It is important for the fashion industry to learn about the success of Alibaba.
Alibaba Group was founded in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma, a former English teacher from Hangzhou, China.
The founders started their company to champion small businesses, in the belief that the Internet would level the playing field by enabling small enterprises to leverage innovation and technology to grow and compete more effectively in the domestic and global economies.
Alibaba has grown larger and stronger ever since. Alibaba.com, the primary company of Alibaba, is the world's largest online business-to-business trading platform for small businesses (2015).
Here is a portion of the company's timeline:
In December 1998, Jack Ma and 17 other founders released their first online marketplace, named "Alibaba Online".
From 1999 to 2000, Alibaba Group raised a total of US$25 million from SoftBank, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity and some other institutions.
In May 2003, Taobao was founded as a consumer e-commerce platform.
In December 2004, Alipay, which started as a service on the Taobao platform, became a separate business.
In October 2005, Alibaba Group took over the operation of China Yahoo! as part of its strategic partnership with Yahoo! Inc.
In November 2007, Alibaba.com successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
In April 2008, Taobao established Taobao Mall (Tmall.com), a retail website, to complement its C2C marketplace.
In September 2008, Alibaba Group R&D Institute was established.
In September 2009, Alibaba Group established Alibaba Cloud Computing in conjunction with its 10-year anniversary.
In October 2010, Taobao beta-launched eTao as a shopping search engine.
In June 2011, Alibaba Group reorganized Taobao into three separate companies: Taobao Marketplace, Taobao Mall (Tmall.com) and eTao.
In July 2011, Alibaba Cloud Computing launched its first self-developed mobile operating system, Aliyun OS over K-Touch Cloud Smartphone.
In January 2012, Tmall.com changed its Chinese name as part of a rebranding exercise.
In March 2014, Alibaba group said it will begin the process of filing for an initial public offering in the U.S.
Prior to its IPO filing on Form F-1 as a foreign issuer in the U.S., Alibaba undertook an aggressive acquisition spree – previously atypical for the company – acquiring numerous majority and minority stakes in companies including micro-blogging service Weibo, China Vision Holdings, and car sharing service Lyft, as well as smart remote app developer Peel Technologies.
On 6 May 2014, Alibaba Group filed registration documents to go public in the U.S. in what may be one of the biggest initial public offerings in American history.
In June 2014, Alibaba acquired the Chinese mobile internet firm UCWeb.
On 19 September 2014, Alibaba's shares (BABA) began trading on the NYSE.
On 2 February 2015, Alibaba announces that it has acquired a $590m minority stake in the Chinese smartphone maker Meizu.
Above is only a portion of the companies accomplishments and history. To learn more, you can visit their website at Alibaba Group.
Alibaba.com is the world's largest marketplace for global trade and the leading provider of online marketing services for importers and exporters. It is the place for buyers and suppliers to find trade opportunities and promote their businesses online. Alibaba.com is not a trading company but rather an online business platform, where you can search or post information to find potential business partners.
AliExpress: Online Shopping for low cost fashion, beauty products, jewelry, shoes, and much more. Purchase from Chinese suppliers and receive merchandise internationally.
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