General
Millennials are the driving force behind Taobao Marketplace, with more than 70 percent of buyers in their 20s and 30s, according to Chris Tung, chief marketing officer at Alibaba Group.
“As users continue to engage with the platform in more meaningful ways, we are fostering next-generation consumption features, such as virtual reality, to transcend the overall user experience,” he said in a media statement during the Taobao Maker Festival held recently at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Center.
The festival celebrates Taobao merchants by showcasing creative ideas and designs to the world, including gadgets, fashion and high-tech products. The festivities also include various performances by artists, music groups and celebrities from across Asia.
Created in 2003 as an online shopping destination for Chinese consumers, Taobao Marketplace has evolved into an interactive lifestyle platform driven by a young consumer population who wants to do more than just shop.
“It is a destination for innovators, entrepreneurs and creatives to showcase and experiment amongst a community of 423 million Chinese consumers on our China retail marketplaces that come to Mobile Taobao to explore, discover and be entertained,” explained Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group.
In 2010, Alibaba Group launched the Mobile Taobao app to transition its flagship C2C shopping platform to more a interactive platform to explore opportunities in mobile commerce.
Today, the Taobao platform supports millions of entrepreneurs across China with user engagement across e-commerce, digital media, travel, social and local services. On average , it has around 150 million daily active users on Mobile Taobao. Users launch the Taobao app an average of seven times per day and spend more than 20 minutes each day on the app. They browse an average of 19 products during a 24-hour period,
Moreover, mobile Taobao users post more than 20 million reviews and comments every day.
“We hope the Taobao Maker Festival will inspire young makers to continue innovating and reaching the world through the Taobao ecosystem,” Tung said.
