The Chinese services market is a hotly contested space, with Meituan, Ctrip, and Alibaba all vying for market share. In this episode of Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, Jeffrey Towson discusses the factors that will determine which company wins in this space. He talks about the importance of bundling services, network effects, and switching costs.
Three big things are happening in digital China right now. The coronavirus is radically altering the behavior of hundreds of millions of consumers (and businesses), resulting in what is being called the quarantine economy. Everyone is trying to move from in-person to digital interactions. This shift to digital interactions is supercharging and rapidly evolving China’s […]
The coronavirus quarantine economy has supercharged the growth of live-streaming and KOLs (key opinion leaders) in China. Taobao Live, a live-streaming platform owned by Alibaba, has seen its user base and sales grow significantly in recent months. This trend is likely to continue as the Chinese economy reopens and consumers increasingly turn to digital channels for shopping and entertainment.
A final short discussion about this week’s lecture / podcast on JD vs. Alibaba. And how they compete on different factors. The talk is located here: JD vs. Alibaba: How Retailers and Marketplace Platforms Compete and Evolve in China (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 18) I expanded on this in yesterday’s Daily Lesson, where […]
In this podcast episode of Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, Jeffrey Towson discusses the competitive advantages of JD and Alibaba, two of the largest retailers in China. He argues that JD’s competitive advantages include its strong logistics network and its focus on customer service, while Alibaba’s competitive advantages include its large user base and its ability to connect buyers and sellers.
In previous Daily Updates, I presented 4 slides that showed the evolution of Alibaba as a powerful marketplace platform. A 3 Slide Summary of Alibaba and Marketplace Platform Strategy (Daily Update, Jeff’s Asia Tech Class) Alibaba and the Power of Externalizing Capabilities (Daily Update – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class) In the first one, I argued […]
Hi, I’ve been building out visual models of platform businesses for like 4 years. From Alibaba and JD to Google and MasterCard. The goal is to visually show the key interactions and sources of competitive strength. For simple marketplace platforms, like EBay, my pictures are pretty simple. But for companies like Alibaba and JD, they […]
When the SARS virus swept through China / Asia in 2002-2003, it resulted in millions of workers isolating themselves in their homes. And this phenomenon turned out to be pivotal for several, now dominant digital companies. For then small company Alibaba, it created a surge of activity in e-commerce. And for then physical-only retailer JD, […]
In this class, I discuss my visit to JD’s new 50,000 sqm e-space in Chongqing – and the question of what new retail (i.e., online-merge-offline) will mean for department stores and shopping malls. You can listen here or at iTunes and Himalaya. Articles / podcasts cited in this class: JD’s E-Space Is a Fascinating New […]
Jeff Towson, a specialist in digital strategy, discusses the game-changing potential of JD’s E-space in China’s department store industry. With his rich insights, unravel the complexities of the digital transformation in retail and understand its implications for businesses across the globe. Don’t miss this comprehensive exploration of a significant shift in the retail sector.