Alibaba Fully Connects Online Marketplaces Taobao and Tmall, Establishing “China Digital Business Sector”

Chinese media outlet LatePost has learned that on Thursday – just six days after Dai Shan officially took charge of Alibaba‘s “China Digital Business Sector” – she issued an internal email to announce key business adjustments. This is the first step of alterations to the newly formed sector since the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant announced its organizational strategy of upgrading to “diversified governance” at the end of 2021.

The China Digital Business Sector newly established by Alibaba includes online marketplace businesses Taobao, Tmall and Alimama (阿里妈妈), the firm’s B2C retail business, the community marketplace Taocaicai (淘菜菜), Taote (淘特) and Domestic Trade (CBU).

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The main change of this adjustment is to fully connect Taobao and Tmall, setting up a “3+2” organizational structure. The two formerly independent business groups are now merged, with three centers.

The two e-commerce businesses, Taobao Live (淘宝直播) and Taobao Shopping (淘宝逛逛), which were formerly under the marketplace platform business, have improved their position after this adjustment, and the people in charge will report directly to Dai Shan.

In addition, innovative businesses such as Rhino Smart Manufacturing (犀牛智造) will continue to be controlled by business presidents. The group’s digital marketing platform Alimama will continue to be managed by Jia Luo.

Specifically, the three centers are oriented to the users, the merchants and the platforms, and their heads all report to Dai Shan. An Alibaba employee said that the main purpose of opening Taobao and Tmall in this comprehensive way and setting up the “3+2” organizational structure is to enhance user experience and customer value.

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At the user level, a consumer operations and development center has been set up, managed by Xuan De. This center will develop consumer-oriented products, including membership products such as 88VIP, virtual money-saving monthly cards and virtual red envelopes, as well as merchant tools that can help user growth and store product management.

At the merchant level, Dai Shan established an industrial operations and development center, managed by Chui Xue. This is the core business of Taobao and Tmall, which integrates more than a dozen major fields covered by the two platforms in the past, as well as businesses such as Juhuasuan (聚划算) and Daily Deals (天天特卖).

At the platform level, a platform strategy and operations center is to be launched, managed by Si Han. The center is responsible for developing and operating tools and solutions for business operations, marketing and searching such as Qianniu (千牛), a mobile app for e-commerce sellers to organize online stores. The center will also form a team responsible for the growth of small and medium-sized businesses.