On the evening of May 14th, Alibaba Group released its latest financial report, in which Taobao and Tmall's performance comprehensively exceeded market expectations, becoming an important highlight of the season.
According to the financial report, as of March 31, the total transaction volume (GMV) and order volume of Taobao and Tmall products both achieved double-digit growth year-on-year, with 88VIP members exceeding 35 million, maintaining double-digit growth.
Driven by strong growth in the number of purchasing users and transaction frequency, Taotian Group achieved a revenue of 93.216 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4%, and a year-on-year increase of 5% in customer management fee (CMR) revenue, which is expected to meet the expectations of the comprehensive supermarket market.
The financial report points out that "we are increasing strategic investment in areas such as price competitive product supply, customer service, membership system benefits, and technology, aiming to improve user experience, thereby increasing consumer retention rates and increasing purchase frequency.". Based on this strategy, Taobao and Tmall have launched intensive reform measures this quarter, increasing investment in related fields.
Starting from the end of December last year, Taobao has launched a series of measures to improve the consumer service experience, including a refund only policy, free shipping services in Xinjiang, use first, pay later, upgrading the store experience rating system, and a comprehensive transformation of the web version, in order to comprehensively optimize the user experience. For 88VIP and other member users, Taobao has also introduced value-added services such as unlimited returns, free shipping, and points for cash red envelopes, deepening the product optimization strategy centered on user experience.
This is also reflected intuitively at the level of Taobao apps. Many consumers have found that the three main channels on the first screen of mobile Taobao have been changed to two channels, and the area has been reduced. It also supports users to customize the shortcut entrance of the homepage. Taobao has also expanded the proportion of recommended areas for product double waterfall flow, and the opening speed of the app has also been improved. Industry insiders believe that as a national app serving billions of users, Taobao's ability to launch so many changes in the short term is breaking through internal barriers, and the user experience has been elevated to an unprecedented level.
While improving the user experience, the supply of cost-effective products is also the focus of Taobao's investment this season. In January of this year, the "Taoyuan Factory" business, which focuses on direct supply from source factories, was fully upgraded. It launched a new product commission incentive plan for industrial belt manufacturers and launched two major commission preferential policies, with a maximum discount of 95% and a maximum discount of 50% for ordinary products.
In addition, for branded products, Taobao launched its first "Billion Dollar Flash Sale Festival" in April with a subsidy of 10 billion yuan, continuously increasing the "real subsidy, real money saving" and offering an additional 30% discount on the basis of low prices across the entire network. The event attracted over 500 major brands and over 20 million items, achieving a full supply of cost-effective products from factory goods to high-end brands.
It is worth noting that Taobao and Tmall have achieved double-digit growth in GMV this season, while the burden on merchants has also been further reduced. Data shows that in order to help businesses reduce costs and increase efficiency, Taotian Group has successively released 10 AI management tools since 2024. In April, it announced that important business services, including business staff, customer service robots for small and medium-sized businesses, and image space, will be fully provided for free, helping businesses reduce operating costs. The benefits for small and medium-sized businesses are particularly significant.
In addition, Alibaba Mama's latest "full site promotion" has also become a powerful tool to improve the efficiency of product sales conversion, with the GMV of internally tested merchants increasing by 2.97 times year-on-year. The latest report from UBS shows that the conversion rate and return rate of merchants on Taobao and Tmall steadily improved in March, outperforming other traditional e-commerce platforms.
According to the store opening data released by Tmall in the first quarter of 2024, the number of new merchants has increased by 60% year-on-year, with sports and outdoor, smart home, health and wellness, pet exquisite care, trendy clothing, high-end skincare and other fields becoming new growth hotspots. The year-on-year growth rate of new merchants has exceeded 100%, and Taobao Tmall's position as the preferred platform for merchant brand management has been consolidated, and its commercial appeal continues to strengthen.