Thursday 14 May 2015

Mobile accounts for 42% of purchases by value on Alibaba in China

"Major e-commerce players are quickly joining the revolution, particularly in emerging markets where lower penetration of PCs and fixed-line broadband has led many consumers to skip desktop shopping and leap straight to mobile commerce. In April, India’s leading online retailer, Flipkart, signaled its intention to shut down its conventional desktop-oriented site and concentrate solely on mobile sales within a year, having seen mobile traffic increase tenfold in 18 months.
Meanwhle in China, the country’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, is also moving quickly as shoppers shift to smartphones. Mobile purchases made up 42 percent of gross merchandise volume (GMV) on Alibaba’s China shopping platforms in the company’s fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31—that's up from just 20 percent in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013.
Alibaba’s online marketplaces host millions of large and small merchants, so it's challenge is helping retailers serve the rapidly expanding ranks of mobile shoppers. The company recently launched a tool within its popular Taobao Mobile shopping app that allows merchants on Taobao Marketplace, China’s largest online marketplace, to set up and run a store using only their smartphones, while connecting with mobile consumers through social media."

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