Alibaba establishes e-commerce business group CEO sends internal letter: 25-year-old Alibaba still needs to have an entrepreneurial mindset

According to Zhitong Finance APP, on November 21, Alibaba Group (09988, BABA.US) CEO Eddie Wu issued an email to all employees announcing the establishment of the Alibaba E-commerce Business Group, led by Jiang Fan, who will report directly to Eddie Wu. It is reported that the new e-commerce business group will fully integrate the Taobao Tmall Group, International Digital Commerce Group, as well as e-commerce businesses such as 1688 and Xianyu, forming a business cluster that covers the entire industry chain both domestically and internationally.

In the email, Eddie Wu mentioned that the times are progressing, and the e-commerce business model is facing challenges in global supply chain capabilities, fulfillment capabilities, and consumer service capabilities, which will determine the future competitive landscape. He also stated, "By integrating all e-commerce resources within the group, we can stimulate the capabilities accumulated over the years, serve domestic and global consumers well, and help more small and medium-sized enterprises expand into domestic and overseas markets simultaneously."

It is reported that the establishment of the new e-commerce business group is a new reflection and action by Eddie Wu as Alibaba's CEO on how to effectively utilize both domestic and international resources to create a development synergy in the e-commerce field. Industry insiders pointed out that this change continues to focus on the core business while also reflecting Eddie Wu's important judgment on the future of e-commerce.

In September last year, Eddie Wu took over as CEO of Alibaba Group, clearly defining the strategic focus of "user-first, AI-driven," concentrating on core businesses, and concurrently serving as CEO of Taotian Group and Cloud Intelligence Group, promoting the rejuvenation of the management team and implementing significant reforms in organizational structure and business strategy.

Over the past year, Taobao Tmall and overseas e-commerce have gradually moved towards integration and connectivity. The more than ten million small and medium-sized enterprise merchants behind Taobao and 1688 have formed a core supply advantage for Alibaba's e-commerce in entering overseas markets.

A week ago, Alibaba announced its Q3 2024 financial report, achieving revenue of 236.503 billion yuan for the quarter, slightly below the market expectation of 239.43 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 5%. Under non-GAAP, Alibaba's net profit was 36.518 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9%. Adjusted EBITA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization) decreased by 5% year-on-year to 40.561 billion yuan. Alibaba attributed the "increased revenue without increased profit" to increased investment in the e-commerce business.

In addition, over the past two years, many cross-border e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba International, have relied on China's strong manufacturing capabilities, supply chains, and logistics infrastructure to emerge in overseas markets with diverse models, accumulating relatively mature fulfillment infrastructure and user operation capabilities in overseas markets.

Attachment: Eddie Wu's Internal Letter "Integrating Domestic and International E-commerce, Increasing AI Investment, Focusing on Strategic Direction"

Dear Alibaba Team:

Over the past year, Alibaba has adhered to the "user-first, AI-driven" strategy, reshaping business priorities and orderly advancing various reforms, with all business segments maintaining healthy growth. As the times progress rapidly, Alibaba, now 25 years old, must maintain an entrepreneurial mindset, continuously innovate, fulfill its mission of serving small and medium-sized enterprises, and continuously create value for society.

Standing at a new starting point, the group has decided to establish the Alibaba E-commerce Business Group, appointing Jiang Fan as CEO, who will report to me. The e-commerce business group will fully integrate the Taobao Tmall Group, International Digital Commerce Group, as well as e-commerce businesses such as 1688 and Xianyu, forming a business cluster that covers the entire industry chain both domestically and internationally China and the global e-commerce landscape are entering a new era, where the capabilities of global supply chains, fulfillment, and consumer services will determine the future competitive landscape. Alibaba's e-commerce business group will integrate all e-commerce resources within the group, leveraging years of accumulated capabilities to serve domestic and global consumers while helping more small and medium-sized enterprises expand into domestic and overseas markets.

E-commerce and AI technology are the group's most critical development directions. In terms of AI, we will continue to increase investment, promote a productivity revolution driven by AI, improve AI infrastructure and supporting systems, adhere to open-source principles, and continuously invest in AI product research and development in both B2B and B2C fields to seize the opportunities of the AI era.

At the same time, to ensure support and protection for core strategic directions, the finance and legal lines will implement unified management by the group. The finance and legal leaders of each business segment will report directly to the group's Chief Financial Officer Xu Hong and Chief Legal Officer Yu Siying.

The above decisions take effect immediately.

Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu

November 21, 2024