Interview: Alibaba UK boss on globalisation and being an online landlord

You’ve worked for high-profile retailers including Tesco, Walmart and Staples. What attracted you to Alibaba?

I’ve had the good fortune of working with some very formidable retailers but what we’ve always struggled with in the western world is achieving top-line growth. So to be working in an environment where the market is growing and innovation is rewarded is such an exciting opportunity.

My role allows me to champion British brands and give them a helping hand in entering and understanding the Chinese market. This allows me to bring together the strategy part of my career looking at international markets, growth opportunities and entry strategies, combined with building consumer relationships.

Working in a company that is so passionate about both means that I am able to talk to former colleagues about the opportunities in China strategically as well as demonstrate the infrastructure Alibaba has to make it a reality.

What are your priorities?

My role is about building relationships with retailers in the UK and ensuring they have the support they need to make accessing China a practical and feasible option, regardless of the size of their business.

We’re a relatively young company but at this stage globalisation is a significant and long-term priority for us.

“The rules of the game are changing in international retail expansion and it is causing a fundamental paradigm shift”

Amee Chande, Alibaba

Therefore, a big part of my job is finding where the pain points are for UK retailers entering China and extending Alibaba’s infrastructure and capabilities to address them so that we can connect Western Europe to Asia and the rest of the world.

Retail analysts have said Alibaba is a ‘short-term friend, long-term foe’ for UK retailers. What’s your assessment on that?

I think the opportunity Alibaba represents to UK retailers hinges on the access we offer to new markets and consumers.

We have demonstrated our growth and success as a partner to retailers small and large. To date, I think we’ve been pretty committed to that and it will continue to be our ultimate focus

Would you call Alibaba a marketplace rather than a retailer?

I think a better comparison would be Alibaba as the ecommerce equivalent of a retail landlord or shopping centre.

Shoppers come to us for an immersive shopping experience and our platform is almost taken for granted in that journey. However, our customers keep coming back because Alibaba is a trusted platform that gives them access to products and retailers that excite them.

We’re also constantly innovating with retailers to see how we can stretch our platform to offer the best experience possible for their customers.

This innovation combined with our technological capabilities mean that there are very few limits on what retailers can do within the proverbial four walls of the shopping space that we provide.

How resilient would Alibaba be if there was a real economic downturn in China?

The scale of China and the opportunity there is just enormous owing to the shift in the economy from being infrastructure based to consumer based, combined with the rapid growth of the middle class.

“There are very few limits on what retailers can do within the proverbial four walls of the shopping space that we provide”

Amee Chande, Alibaba

Even if the economy wasn’t growing I’d still be very confident that Alibaba would be catering to a demand that is just emerging and a shift in the economy there, which is leading to triple digit growth in consumption.

The shift in the size of the economy and growth of the population in China represents an opportunity for retailers like nothing that I have seen in my entire working career.

Why should UK retailers work with Alibaba?

We offer retailers access to a growing middle class in China with discretionary income to spend. Last year’s Singles’ Day is testament to this – in one day, Alibaba sales were comfortably five times more than the revenue for Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

The popularity of online retail in the region also means that brands can enter the Chinese market at relatively low cost. Within two years, more than 70% of Alibaba’s sales will come from a mobile device, which means that retailers can enter the market with no physical store space and little to no marketing spend.

The rules of the game are changing in international retail expansion and it is causing a fundamental paradigm shift for someone siting at the head of a retail company in the UK today.

Our focus is being the gateway to China for retailers – there is so much opportunity there that I think it will keep our hands full.