Alibaba tried the same thing. It did not go well
The result is well known. It quickly became apparent that very few people went online to buy "upscale brand stuff," and it overloaded their logistics big time
The result is well known. It quickly became apparent that very few people went online to buy "upscale brand stuff," and it overloaded their logistics big time
They have become just another store.
Moves like this show they are losing their benefits more and more
Hah. Their picking and shipping logistics are far and away superior to any other retailer. They offer free 1-day shipping to large swaths of the U.S. for Prime members.
It also seems this only effects wholesalers, not the traditional resalers.
It was their original take on "direct upscale retail brands" online mall.
They were a late comes after JD had some early success, and followed by countless clones.
T-mall was losing money big time, and none of bigger Taobao merchants wanted to move, moreover new Taobao brand stores were beginning to eat into T-mall.
So, at around 2016 Alibaba decided to "give them a nudge" with racking up their fees, putting arbitrary limits on their accounts, and blatant "first dose free" offers to switch to T-mall.
In the end, only few did, and one who did really did not manage to get full advantage of the platform.
Most "upscale" brand suppliers valued control given by having their Taobao store too much to switch to being banal wholesalers.
Lately, they reversed their stance on Taobao brand stores. But yeah, they definitely shot themselves in the foot with that move.
Especially this line:
>T-mall was losing money big time
For the first few years, T-mall was effectively running at near 0 profit, when they (unsuccessfully) tried to catch up with JD.
Please substantiate your commentary
Some more background: https://www.tlgcommerce.com.hk/blog/why-brands-are-leaving-t...