Who Owns Taobao?

Taobao was founded in May 2003 by Alibaba Group as a direct response to eBay's entry into the Chinese market. At the time, eBay had acquired EachNet, China's leading online auction site, and was aggressively expanding in China. Jack Ma and Alibaba's leadership recognized the threat and launched Taobao as a free-to-use marketplace, deliberately forgoing transaction fees to undercut eBay's fee-based model.

Taobao's strategy proved highly effective. By offering free listings and transactions, Taobao attracted a large number of sellers and buyers, while eBay's fee structure made it less competitive. By 2006, Taobao had captured approximately 70% of the Chinese online auction and marketplace market, and eBay subsequently shut down its Chinese marketplace operations in 2006, effectively conceding the market to Taobao.

In 2008, Alibaba launched Tmall (originally called Taobao Mall) as a separate platform within the Taobao ecosystem for established brands and businesses to sell directly to consumers. This created a two-tier structure: Taobao for individual and small business sellers (C2C and small B2C), and Tmall for major brands and retailers (B2C). The separation allowed Alibaba to serve both market segments while maintaining distinct brand identities.

Taobao pioneered several innovations in Chinese e-commerce, including the integration of Alipay (Alibaba's payment service) for secure transactions, the development of live-streaming commerce (where sellers broadcast live video to showcase products), and the integration of social features and community engagement into the shopping experience. These innovations have influenced e-commerce platforms globally.

In 2023, Alibaba announced a major restructuring, dividing the company into six independent business groups. Taobao and Tmall were grouped together in the Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, which was initially planned for a potential IPO, though those plans were subsequently put on hold.