When Alibaba began to fade the aura of the Internet era at a speed visible to the naked eye, anxiety and confusion began to linger on the body of such a once-glorious head Internet company.
The total market value has been surpassed by Pinduoduo, the original sphere of influence has been eroded by competitors little by little, and the failure of many investment targets has all told us that Alibaba is now in an eventful season and is at a crossroads.
In the final analysis, the reason for Alibaba's fall is that it has not always led the development of the e-commerce industry, but has simply become a follower of a new direction and a conservative of the old model.
Whether it is under the traditional e-commerce mechanism represented by capital and traffic, or under the new e-commerce mechanism represented by going overseas and sinking markets, Alibaba has never been able to find a breakthrough that can be used.
The investment in capital and flow has encountered Waterloo one after another, and the pursuit of Shein and TEMU in the overseas and sinking markets is a direct embodiment of such a phenomenon.
Obviously, when Alibaba, as an e-commerce company, began to lose its core essence and original value, such a fall was almost a certainty.
After experiencing the highlight moment of the mobile Internet era, Alibaba began to face more and more difficulties and problems.
As a result, we saw the departure of Ma Yun's successor, Daniel Zhang, and the return of the old Ali people represented by Wu Yongming and Tsai Chongxin.
After the adjustment and polishing of Wu and Cai, Alibaba began to focus continuously, refocused, and began to shrink and shrink again.
In the end, Alibaba began to be its original self and began to truly become an e-commerce company again.
As a result, when Wu Yongming and Tsai Chongxin transformed Alibaba, we saw the occurrence of Taobao's deep embrace of AI and the joint Arrow Yuan Technology, and we saw the emergence of a series of representative events such as Dai Shan's resignation, Yu Yongfu's resignation, and Hou Yi's retirement.
Everything tells us that Alibaba is doing itself.
It is foreseeable that when Wu Yongming and Tsai Chongxin's transformation of Alibaba becomes deeper and more perfect, it will further focus on the e-commerce business, so as to truly transform Alibaba from a large and scattered ecosystem into a focused and pure AI e-commerce company.
When Taobao joined hands with Jianyuan Technology to send express delivery with rockets, we are almost certain that Taobao needs such a "rocket", which tells us that Taobao not only began to return to the track of e-commerce, but also looked for new breakthroughs in the new battle of e-commerce.
The curtain of a new development of the e-commerce industry is slowly opening.
A new continent of e-commerce is being discovered
Looking back at the detours that Alibaba has taken in the past, it is not difficult to see that it is only blindly continuing and amplifying the Internet model, without grasping the general trend of industry development, which is the key reason why its development has fallen into a passive situation.
The Alibaba we see for the creation of the ecology, and the dependence of Alibaba on capital that we see, all show us this point.
However, when Alibaba began to continue to take the Internet-style e-commerce model to the extreme, the Internet era was moving away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Whether it is the derivation and emergence of new technologies represented by blockchain, metaverse, and AI, or the germination and development of new models represented by decentralization and decentralization, all of them tell us that the Internet is rapidly moving away, and new continents are waiting to be discovered.
When Baidu begins to gradually become familiar with the road of AI, and when OpenAI continues to subvert people's imagination with AI applications, for Alibaba, a new continent of e-commerce also needs to be discovered.
When Alibaba's market value was surpassed by Pinduoduo, Ma Yun once posted on the intranet that Alibaba will embrace the era of AI e-commerce.
Although at that time, people were not yet clear about what the so-called AI e-commerce was like, but like Baidu embracing AI, fully devoting itself to the new battle of AI and using AI to find a new antidote to e-commerce, perhaps, is the key to truly let Alibaba get rid of the previous development decline and enter a new stage of development.
So, when the new helmsmen represented by Wu Yongming and Tsai Chongxin began to take the helm of Alibaba, what we saw was their comprehensive embrace of AI and the continuous use of young people.
Today, Alibaba has found a new continent for e-commerce.
If we summarize and define such a new continent, new technologies dominated by AI and hard technology are undoubtedly a major aspect.
This time, Taobao joined hands with Jianyuan Technology to send express delivery with rockets, which is a direct embodiment of such a development trend.
It is foreseeable that as Alibaba continues to embrace new technologies represented by AI, we will also see more new transformations for e-commerce with new technologies as the starting point.
The new role of e-commerce is being shaped
Through the development process of Alibaba, it is very obvious that the so-called e-commerce is actually a platform and center for matchmaking and intermediary.
