If being big was enough, Alibaba would already have it nailed. In its December quarter, reported yesterday, the value of goods transacted on its platform rose by one half from a year ago, to an incomprehensible $126bn. Revenues, alas, rose only 40 per cent. More sales are closing on mobile devices, and Alibaba’s profitability on these deals is below that of desktops. What’s more investment in “user experience” (oh, that) crimped the company’s margins. The shares fell 10 per cent.
Margins are not the biggest Alibaba story this week. On Tuesday, China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) released findings of an investigation into ecommerce sites, performed last autumn. SAIC says less than two-fifths of the products it bought on Alibaba’s Taobao site arrived as advertised. Alibaba filed a complaint against the head of the SAIC’s online commerce department, saying he lacks objectivity. The SAIC then revealed that it had been investigating Alibaba during its listing process, but had not released the report at the time.
Alibaba controls an estimated 80 per cent of the Chinese eretail market. It cannot avoid dodgy goods altogether. It has taken high-profile steps to combat counterfeits, spending $160m since the beginning of 2013 and employing a team of 2,000 people to police its sites. The issue could be political — with the authorities sending a gentle reminder about who is boss.
Alibaba employs over 34,000 people directly. It has 70,000 “Taobao Village” merchants, which bring ecommerce and jobs to the countryside. Last year, the company announced it would invest $1.6bn over the next three to five years to boost online shopping in rural areas. The potentially damaging investigation indicates that the company’s size, success and central position in the consumer economy — which China is trying to promote — do not give immunity from regulatory oversight. Alibaba is big and important but it is not inviolable. Investors should keep this firmly in mind.
如果只要规模大就足够了，那么阿里巴巴(Alibaba)就什么都不用担心了。按照该公司昨日发布的业绩报告，在截至去年12月的这个季度里，其平台上交易的商品价值同比上升一半，达到不可思议的1260亿美元。可惜营收仅同比增长40%。更多的销售在移动设备上完成，阿里巴巴在这些交易上的盈利水平低于在桌面电脑上完成的交易。这还不算，对“用户体验”的投资压低了该公司的利润率。昨日阿里巴巴股价下跌10%。
利润率不是本周有关阿里巴巴的最大新闻。周二，中国国家工商行政管理总局发布了去年秋天调查电商网站的结果。国家工商总局表示，其从阿里巴巴旗下的淘宝网(Taobao)购买的商品中，只有不到五分之二是正品。阿里巴巴提交了针对国家工商总局在线商务主管部门负责人的投诉，称他缺乏客观性。国家工商总局随即透露，它曾在阿里巴巴上市过程中调查该公司，只是当时没有发布报告。
阿里巴巴控制着中国电子零售市场的大约80%。它不可能完全避免有问题的商品。该公司已采取高调措施打击假冒商品，自2013年初以来为此投入1.6亿美元，并雇用了一支2000人的团队来监督旗下网站。这个问题可能是政治性质的——当局发出了一个“友情提醒”，希望企业明白谁是真正的老大。
阿里巴巴直接雇用逾3.4万人。它拥有7万“淘宝村”商家，为农村地区带来电子商务和就业机会。去年，该公司宣布将在未来三到五年投资16亿美元，以提振农村地区的在线购物。具有潜在破坏性的调查表明，该公司的规模、成功以及在（中国官方正试图促进的）消费者经济中所占的核心地位，并不能使其免受监管部门的监督。阿里巴巴大而重要，但它不是不可侵犯的。投资者应牢记这一点。