Smart Business

APPENDIX B

THE EVOLUTION OF TAOBAO AS A SMART ECOSYSTEM

Alibaba’s retail platforms tell an unprecedented story in the annals of business history. In barely ten years, a fully functioning retail economy emerged in an online environment, complete with an array of business functions and associated independent actors. This book’s core arguments and case studies have sampled from the history of Alibaba and Taobao. However, readers interested in the larger strategic evolution of the marketplace may wish to examine the platform diachronically.

This appendix will track the growth of Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplaces (exemplified by Taobao, the first and still the biggest marketplace, though henceforth I’ll use the name Taobao to include related retail ...