Alibaba's Online Sales Jump Despite Slowing China Growth

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 27 October 2015 18:09 IST
Transactions on the platforms of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba surged 28 percent in the September quarter, the company said Tuesday, despite slowing growth in the world's second largest economy.

Alibaba's closely-watched gross merchandise volume (GMV) a measure of value for online sales was $112 billion (roughly Rs. 7,27,535 crores) in the three months ended in September, the company said in a statement.

"This was a great quarter for Alibaba Group, with strong growth across the board and particular out-performance in mobile," Alibaba chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said.

After years of breakneck growth, China's Communist leaders are looking to transition the economy to a "new normal" of slower, more sustainable expansion, driven by consumer demand rather than the investment and exports of the past.

Advertisement

Companies such as Alibaba which is often compared to Amazon and eBay of the United States, and holds more than 90 percent of the consumer-to-consumer market in China are crucial to the process.

Advertisement

But global markets have been roiled over concerns that China's new economy is not growing quickly enough to make up for stagnation in older industries.

Alibaba's New York-listed stock has fallen nearly 40 percent since November as a proxy for its home economy.

Advertisement

The GMV growth figure represented a slowdown from the 34 percent recorded in the quarter ended in June.

China logged its worst economic performance since the global financial crisis in the third quarter with gross domestic product rising just 6.9 percent its lowest level in six years, prompting the government to cut interest rates just days ago.

Advertisement

"Alibaba's markets in first- and second-tier, as well third-tier cities are now saturated and facing fierce competition from other e-commerce providers," Zhang Yi, chief executive of consultancy iiMedia Research Group, told AFP before the results were released.

"Consumption is slowing down because the economic downturn has affected people's salary levels," he said.

Alibaba's Taobao platform dominates the consumer-to-consumer market, while its Tmall platform is believed to command more than half the Chinese market for business-to-consumer transactions.

Investors have sold the stock down 36 percent from its peak in November, far from the lofty valuations it commanded when it listed last year as the world's biggest ever public offering. It closed at $76.35 on Monday.

Revenue in the September quarter rose 32 percent year-on-year to $3.49 billion (roughly Rs. 22,670 crores), Alibaba said, beating expectations for CNY 21.3 billion in a survey of analysts by Bloomberg News.

Net profit excluding investment gains surged 36 percent to $1.46 billion (roughly Rs. 9,483 crores), the company said.

 

Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2026 hub.

Further reading: Alibaba, Internet
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Top OTT Releases of the Week: De De Pyaar De 2, Akhanda 2, Mask, and More
  2. Redmi Note 15 5G Goes on Sale in India: See Price, Launch Offers
  3. Lava Says Next Smartphone Will Sport a Xiaomi 17 Pro-Inspired Feature
  4. Realme 16 Pro Series Goes on Sale in India for the First Time Today
  5. Amazon's Great Republic Day Sale Will Start in India on This Date
  6. Oppo Reno 15c 5G Launched in India With 7,000mAh Battery: See Price
  7. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Could Get This Much-Awaited Fast Charging Upgrade
  8. New Research Suggests the Universe Could Be Lopsided, Raising Cosmology Questions
  1. Meta’s Reality Labs Chief Reportedly Summons Team for a Major All-Hands Meeting Next Week
  2. Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout Will Let Users Search, Purchase Products Without Leaving the Chat Window
  3. Samsung’s Bixby on OneUI 8.5 Said to Be Powered by DeepSeek, Perplexity AI Features
  4. Elon Musk’s X Limits Grok AI Image Generation to Paid Subscribers Following Deepfake Backlash: Report
  5. Is Tim Cook Leaving Apple? New Reports Suggest CEO May Step Down
  6. NASA May Launch Historic Artemis 2 Moon Mission in Just One Month, Astronauts Ready for Flight
  7. Amazon Great Republic Day Sale 2026 Date Announced: See Bank Discounts, Offers
  8. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Now Streaming Online: Everything You Need to Know
  9. Honor Magic 8 RSR Porsche Design Launch Date and Specifications Leaked
  10. Oppo Reno 15c 5G Launched in India With 7,000mAh Battery, Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC: Price, Features
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.