Chinese giant Internet conglomerate Alibaba has its sights set on
global domination.
Jack Ma, founder and CEO of the group, revealed during a meeting with
the Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang plans to launch an international
version of the company’s online marketplace Taobao, although he did
not specify when the roll out would occur.
The move comes not long after a group of high-end retailers in the US
teamed up with Alipay, China’s largest third-party payment service to
bring the annual America retail holiday ‘Black Friday’ to Chinese
consumers.
US retailers who will be participating in the first ‘Black Friday’
promotion in China include Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue
and Bloomingdale’s. The ePass payment option available with Alipay
will enable Chinese shoppers the possibility to purchase items in
yuan.
“Alipay is delighted to partner with Borderfree and Shoprunner to help
leading US retailers introduce ‘Black Friday’ to China and reach out
to eager new customers through well-managed localized promotions,
direct marketing and social media campaigns,” commented Rebecca Lui,
director of marketing and public relations for Alipay US.
Alibaba previously indicated that the time was right to introduce
‘Black Friday’ to China and to start focusing on international trade
and expansion, following the group’s highly successful IPO in the US
this fall, which raised 21.8 billion dollars.