On August 23, Alibaba Group announced its financial report for the first quarter of FY 2019 (2018.4.1-2018.6.30). According to the data, Alibaba's first-quarter revenue increased by 61% year-on-year to RMB 80.92 billion, and the results were brilliant.
Alibaba's B2B business (including 1688 and Alibaba International), which many people in foreign trade are concerned about, has revenue of 3.25 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%. Among them, Alibaba's China revenue was 1.641 billion yuan, up 3% year-on-year; Alibaba's international B2B business revenue was 1.609 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 3%. According to information disclosed by Alibaba's report, the increase was mainly due to higher charge level of fee-paying members and the increase in the number of paid members on the 1688 platform.
In fact, as Alibaba's start-up business, Alibaba International made an important contribution to the foreign trade of SMEs, and also brought huge profits to itself, becoming a capital chain for Alibaba's subsequent development of other businesses. However, in recent years, the development has been slow, and the number of paying customers has been decreasing. It can only maintain growth by increasing the number of charging items and increasing the amount of charges. With the rapid development of other businesses, it has gradually been marginalized by Alibaba, and even rarely mentioned in the annual report. .
In March of this year, there was an article that brust into the wechat friend circle of people in foreign trade, "Alibaba, you will be over in this way!", writen by a senior foreign trader who has been at Alibaba International Station for 14 years. The disappointment and strong dissatisfaction has aroused the unanimous spit of many foreign traders, which may be one of the important reasons for the decline in the number of paid members.
The promotion channel is single. Ali International Station mainly promotes the traffic imported by some advertisements through Google. After many members compete fiercely, they can reach the members in the price of hundreds of times. They become real traffic traffickers, and even resell them at various levels. Member companies denounce Alibaba by,
Customers, at the level of 29800 yuan, basically get no return!
For the same customer resources, through trains sell.
Still these customer resources, high-integrity enterprises can sell.
Still these customer resources, the top exhibition can sell.
Still these customer resources, RFQ can sell.
Still these customer resources, the RFQ package can sell again.
There are few innovative means to promote development. In these years, Ali may be busy developing more profitable business, paying little attention to the international B2B business, and there is almost no innovative means to promote business development. Even Ma Yun rarely mentions this former foundation. Innovation are only a variety of complicated tolls, as well as a variety of increasing fees. They recommend hundreds of thousands of members millions of marketing programs, but with no matching return.
Vertical segmentation site is offloaded. Recently, more and more vertical subdivision websites that are more in line with market development have emerged, and the procurement experience is better. Many high-quality suppliers and purchasers are diverted, such as Coowor.com for HVACR business, Gasgoo for Car accessories, and 21 Food for online food purchasing, zhaogang.com for steel business and so on.
Ali's domestic B2B business has also been forced to start a segmentation site, the steel section separated from 1688 and the Minmetals cooperation Wuage.com. The segmentation platform can provide more targeted promotion, drainage, and refined services according to industry characteristics like attending professional exhibitions, It is not possible for a comprehensive platform like Ali International to have simultaneous online and offline promotions which are exactly the most important sources for professional buyers.
If Alibaba International Station can't have more innovations to bring new traffic to its members, I believe that it is no longer a general concern. It will be a trend that it will be abandoned by more members, and it will really be over.
