A01 chaf6542 06 se fm indd

punchout catalogue

  where access through the firewall is used to access 

catalogues either on a supplier site or at an intermediary site, ideally within a standard for‑

mat. One of the benefits of linking to an intermediary site such as a B2B exchange is that this 

has done the work of collecting data from different suppliers and producing it in a consistent 

format.    

 

  

  Punchout  catalogue 

  A  purchasing  company 

accesses a dynamic  real‑ 

 time catalogue hosted by 

a supplier or intermediary 

containing detailed 

product information, 

pricing and product 

images.   

 Mini Case Study 7.3 

 The Alibaba Group is one of the leading B2B e‑commerce companies. It was founded in 1999 by 18 people 

led by Jack Ma, a former English teacher from Hangzhou, China who has aspired to help make the Internet 

accessible, trustworthy and beneficial for everyone. The privately held Alibaba Group, including its affiliated 

entities, employs some 24,000 people around the world and has more than 70 offices in Greater China, 

India, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

  Alibaba.com  is a marketplace connecting small and  medium‑  sized buyers and suppliers from China and 

around the world. Its web presence includes an international marketplace ( www.alibaba.com ) focussing on 

global importers and exporters. As of 31 December 2012, the platform had around 36.7 million registered 

users from more than 240 countries and regions and showcased more than 2.8 million supplier storefronts. 

 In addition to many consumer marketplaces, payment systems and search engines for its primary audi‑

ence in China, it also runs a China marketplace ( www.1688.com ) which focuses on suppliers and buyers 

trading domestically in China. As of 31 December 2012, the platform had around 77.7 million registered 

users and showcased more than 8.5 million supplier storefronts. 

 From a launch in 1999 the marketplaces have a community of more than 24 million registered users and 

over 255,000 paying members. In November 2007, Alibaba launched on the Hong Kong stock exchange 

and raised HK$13.1 billion (US$1.7 billion) in gross proceeds before offering expenses, making it the largest 

Internet IPO (initial public offering) in Asia and the second largest globally. 

 Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba ( Figure   7.6   ), first saw the Internet in 1995 when he went to Seattle as an 

interpreter for a trade delegation and a friend showed him the Internet. They searched for the word ‘beer’ on 

Yahoo and discovered that there was no data about China. They decided to launch a website and registered 

the name China Pages. 

 Mr Ma borrowed $2,000 to set up his first company and at the time knew nothing about personal com‑

puters or emails and had never touched a keyboard before. He described the experience as a ‘blind man 

riding on the back of a blind tiger’. 

 Initially, the business did not fare well, since it was a part of China Telecom and Jack Ma reflects that 

‘everything we suggested, they turned us down; it was like an elephant and an ant’. 

 Alibaba provides a global market for SMEs 

 B2B  marketplaces 

   Focus  on  

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