Alibaba to serve 2 billion consumers globally by 2036

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba to serve 2 billion consumers globally by 2036, indicates its strategic long-term plan. This announcement came as Alibaba announced a 75% increase in net income to $20 billion (RMB140 billion) in the year ending March 31, 2020.

Alibaba’s strategic plan for the next five years includes serving over 1 million domestic Chinese customers, facilitating $1.4 trillion (RMB10 trillion) worth of consumption through the platform by 2025. This objective will eventually facilitate Alibaba to serve 2 billion consumers globally by 2036, as part of its long-term vision.

“During this past fiscal year, despite the impact of the pandemic, Alibaba still delivered on a strategic goal that we had established five years ago, which was to surpass $1 trillion in GMV. This was an important milestone for Alibaba, especially in the context of $6 trillion in total annual retail sales of consumer goods in China today. Our next goal is to serve more than 1 billion consumers in China and facilitate more than RMB10 trillion of consumption on our platforms in the next five years as we continue on the path of globalisation,” stated Daniel Zhang, chairman and CEO, Alibaba Group Holding.

Commenting on the long-term vision of Alibaba to serve 2 billion consumers globally by 2036, Zhang added “Our longer-term goals are to serve 2 billion consumers globally, create 100 million jobs and provide the necessary infrastructure to support 10 million small businesses to become profitable on our platforms by 2036.”

Towards meeting its goal to serve 2 billion global customers, Alibaba is ramping up international capabilities, with AliExpress opening new direct flights from China to Russia, AliExpress in Spain offering logistics services to 3P sellers and Alibaba-backed Zomato in India branching out into alcohol sales. Alibaba has also unveiled a series of initiatives to support traders in cross-border commerce, increasingly enabling Chinese sellers to access broader Asian and Western markets, stated a blog by Edge by Ascential.

“Even in a highly uncertain world, we can always find some certainty. We know without a doubt that the ongoing digital transformation of our economy and society will be unstoppable…COVID-19 has made us fundamentally re-evaluate our relationship with the world around us. It has catalysed the development of brand-new digital solutions in life, work, education, business management and public services. Today, digitalisation is the new norm,” Zhang concluded.

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