Alibaba in no ‘hurry’ to pursue IPOs, promises to ‘reignite’ e-commerce unit

Revenue at Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG), the company’s core e-commerce group, grew just 2% year-on-year for the final quarter of 2023, reaching 29.07 billion yuan ($17.98 billion). Alibaba’s overall quarterly revenue rose by 5% to reach 260.35 billion yuan ($36.61 billion), below analyst estimates.

“Our top priority is to reignite the growth of our two core businesses: e-commerce and cloud computing,” Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu told analysts.

Wu contineud that Alibaba needed to make targeted investments in “price competitiveness, service and user experience,” in a statement published Wednesday. The company will increase the selection of branded and direct-from-manufacturer products on the TTG platform and focus on delivering “attractive prices for quality products.”

Alibaba is grappling with a tough market. Chinese consumers are growing more cautious about spending amid macroeconomic headwinds, turning to cheaper products and services.

But the company is also contending with increased competition from players like PDD Holdings, owner of Pinduoduo and Temu, and ByteDance, parent company of TikTok and its Chinese equivalent Douyin.

PDD Holdings reported 94% year-on-year growth for the quarter ending Sep. 30, 2023. By comparison, Alibaba reported 9% growth in that same quarter. (PDD has yet to report results for the final quarter of 2023).

In China, Pinduoduo has grown as a community-buying platform that allows consumers to make group orders in bulk to lower costs.

ByteDance is also encroaching on Alibaba’s turf, particularly by expanding into live-streaming…