"In 2002, Alibaba will make a profit of 1 yuan, in 2003 it will make a profit of 1 billion yuan, and in 2004 it will make a daily profit of 1 10,000 yuan." In April 2002, during the cold winter of the Internet, the emaciated Ma Yun told reporters, "I dare to say this because Alibaba has found its own profit model."
"A good business model must be simple. Alibaba's current business model is very simple, that is, charging membership fees. " Ma Yun achieved his original goal in three years. According to the data disclosed by Alibaba, in 2004, Alibaba's net profit was 600 million yuan. However, Ma Yun is still unwilling to elaborate on his business model for fear of revealing the real situation of revenue.
The reporter learned that there are two kinds of members on Alibaba, one is China supplier; One is a member of Tong.
The service of "China Supplier" is mainly oriented to export-oriented enterprises. Relying on the online trading community, it recommends China's export suppliers to international merchants who purchase through e-commerce, thus helping export suppliers to obtain international orders. Its services include an independent "China supplier" account and password, and the establishment of an English website, so that more than 420,000 professional buyers from 220 countries around the world can browse the enterprise online. At present, the membership fee of suppliers in China is 60,000-80,000 yuan/year.
"Cheng Xintong" focuses more on domestic trade, and helps "Cheng Xintong" members gain the trust of buyers by showing registered members the evaluation and transaction integrity records of third parties in Alibaba. Cheng Xintong's membership fee is 2300 yuan/year.
According to Alibaba's own disclosure, as of May 2005, there were 6,543,800 suppliers registered in China through Alibaba, and nearly 6,543,800 registered users of TrustPass (by the end of 2004, there were more than 8,000 suppliers in China, while the number of TrustPass members was 60,000). Based on this estimate, Alibaba's annual revenue should be close to 654.38+0 billion yuan (of which, the annual membership fee receivable by Unicom is 230 million yuan, and the maximum membership fee receivable by China suppliers is 800 million yuan).
In addition to being easily trusted by buyers, suppliers in China and members of Chengxin Tong also have the priority to publish enterprise information, so that customers can find enterprises more quickly. "The key is that Alibaba must ensure that the online identity of the enterprise is consistent with the real identity, and establish a sound credit evaluation system so that everyone can make money in an environment of mutual trust." Ma Yun said.
"There are five ways to ensure integrity, namely, third-party certification (enterprise credit reporting agencies provide credit certification, including legal registration records of industrial and commercial departments, business authorization, etc.). ); Offline certificates and honors; Alibaba activity record; Member evaluation; Creditor. " Ma Yun said, "The problem to be solved in e-commerce in China is mainly the integrity problem, and this whole system is to ensure that the integrity problem is solved."
According to the data provided by Alibaba, there are 4.8 million free China merchants and 6.5438+million overseas merchants on Alibaba, in addition to paid suppliers in China and members of TrustPass. Last year, the total value of products exported through Alibaba was $654.38+000 billion. Take Zhejiang Yongkang as an example (the world's largest scooter supplier), and 70% of local enterprises export through Alibaba. Many of these exports exceeded $10 million.
"When so many people can make money through Alibaba, Alibaba should also make a little money." In 2002, Ma Yun, who was looking for the future for Alibaba, said.
As for whether Alibaba will go public to make more money, in 2004, Ma Yun told reporters that "Alibaba will go public only if its annual profit reaches at least 654.38 billion yuan."
"Alibaba's business has no policy risks such as MMS and online games, and export is an industry encouraged by the state. Alibaba's listing can get a higher P/E ratio than Sina and Shanda. " A former executive of Softbank China commented.
At present, the market price-earnings ratio of Sina is about 30 times, and the price-earnings ratios of Shanda and Netease are both 35 times.
Free Taobao enclosure
The profit earned by Alibaba in B2B field enables it to support a "child" who only spends money at present, namely Taobao, a C2C trading website under Alibaba. "Taobao is still a child. Although there is room for development, it is important to cultivate it now. " Ma Yun said this.
Alibaba founded Taobao in 2003. In July of that year, it injected 654.38 billion yuan into Taobao. In July 2004, it was announced that it would inject another 350 million yuan into Taobao.
In China's C2C market, Taobao's rival Yi Bei seems to have more money. In March 2002, Yi Bei injected 30 million US dollars into Yi Bei to establish Yi Bei. In July 2003, Yi Bei injected another $654.38+500 million into Yi Bei.
The charge sources of C2C websites mainly include transaction service fees (including commodity login fees, transaction fees, reserve price setting fees, pre-sale setting fees, additional transaction fees, security payment fees and online shop fees), featured service fees (including font function fees, picture function fees and recommendation function fees), value-added service fees (information publishing fees and auxiliary information fees) and online advertisements.
EBay Yi Bei's profit model is to charge users fees such as store fees, commodity login fees and transaction service fees. The monthly fee for ordinary shops was originally 50 yuan/month, but it was reduced to 35 yuan/month in May last year; The landing fee of goods varies according to the type and price of goods. The cheapest landing fee is 0.8 yuan, while the more expensive ones, such as cars and motorcycles, are probably around 8 yuan.
"Competing with world-class competitors can show your strength." Ma Yun said. And the way he shows his strength is Taobao's free strategy.
Taobao is currently free for all businesses. Ma Yun said: "Taobao does not charge for 3 years. The C2C market in China is still in the market cultivation stage, and the free model is more conducive to staking. "
Can Ma Yun's free strategy land?
IResearch)2004 annual survey report shows that in China online auction market, there are 9.5 million registered users in Yi Bei and Yi Bei, 4 million registered users in Taobao, 400,000 registered users in eBay and 654.38+million registered users in other auction websites.
The report also shows that in 2004, about 42.5 million pieces were sold in China online auction market, with a turnover rate of about 40%, with a total turnover of about170,000 pieces and a turnover of 3.4 billion yuan. Among them, the turnover of Yi Bei and Yi Bei was about 2.2 billion yuan, and that of Taobao was about 654.38 billion yuan.
According to the data provided by Taobao, in the first quarter of 2005, the turnover of Taobao was 65.438+0.2 billion yuan, and that of Yi Bei was 65.438+0 billion dollars. Taobao reversed the situation for the first time.
"In addition to the localization service provided by Taobao, it is also related to Taobao's free policy." Ma Yun explained why Taobao came from behind.
"In order to avoid Yi Bei's transaction costs, some users did not use Yi Bei's Anfutong to pay for the required goods after they found it in Yi Bei, but chose Taobao's Alipay, which made some Yi Bei users actually become Taobao users." An employee of Alibaba said.
Alipay is a secure payment service launched by Alibaba's Alipay, which is used for online transactions. Alipay, as a credit intermediary, temporarily keeps the payment for the buyer and seller before the buyer confirms the receipt of the goods.
According to the data provided by Taobao, as of February 24, 2005, 79% of online merchandise transactions on Taobao were accepted through Alipay.
Taobao's free model today is a copy of Alibaba's model. Alibaba experienced a three-year free period before charging.
Ma Yun said: "At that time, Alibaba spent investors' money and only had confidence in a bright future; Part of the money burned by Taobao now comes from Alibaba's profits, and the other part comes from investors, which is also based on confidence in the future, because Alibaba is an example. "
"Taobao will continue to insist on free. When it is still collecting small money or staking, Alibaba is not in a hurry. " Ma Yun said. (