the bulletin
Alibaba.com
Transforming the way companies
and individuals do business
 You won't see the words "Open Sesame" or any
Arabian bandits at Alibaba.com, but what you will find is a bustling online marketplace
for international trade.
Since Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma launched the Web site in March 1999, some 74,000
business people from 180 countries have registered to take advantage of the free service.
"We are adding new members at a rate of 400-500 a day," said its Chief Operating
Officer Joe Tsai (pictured). "Each day we receive 800-1,000 buy-sell offer
postings."
Mr Tsai explained that the main service his company offers is that it allows people to
post buy or sell messages over 30 industry categories for free. Whoever wants to buy or
sell something can e-mail their request to Alibaba.com's Hangzhou office. Editors will
then read and screen the messages for relevance and content, he explained.
"Generally, we eliminate about one third as irrelevant; they are not specific enough,
and may simply say 'I want to export to China'," Mr Tsai said.
Keeping postings relevant and useful has ensured the site's popularity and boosted the
number of people who register daily.
The company currently operates four inter-linked Web sites: an English site for the
international trade community, a Chinese site for the domestic China market, a site for
Hong Kong and one for Taiwan.
"We categorize our information into 32 different industry categories -- some of the
categories that see the most traffic are electronics, textiles, chemicals, computer and
software, and industrial supplies," Mr Tsai said.
Alibaba.com can, to a limited extent, track the birth of deals and encourages feedback,
but as most of the deals are conducted offline, Mr Tsai said that it is difficult to say
just how many deals are inked. However, he said that on average, each request will get at
least three responses.
One of Alibaba's distinguishing factors is that it is a dynamic trade lead catalog, he
said, making it a very current and very liquid marketplace created by the large volume of
buyers and sellers who visit and post offers every day.
"Additionally, we will soon roll out enhanced features, including a Sample House, and
an e-catalog where sellers can display pictures of their products. Traders will be able,
with one click, to move easily among Biz Opportunities, Sample House and Company
List," Mr Tsai said.
Additional, it is also building a Biz Club, which will bring together industry-specific
forums, each led by a "host" Alibaba member, to stimulate further information
exchange.
Members can take advantage of personalized features so that traders can tailor their
experience according to their needs. For example, Biz Express enables Alibaba members to
receive e-mail alerts of new offerings in the categories they choose.
A number of other sites offer similar services, but Mr Tsai said he is confident that
there is enough demand for such services to support several players. One way Alibaba.com
competes is that it's easy to navigate and find information visitors seek.
Mr Tsai said Alibaba.com will continue to offer its services for free, and by building up
a market place in a community for people to come and do business, advertisers will be
beating down his door to sell to these targeted groups. He is aware, however, that too
much advertising may pollute the Web site and drive away users. He said he will start
looking into the possibility of selling advertising space on his Web site around March or
April 2000.
One thing that will remain the same is the company's philosophy in that membership and
basic information should be free and that if it continues to give people what they want,
they will continue to say "Open Sesame" to solid business deals.
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