Alibaba

[CityFarmer]

Next thing Taobao need to work on customer service.
Compared to Amazon, Taobao no fight.
But structurally hard for Taobao to provide excellent
no questions asked customer service. Coz PRC still Chao
Kuan and 不够文明。

Taobao is designed for Chinese in China. I reckon it shouldn't be suitable outside China. Judging the Taobao China base on western value, is way out at best.

I admit that Taobao outside China, should has a different way, and goes wiht a different brand.

[Big Toe]

The point of running a business is to keep running costs low and return a good profit.
In this regard Amazon had failed very miserably. It does not even matter whether it has top notch customer service,
the whole business is just not sustainable. The very fact that they sell items at the lowest possible price AND provide top notch service AND have physical warehouses everywhere means that overheads are high with super thin margins. Good for consumers, bad for Amazon. It's like a full service restaurant with many waiters/cooks/service personnel and food selling at hawker prices.

Alibaba on the other hand is way smarter and is a platform/service provider/business enabler, they are not a retailer, their intention is to keep the primary customers, the sellers/business owners, happy. Financing(and also logistics) will be another lucrative business they are looking at. If you speak to Alibaba's primary customers(business owners), many are extremely satisfied. Many even send gifts to Jack Ma because it changed their lives and alibaba benefited many of them greatly. Great business but valuations too high for my liking. But will go for alibaba over Amazon anytime.

You cannot compare the 2, it is vastly different. Amazon is a retailer. Alibaba is not, do not get confused. Great customer service does not automatically equate to great business. Ikea is a great business, as for customer service.... ...

[opmi]

As the population matures, the demand for better service will be there.
Same thing in SG. I don't think why PRC will be different.

Did any of you guys experience Amazon AND Taobao customer service before?

[Big Toe]

Opmi, sorry but I think you are still confused about the 2 companies.

Amazon's primary customers is direct consumers, their revenue comes from consumers like ourselves.
Tao Bao(or alibaba) revenue is from business owners/sellers. If you are a seller on their platform, you are a direct customer.
But if you are buying things on taobao, you are buying from the listed sellers NOT tao bao. The product support is provided by the seller, not taobao.

In any case, consumers will always demand better service. But whether the economics of the business can enable that is another question. Reputable law firms ALWAYS offer great client service. Clients are always comfortable and being looked after. That'll cost $800-$1000 per hour, thank you.

[Big Toe]

To quote real life example, the company I work for deals direct with consumers as well as businesses in Singapore and abroad. (B to C and B to B). The consumer side of the business in Singapore is just plain bad, little or no profit. Overheads are high. Many consumers are just unrealistic in the product/service expectations even for low margin, cheap products. We are likely going to exit this business totally or keep it to a bare minimal for strategic reasons.

The B to B side is faring very much better, the business customers are much more realistic in their demand, volume/revenue is much higher and running cost is lower as well.

It is very often that the direct consumer that buys 1 item at $X demands a better product and better service than the business consumer who buys 1000 items a month(at a discounted wholesale rate). As a business owner, given a choice, who would you rather deal with?

[opmi]

Not confused with business models.

These Taobao merchants customer service cannot beats Amazon customer service.
Some of these merchants also anyhow whack one. No inventory also put items
on sale.

[CityFarmer]

Not confused with business models.

These Taobao merchants customer service cannot beats Amazon customer service.
Some of these merchants also anyhow whack one. No inventory also put items
on sale.

The fact is

- Amazon went to China, and did badly, even after 4 tough years, with Alibaba and JD.com. I reckon Amazon retained its customer service in its China operation.

Alibaba will go to US, let's see any different result, in state turf.

[opmi]

Amazon China venture is an acquisition. Cannot remember the name already.

For Alibaba to succeed outside PRC, it better get the reverse logistics up.

[Big Toe]

Opmi, you are somewhat right this time.

Customer service at Amazon by default should be much better than Taobao merchants.
Amazon is a listed worldwide online retailer. Taobao merchants are made up of a huge number of small merchants selling cheap and unbranded goods from small factories and villages.(what customer service do you expect from these merchants? Seriously.)

But as Jack Ma puts it, the end game is NOT about enabling these small chinese merchants to sell goods to their own country or internationally. It is about enabling merchants from everywhere(developed countries or otherwise) to sell stuff to other countries as well. So it may be a case where U.S. merchants have a store front on their platform and sell domestically or internationally. The potential is limitless but there will be plenty of challenges ahead for them.

[CityFarmer]

Amazon China venture is an acquisition. Cannot remember the name already.

For Alibaba to succeed outside PRC, it better get the reverse logistics up.

Yes, the venture started with acquisitions, but marketed as amazon.cn. I reckon the intention is promote amazon experience in China, but market share in China is miserable as less than 1.5%

http://www.amazon.cn/

http://fortune.com/2015/03/06/humbled-am...-in-china/