Alibaba Seeks To Reach 6 Trillion GMV By 2020

Alibaba has just achieved a milestone of having 3 trillion in GMV in one year.

Alibaba Group Holding has achieved another milestone in the online retail industry. The Chinese tech company has just crossed $463 billion (3 trillion RMB) in Gross Merchandize Volume (GMV) transaction, which took place in its online marketplaces under one year. In recent year, Alibaba has significantly grown, but its international market position is negligible, which creates trouble for it to dominate the overall e-commerce industry.

In China, Alibaba accounts for almost 80% of the market share. The executive vice chairman of the firm, Joseph Tsai, wrote in an official corporate blog that the company managed to pass the 3 trillion RMB milestone in just under a year which is a massive achievement. Alibaba is expected to complete its fiscal year at the end of March. On its multiple online marketplaces, it is known for selling almost everything i.e. from soap to furniture and electronics, etc. It is the most dominant e-commerce firm in the region with almost 400 million active buyers annually.

CEO of Alibaba Group, Daniel Zhang, said in a press conference in Hangzhou, “What is behind this 3 trillion RMB milestone is an entire business ecosystem and fully-integrated Internet ecosystem that harmoniously works together to achieve tremendous capabilities”. Alibaba has plans to reach 6 trillion RMB in Gross Merchandize Volume (GMV) yearly by the end of 2020 and Daniel Zhang affirmed that it is right on track to pursue its goal.

Reaching 6 trillion RMB in GMV is not a difficult task for such a huge company but considering the situation of China – i.e. slowest economy growth since 2009 – might hurt its progress. In order to double its GMV, the company is working to bring in the population that is currently not shopping online on its marketplaces or in fact, any online marketplace. Despite of being very much advanced in the online digital world, there is a good chunk of Chinese people that have not embraced the online world as of yet.

Previously, Alibaba wanted to expand in the rural areas regardless of the hardships it will face in delivering the packages. This will be its key effort this year to expand its products and services in these parts of China. Not only this move would double Alibaba’s GMV gradually but it will also make the imported goods and items available to the Chinese consumers specifically in rural areas. Tsai adds, “The rural China initiative is already bearing fruit, so far reaching 12,000 of China’s 600,000 villages.”