Popular Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba has revealed its latest plans for 2016 including renewing its focus on China and to expand business operations among consumers in some of the country's biggest cities.
In Sept. 2015 the company made an official announcement that Beijing would be the location for the company's second headquarters and with the latest revelations, industry experts feel operations will be to drive consumerism in areas such as electronics and groceries, Forbes reported.
The publication revealed that such plans to further increase its market share among those in the top tier cities of China is a bid to fend off stiff competition face by other e-commerce markets, especially from rival portal such as JD.com.
With ongoing competition from large international portals as well such as Amazon, the company's inward focus on China's consumer market , where the firm already enjoys a dominant market presence is viewed by the Group's CEO, Daniel Zheng as Alibaba's key strategy for growth this year, the Retail Gazette reported.
Zheng told the British publication the company intends for Beijing to serve as a platform from which to access rural Chinese consumers as well. He said promotion of e-commerce in rural China is as much a priority for the company as international expansion.
The company has implied that along with mobile penetration making its way into rural China, a pathway for e-commerce is anticipated to be forged in the coming years.
The three major battle grounds for the company in 2016 include top tier cities, global imports and rural e-commerce promotion reports claimed.
The China centric focus has come as a surprise to industry experts, especially as the company made a huge buzz surrounding international expansion plans in 2015 by hiring a former Goldman Sachs Executive, Michael Evans to oversee international expansion efforts. In addition, the company for the first time hired a Managing Director to oversee Alibaba's operations in the United Kingdom as well.
Zheng explained these moves of international commissioning as part of Alibaba's efforts to improve the ability of foreign channels in engaging in businesses in China.
In a statement obtained by the publication Zheng revealed the company would use two brands under the Alibaba umbrella, to increase cross-border trade. He said the company would use the brands to build businessand offer consumers an optimal user experience.
Watch the highlights documenting Alibaba's first day of trading.