allowing for the Irish to die of starvation. This narrative acknowledges that situation is ridiculous and the lack of an attempt to even address the issue is even worse. By proving such an obscure proposal, he is demonstrating thatShow MoreRelatedJonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal996 Words   |  4 PagesJonathan Swift, 18th century writer and political activist, published â€Å"A Modest Proposal† in 1729 in the midst of turmoil in his home country of Ireland. Under British rule Irish citizens were left destitute and neglected, giving Swift the inspiration for â€Å"A Modest Proposal†. Jonathan Swift’s use of Aristotle s modes of persuasion and straight-faced satire broke Ireland s silence, calling out affluent members of British society and religious hierarchy alike, creating one of the most influentialRead MoreJonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal971 Words   |  4 PagesJonathan Swift is a well known writer who wrote Gulliver s Travels and many more lesser known works. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift can be used to argue many things. The work itself is a pamphlet to that explains how one could go about the famine in Ireland. He suggests by his title that this will not be a over the top or extreme suggestion instead being modest and understandable. 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His serious yet hyperbolic and satirical style allows Swift an approach to get people engaged in the difficulties the Irish had to do to survive their everyday life. This essay explores Swift’s ability to use literary devices and how these techniques advance his idea aboutRead MoreJonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal1859 Words   |  8 Pagessuperiority (Holmes). The satirical literary device was at its peak during the Neoclassical Period in which the enlightenment writer, Jonathan Swift, was exceptional at this writing style (Jokinen). He excelled at rebuking Britainâ₠¬â„¢s flaws and pointed out the hypocrisy at the time by extensive ridicule of the conventual school of thought. Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal is an inspiration to many aspiring satirical authors, as he is admired as a rhetorical virtuoso that shed light on the profuse moralRead MoreAnalysis of Jonathan Swift ´s A Modest Proposal Essay532 Words   |  3 Pagesdone, the issue hasn’t been fazed a bit. From Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal, he clarifies the poverty issued throughout Ireland in the early 1700’s and how one suggestion could change it all. Elaborated from the Literary Reference Center, â€Å"A Modest Proposal, like Gulliver’s Travels, transcends the political, social, and economic crisis that gave birth to it, woeful as they were. Packed with irony and satirical revelations of the human condition†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Swift wasn’t just writing a masterpiece, but an intendedRead MoreCollectivism Vs. Individualism : The Unknown Ci tizen And Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal1783 Words   |  8 Pagespolitically, with emphasis on the role a person takes in society, or philosophically- what makes a person think collectively or individually. Even though one might say that both theories are important, both W.H. Auden s The Unknown Citizen and Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal reflect criticisms of collectivism and promotes individualism. There are two main types of collectivism: â€Å"horizontal collectivism† and â€Å"vertical collectivism†. Collectivism has been characterized as horizontal collectivism