The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Alibaba, Tencent and Amazon as e-Commerce Platforms

Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount

Register as a Premium EducATOr at hbsp.harvard.edu, plan a course, and save your students up to 50% with your academic discount.

Publication Date:
August 13, 2015

Industry:
Media

Industry:
Technology

Source:
ivey Publishing

A nascent women’s apparel online store on Tmall, China’s largest business-to-consumer retail platform operated by Alibaba Group, was just beginning to establish itself on the online market utilizing the tools and services provided by Tmall to develop and operate its business. Within four months after the business was launched, Tmall unexpectedly released a new policy which significantly increased the annual service fee and cash deposit for individual stores. This new policy, which was to come into effect in less than three months following the announcement, could render the business of small- and medium-sized e-commerce stores, such as the new women’s apparel start-up, on Tmall unprofitable. The management team of the fledgling clothing business had to reconsider whether to renew their contract with Tmall or transfer their store to one of the alternative online platforms, such as Alibaba Group’s Taobao Marketplace, Tencent Group’s Shop.QQ or Amazon.com’s Amazon.cn.

If you’d like to share this PDF, you can purchase copyright permissions by increasing the quantity.

Copyright © 2021 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Alibaba, Tencent and Amazon as e-Commerce Platforms

Source