For Alibaba, in order to grow, it must constantly match and mediate the buyer and seller market, so that they can achieve transactions quickly and efficiently.
As a result, we see the continuous extension of Alibaba's boundaries, and we see the continuous expansion of Alibaba's ecosystem.
However, when the Internet gradually becomes a standard, especially when e-commerce as a matchmaker and intermediary role, it begins to lose its original function and role, and the previous development model begins to lose its effectiveness.
In order to find new markets and achieve new development, we have seen that many e-commerce players represented by Alibaba and Pinduoduo have begun to choose to go overseas, trying to continue the development model of traditional e-commerce by finding new traffic dividends in new markets.
Although such a model can temporarily alleviate the plight of e-commerce, and to a certain extent, allow e-commerce to find a new breakthrough in development, but only to define e-commerce in the traditional role, the current booming overseas projects will also enter the same development dead end.
In order to completely change the development dilemma of the e-commerce industry, it is necessary to find a new role for e-commerce, so that e-commerce can find a new breakthrough in development.
For Taobao, a subsidiary of Alibaba, in fact, such a development idea is also needed.
When Taobao joined hands with Jianyuan Technology to start sending express delivery with rockets, what we need to see more is that Taobao is no longer a platform for matchmaking and intermediary in a simple sense, but has become an existence that goes deep into the e-commerce industry, truly transforms e-commerce through its own personal participation, and truly finds a new direction for the development of e-commerce.
It is foreseeable that in the future, there will not be an e-commerce platform in the strict sense, but more involved in the actual operation process of the upstream and downstream of the industry, and through the deep integration of virtual and physical, a new existence that will bring new development momentum to the upstream and downstream of the industry.
Whether it is for Taobao, or for JD.com, or even for Pinduoduo, how to find a new role and open a new development breakthrough with such a new role is the key to their new development.
A new battle for e-commerce is opening
When Taobao began to use rockets to send express delivery, what we saw more was that the so-called e-commerce war situation had not really ended, and the pattern of the e-commerce market had not yet been established.
This is just as Alibaba occupied the top spot in e-commerce in the past, and JD.com and Pinduoduo constantly challenged it.
Now, Alibaba is using such a way to convey to the outside world the reality that the new war situation of e-commerce is opening.
It is foreseeable that in the future, a new e-commerce battle will be opened, and the pattern of the e-commerce industry will change again.
If we regard the battle of the e-commerce industry in the previous stage as an existence dominated by the carve-up of traffic, then the new e-commerce war will be an existence dominated by the carve-up of stock.
At such a stage, what really tests players is no longer the ability to obtain traffic, but the ability to find new development breakthroughs in the stock era.
So, in the era of stock, how do e-commerce players get new increments?
In my opinion, one of the most important points is to use new technologies and new models as a breakthrough to continuously provide products and services that users and consumers really need, so that more users and consumers can choose their own capabilities.
This time, Taobao joined hands with Jianyuan Technology, in fact, what we see more is that the new battle situation of e-commerce lies more in the transformation of itself and more in the upgrading of itself, so as to find new increments and dividends in the stock era.
Therefore, we might as well boldly imagine that in the future, the key to the success or failure of the new e-commerce situation lies in how the players represented by Alibaba, Jingdong and Pinduoduo can constantly transform themselves with the help of new technologies and new models, and constantly let e-commerce derive new products and services, so as to meet the new needs of users and consumers.
For Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo, whoever can transform themselves with new technologies and new models, and who can find new increments and new dividends in the stock era, will be able to win in such a new battle.
If we regard the e-commerce situation in the Internet era as a battle in the incremental era, then in the post-Internet era, the war situation of e-commerce is a battle situation in the stock era.
For Taobao, in fact, such a "rocket" is needed.
With such a "rocket", it satisfies the needs of users and consumers for shopping timeliness.
What is obvious is that it can cut a piece of cake in the era of stock in such a way.
epilogue
For Taobao, which is at a crossroads, and even the entire Alibaba, such a "rocket" is actually needed.
Through such a "rocket", it conveys more to the outside world that the development of Taobao and Alibaba no longer relies on traditional models and traditional technologies.
When Taobao began to use rockets to deliver express delivery, what we need to see is that the new continent of e-commerce is being discovered, the new role of e-commerce is being shaped, and the new battle of e-commerce is beginning to begin.
With this as a start, the new reshuffle of the e-commerce industry may begin to be staged again.
It is not yet known who will kill the deer!
-ENDS-
Author: Meng Yonghui, senior writer, columnist, industry research expert, well-known KOL, digital economist.