Alibaba 'vital' but not the only platform
A leading omni-channel commerce expert has made a bold statement to global retailers: do not rely too much on platforms run by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd as the sole "face" of their business in the region.
Burghardt Groeber, vice-president of greater China for enterprise software provider hybris AG, an SAP company, said that one of the biggest failings of international brands in the Chinese market is losing control of their customer relationships and brands by surrendering too much power to Alibaba, which went public in New York last Friday.
He argued that although it is vital for companies to use Alibaba's online platforms, such as Tmall, to reach hundreds of millions of online shoppers and drive sales in China, it is not an alternative to an owned, multi-channel digital strategy.
