The Business Model of Taobao

Taobao (taobao.com) was established by Alibaba in 2003 and has since gained popularity as one of the most renown online shopping and retail platforms in China.

Users can sell and buy products from other customers and also list their own products on the company's website. Taobao is committed to helping people live better lives by promoting online products that are "authentic, affordable, and on-demand" and providing a wide range of products. By investing in Taobao’s expansion, the company has increased its scale and number of users, resulting in a transformation from a regular C2C market into a retail circle. This circle consists of C2C, group purchasing, distribution, auction and other e-commerce models. The platform also provides basic services to support their customers develop markets, build

brands and achieve industrial upgrading. Taobao is divided in Taobao marketplace for c2c activities, Tmall (also Tmall Global) (for medium to large businesses), a b2c platform and eTao, a search engine for online shopping.