Taobao

So I did a video on the Chinese underground or the black market for... like API tokens.

So I went on to Chinese Taobao and bought a whole bunch of tokens.

And I thought like, is this actually, Claude, is this actually open AI? And in some cases it certainly was.

And in other cases, they were just like, putting a cheaper model on it.

Living in China, that didn't last long.

Everything on Taobao is so affordable, even cheap.

There are so many creative, fun, random things.

And it's always like, okay, just one more thing.

You're listening to MoneyFM 89.3, and it's now time for a special on-the-go episode of Under the Radar with me, Chua Tien Tien, where we bring you on-the-ground reports of key business events, launches, features, or developers' days.

This time, I report from Hong Kong, where Chinese e-commerce giant Taobao announced one of its most significant strategic shifts for its overseas business in recent years to focus on the quality and distinctiveness of products listed on its platforms.

To support the shift, Taobao embarked on a comprehensive upgrade to its cross-border shopping experience, with expanded direct access worldwide to curated stores and products from China.

Taobao noted that the new strategy is backed by substantial investments in the region.

adding that it spent over RM100 million on marketing efforts alone in Singapore for this year's single-state campaign period.

But how exactly does the new direction prepare Taobao for its next phase of growth in both Asia-Pacific and Singapore, where e-commerce competition is intensifying of late? I posed the question to Taobao's regional leadership for more.

I'm reporting from Alibaba's office in Hong Kong, where e-commerce giant

Taobao announced one of its most significant strategy shifts for its overseas business in recent years.

You're listening to MoneyFM 89.3, and it's now time for a special on-the-go episode of Under the Radar with me, Chua Tien Tien, where we bring you on-the-ground reports of key business events, launches, features, or developers' days.

This time, I report from Hong Kong, where Chinese e-commerce giant Taobao announced one of its most significant strategic shifts for its overseas business in recent years to focus on the quality and distinctiveness of products listed on its platforms.

To support the shift, Taobao embarked on a comprehensive upgrade to its cross-border shopping experience, with expanded direct access worldwide to curated stores and products from China.

Taobao noted that the new strategy is backed by substantial investments in the region.

adding that it spent over RM100 million on marketing efforts alone in Singapore for this year's single-state campaign period.

But how exactly does the new direction prepare Taobao for its next phase of growth in both Asia-Pacific and Singapore, where e-commerce competition is intensifying of late? I posed the question to Taobao's regional leadership for more.

I'm reporting from Alibaba's office in Hong Kong, where e-commerce giant

Taobao announced one of its most significant strategy shifts for its overseas business in recent years.

You'd

think after 20 odd years, it's just buy things online, isn't it? But in China, specifically with Alibaba's Taobao, something really fundamentally massive seems to be shifting.

It feels less like an update and more like a total change in how online shopping is even conceived.

That's exactly right.

I mean, Taobao has been the big player for, what, over two decades? Yeah.

Basically China's original online marketplace.

Yeah, the giant.

So our mission for this deep dive is to get past the surface stuff, the changes you might just see in the app, and really dig into the why.

So you've got people that will complain if your product is priced too highly in China, but then to the person that just bought a bag at 25,000 RMB and you go and cut it to 20,000 RMB, that's a bit of a slap in the face, right? It's an investment you made and that investment is worth less money.

Taobao and Tmall, they have the for some like special products and brands means that if you buy this product and then within 14 days, the price dropped drastically, then the platform would refund you.

It's a very nice policy, but, um, On the other hand, for Gucci, I did just come across some people saying that right now with Gucci's price dropped, suddenly I like it again.

And that got me thinking, right? Because before Demna, people loved him when he was at Balenciaga.