BUSINESS STRATEGY

What are the similarities between Amazon and Alibaba? [Part 1 of 2]

Amazon and Alibaba truly are two disruptive and innovative companies. Check out the characteristics of each tech giant

Amazon and Alibaba are under scrutiny in this article, divided into two parts. The two tech giants created two gargantous platforms for selling goods and services, two unstoppable ecosystems that are changing forever the way we do business, both offline and online. Like an offshore platform who’s extracting the juice from Earth, until nothing is left. Okay, a bit dramatic but catchy, isn’t it? ;)

Disclaimer: please note this article is a collection of personal thoughts and a few quotes from experts. All info is publicly available. The content hereby written does not reflect in any way the position of the company I work for.

Dear reader,

With this article (first part, the second is here) about the similarities between Amazon and Alibaba, I highlight the key characteristics of each one. Knowing more how they play and operate could help you build a better business plan. I hope you enjoy the reading.

Things in common, for starters

Let’s start with the things in common first…

• Both are more than sales platforms, they are also media platforms and the first touchpoint for brands. Amazon and Alibaba are as valid as platforms for product discovery as Google and Facebook. As example, from 2015 to 2018, Amazon surpassed Google for product searches, according to a report from Jumpshot, growing from 46% to 54% while Google declining from 54% to 46%[1]
• Both are eco-systems for products, services and media, comprising dozens of different business models. Also, Amazon has 49.1% eCommerce market share in the US, and the ambition to grow the business $400Bn in sales by 2020 (a +31% CAGR), making it the largest company worldwide. Alibaba instead has 58% market share in China B2C market and it’s heavily expanding outside China, targeting increasing non-Chinese revenue from 10% to 50% of its business by 2035, seeing itself serving 2Bn customers, effectively becoming the world’s fifth largest economy

Credit: A Blogs@Baruch site

• Both have visionary leaders: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, set the vision many years ago: The Everything Store; Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, is a super talented guy who understood how to work with Chinese…