Latest news with #Taobao
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
E-tailers go big on instant retail
China's instant retail sector is expected to see speedy growth as leading e-commerce platforms are banking on the lucrative on-demand food delivery services to drive new sources of revenue and reconstruct the traditional retail landscape, experts said. They called on enterprises to ramp up technological innovation, optimise logistics networks and improve delivery efficiency, while leveraging personalised recommendation methods and high-quality services to elevate the user experience. Meanwhile, authorities and industry associations should introduce relevant regulations and standards to promote the healthy development of the instant retail market, they added. Alibaba Group has recently upgraded its one-hour delivery platform and launched Taobao Instant Commerce, as part of a broader push to march into the fast-growing instant retail market. The service, which operates in more than 50 major cities across the nation, promises deliveries for various goods beyond food, such as electronics, clothing and flowers within an hour. The orders are fulfilled by Alibaba's food delivery unit. To attract customers, Taobao is increasing subsidies and offering discounts on items like milk tea. The platform will make use of its advantages in online flagship stores, and strengthen cooperation with local warehouses and offline retail sites to cater to consumers' rising demand for speedy and affordable instant delivery services. The sharp increase in the number of orders from Taobao Instant Commerce has led to a significant surge in order volume in many cities. Taobao said the number of daily orders has surpassed 40 million, with the daily order volume in 39 cities breaking historical records. Alibaba's move came after e-commerce platform JD's entry into the highly competitive food delivery sector. JD has provided comprehensive support like low or zero commission fees to catering merchants who register on its platform, and stepped up the recruitment of full-time delivery riders. Instant retail refers to a model where shoppers place orders on online trading platforms, followed by retailers from brick-and-mortar stores executing door-to-door deliveries themselves or through third-party delivery platforms. An on-demand delivery order usually requires 30 to 60 minutes to be completed. Food delivery platform Meituan has rolled out its instant retail service "flash purchases", vowing to provide 24-hour shopping services with deliveries finished within approximately 30 minutes. Customers can select from a wide range of products, including fresh produce, snacks, electronics, beauty items and pet care supplies. Industry observers pointed out that the traditional e-commerce industry is slowing down, while the growth rate of the instant retail market is expected to stay above 20 percent. According to a report from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the market scale of China's instant retail sector reached 650 billion yuan ($90.5 billion) in 2023, up 28.89 percent year-on-year. The figure is expected to surpass 2 trillion yuan in 2030. "Instant retail is regarded as an important development direction for the future retail sector as enterprises can expand their scope of services, enhance user stickiness, and leverage their existing logistics and supply chain advantages to explore new growth points through instant retail," said Hong Yong, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. Hong said at present, the competition in the on-demand retail market is becoming increasingly fierce, with major players including e-commerce platforms, local life service enterprises and traditional retailers upping the ante in the sector, adding that the key to success is centered on the optimization of the user experience, expansion of service scope and supply chain efficiency. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities recently summoned major food delivery platforms including JD and Meituan, to address prominent issues related to competition in the food delivery sector. They called on platforms to comply with laws and regulations, fulfill social responsibilities, strengthen internal management, engage in fair and orderly competition, and safeguard the rights and interests of consumers, merchants, and delivery riders. The move is to promote the regulated, healthy and orderly development of the platform economy. "Platform enterprises should pool more resources into technologies, deepen supply chain innovation and optimize cost structure through highly efficient inventory management and intelligent warehousing and distribution systems," said Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy. It is of vital significance to establish a stricter merchant access and supervision mechanism to improve the quality of goods, Zhu said, while calling for efforts to strengthen cooperation among different platforms to better integrate resources and further stimulate consumption potential. - China Daily/ANN
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shop with ease: Taobao launches Bahasa Malaysia interface for Malaysians
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Less than a year after rolling out an English-language interface, popular Chinese e-commerce site Taobao is now accessible in Bahasa Malaysia. Powered by advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the new interface automates translations across the platform, mirroring the system used in its English version. Country Head of Taobao Malaysia Jess Lew said the launch marked a significant milestone in the platform's efforts to provide a more localised online shopping experience for Malaysians. 'Over the years, we have dedicated ourselves to enhancing the shopping experience for Malaysians. 'We received positive feedback and requests for a Bahasa Malaysia interface since launching the English version in September last year. This year, our team collaborated with Taobao headquarters to take the next step in introducing the BM interface,' she said during the official launch at The Sphere, Bangsar South City. In addition to the BM interface, Taobao unveiled several updates to further enhance the user experience. These include an image search feature that enables users to snap or upload photos to find similar items, coins cashback via a daily check-in mission, purchase incentives at selected sellers offering free shipping, and exclusive perks for first-time shoppers. The BM interface adds to Taobao's existing user-friendly features for Malaysian e-commerce shoppers. The app already supports bilingual customer service in English and Chinese, displays prices in Malaysian Ringgit, offers AI-driven content translation, and provides a simplified shopping interface. Malaysia and Singapore were the first markets globally to access Taobao's English beta interface last year, highlighting the platform's focus on localisation within the region.
Malay Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Shop with ease: Taobao launches Bahasa Malaysia interface for Malaysians
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Less than a year after rolling out an English-language interface, popular Chinese e-commerce site Taobao is now accessible in Bahasa Malaysia. Powered by advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the new interface automates translations across the platform, mirroring the system used in its English version. Country Head of Taobao Malaysia Jess Lew said the launch marked a significant milestone in the platform's efforts to provide a more localised online shopping experience for Malaysians. 'Over the years, we have dedicated ourselves to enhancing the shopping experience for Malaysians. 'We received positive feedback and requests for a Bahasa Malaysia interface since launching the English version in September last year. This year, our team collaborated with Taobao headquarters to take the next step in introducing the BM interface,' she said during the official launch at The Sphere, Bangsar South City. In addition to the BM interface, Taobao unveiled several updates to further enhance the user experience. These include an image search feature that enables users to snap or upload photos to find similar items, coins cashback via a daily check-in mission, purchase incentives at selected sellers offering free shipping, and exclusive perks for first-time shoppers. The BM interface adds to Taobao's existing user-friendly features for Malaysian e-commerce shoppers. The app already supports bilingual customer service in English and Chinese, displays prices in Malaysian Ringgit, offers AI-driven content translation, and provides a simplified shopping interface. Malaysia and Singapore were the first markets globally to access Taobao's English beta interface last year, highlighting the platform's focus on localisation within the region.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Alibaba's new 'instant commerce' portal passes 40 million daily orders
HighlightsChinese e-commerce giant Alibaba reported that its Taobao Instant Commerce portal has exceeded 40 million daily orders within just one month of its launch. The Taobao Instant Commerce portal integrates merchants from Alibaba's food delivery service into the main Taobao shopping application. This initiative is part of a larger trend among Chinese online platforms that are investing billions of dollars into the development of instant retail services. Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba said Monday that its Taobao Instant Commerce portal, which delivers items within 60 minutes, has surpassed 40 million daily orders within a month of launching. The portal brings merchants from Alibaba's food delivery arm onto its main domestic shopping app , Taobao, and is part of a broader move among Chinese online platforms in recent months to invest billions in so-called "instant retail".
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Alibaba's new 'instant commerce' portal passes 40 million daily orders
Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba said Monday that its Taobao Instant Commerce portal, which delivers items within 60 minutes, has surpassed 40 million daily orders within a month of launching. The portal brings merchants from Alibaba's food delivery arm onto its main domestic shopping app , Taobao, and is part of a broader move among Chinese online platforms in recent months to invest billions in so-called "instant retail".
