Alibaba Expands Global Market By Reaching To Chinese Outside PRC

The trading company Alibaba taps into the Chinese market outside the mainland, with its reach extending from Singapore to San Francisco. The move is related to its plans for global expansion.

Taobao Marketplace, launched by Alibaba in 2003, is an e-commerce website used by the Chinese people to buy hard-to-find items from novelty cakes to motorbike accessories. The site offers items for a relatively low market-price.

Alibaba banks on its popularity in China with its 1.35 billion population. The company is fast approaching to be the largest IPO in history as it dominates the world's biggest market.

Jack Ma, Alibaba's Chairman, hopes the company to reach people of Chinese heritage outside the People's Republic of China. With a market spanning worldwide, the company will tap into the regions dominated by Ebay and Amazon such as Europe, Asia and the U.S.

To be a global player, Alibaba needs to tap the market outside the homeland, and reaching out to the Chinese people is a good strategy. They no longer have to build a brand as it's already established. But they eventually need to include in their scope of market the non-Chinese population.

Besides relying on word-of-mouth advertising, they also use advertising in taxis and buses in countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The site has even reached Japan as one customer marveled at the website's delivery efficiency and the availability of eccentric and unique items.

There are about 50 million Chine people leaving outside the homeland, and analysts believe it's proper for Alibaba to reach out to this market.

Alibaba is responsible for more than half of China's package deliveries as consumers can have direct access to manufacturers.

The company's IPO is setting out to be larger than Facebook, with its value reaching $162.7 billion. Experts believe the company can raise it to more than $21.1 billion, making it larger than Visa Inc.'s $19.7 billion.