Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
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Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#2Particularly fascinating, that as a long time daily (hourly?) reader of HN I've never even heard of Taobao before today.
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#3I don't speak or read Chinese, but my guess is that not all of these sales were online, that for many (most?) the payment occurred in retail stores.
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#4Particularly fascinating, that as a long time daily (hourly?) reader of HN I've never even heard of Taobao before today.
China's web, while accessible via the "regular" internet (vs things like Iran's and NK's version of the internet) is really an internet all to its own.
The average citizen in China does not use any foreign websites to do anything [citation needed]. All the services you and I consume online are replicated in China by Chinese companies. From Gmail to Yahoo!, from Facebook to twitter, from Amazon to eBay, from CNN to FOX.
It's really no surprise you haven't heard of this (I haven't either). Very few such Chinese sites even attempt at marketing themselves out of mainland China (notable exemption being the original Alibaba marketplace to great effect, Taobao is apparently a different site by the same group). It's fascinating how the internet has so effectively bridged other cultures while keeping others at arm's length - even when connected and technically accessible.
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#5Particularly fascinating, that as a long time daily (hourly?) reader of HN I've never even heard of Taobao before today.
Taobao is awesome. The barrier is a bit higher without being able to read Chinese, but with someone to help you navigate the final portions, it's a damn good deal. Way more relaxing than going to the markets and getting mobbed.
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#6Article forgets to mention that it was singles day in China, and Taobao did a special promotion for it. Still a good record to hol.
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#7Particularly fascinating, that as a long time daily (hourly?) reader of HN I've never even heard of Taobao before today.
Taobao is fantastic for buying anything China makes (which is almost everything). It is part auction house, part business-to-business sales. There are even quite a few services to get around the language barrier.
A word of caution, if something goes wrong your money is almost certainly lost. Sometimes the firm that you bought it from has folded (I've had this happen in the time it took to deliver the order) to the seller sending bricks. It is buyer beware to the extreme but usually for the price you are paying you can afford to lose the occasional shipment and still save money.
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#8I don't speak or read Chinese, but my guess is that not all of these sales were online, that for many (most?) the payment occurred in retail stores.
nope - taobao is a 100% online store. It's a single shop, where individuals or big brands can setup stores. AFAIK they have no physical outlets at all, and everything goes through their own custom payment portal called Zhi Fu Bao (支付报). That's why it's so incredible!
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#9Article forgets to mention that it was singles day in China, and Taobao did a special promotion for it. Still a good record to hol.
first sentence?
Re: Taobao.com breaks record for online sales in a day - $3.1 billion USD
#10Does anyone know what they did in 2011 from a sales perspective? They are a marketplace for small retailers, so I'm curious what their margins are or commissions they take. What % of the total online commerce for that day was this? Also are these all credit card transactions or are they COD? Other forms of payments? Is taobao handling all the payment transactions? sorry for all the questions, I don't read chinese so I can't find all this info on my own.