淘寶是如何在中國戰勝eBay的
The story. was founded in 2003 by Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company, as a defensive move against its US rival Ebay, which had set up in China the previous year.
故事。2003年，中國電子商務企業阿里巴巴(Alibaba)創建了淘寶網()，此舉旨在防禦2002年進入中國市場的美國競爭對手eBay。
The challenge. When Ebay launched in China it had global revenues of more than $2bn. As a young, domestic entity, Taobao was taking on a huge rival while also fending off many similar small competitors in the sector, where barriers to entry were low.
挑戰。eBay進入中國之際，其全球收入已經超過了20億美元。淘寶則是一家年輕的本土企業，在面對來自eBay的強大競爭的同時，還要應對業內衆多與自身類似的小型競爭對手。電子商務行業那時的進入門檻很低
The strategic response. Noting that Ebay in China was charging users to list products and services, Taobao allowed them to list for free in order to build a big cohort of sellers and buyers. Critical mass would eventually attract revenue-generating activities, such as online advertisements.
戰略對策。淘寶注意到，eBay在中國向在其網站上展示產品和服務的用戶收取費用，而淘寶卻不收費，以此建立起龐大的賣家和買家用戶羣。只要用戶數量達到一定規模，就會最終帶來能夠產生收入的業務，如在線廣告等。
Taobao also presented itself as very much a Chinese enterprise. For instance, the screen names of online moderators were derived from characters in popular Chinese kung-fu novels.
淘寶還強調自己是一家土生土長的中國企業。例如，淘寶在線客服的“花名”，就取自中國流行武俠小說中的人物。
Next, Taobao aimed to be more innovative than Ebay in customer service. In 2003 Taobao started Aliwangwang, its instant communication tool, to help buyers and sellers interact.
下一步，淘寶的目標是推出比eBay更具創新性的客戶服務。2003年，淘寶推出即時通訊工具阿里旺旺(Aliwangwang)，幫助賣家和買家進行互動。
It also introduced the online payment system Alipay a year later. Online credit card or debit card payment was very rare in China and customers usually paid cash on delivery. Alipay formed partnerships with leading Chinese banks and signed a long-term agreement with China Post, which meant customers without a debit or bank card could fund their Alipay accounts at any of its 66,000 offices.
2004年，淘寶推出了在線支付系統支付寶(Alipay)。那時，中國人很少使用信用卡或者借記卡進行在線支付，客戶通常在收貨時用現金支付。支付寶和中國的大銀行達成合作，並且和中國郵政(China Post)簽署了長期協議，如此一來，客戶即使沒有借記卡或者銀行卡，也可以通過中國郵政遍佈各地的66000家郵局向支付寶賬戶匯款。
What happened. Taobao developed into a diverse e-commerce platform where businesses sell a very wide range of items to online shop owners who then sell on to consumers.
結果。淘寶發展成爲多元化的電子商務平臺，在這個平臺上，企業向在線商店店主銷售各式各樣的產品，店主再賣給消費者。
At the end of 2006, Ebay shut its main website in China and formed a joint venture with Hong Kong- headquartered Tom Online.
2006年底，eBay關閉了在中國的主站，與總部位於香港的Tom在線(Tom Online)建立了一家合資企業。
Taobao continued to build a network of ventures around its core operations. In 2007 it set up , where small Taobao sellers could buy customised software from independent vendors to help with functions such as customer relations or managing inventory.
淘寶則繼續圍繞核心業務，建立起業務網絡。2007年，淘寶軟件()成立，淘寶上的小賣家可以在此向獨立供應商購買定製軟件，用於客戶關係或庫存管理等。
In 2008 Taobao integrated , an online ad company with a network of more than 400,000 specialised websites where Taobao sellers could affordably post ads to reach their target audiences.
2008年，淘寶整合了在線廣告公司淘寶聯盟()。淘寶聯盟擁有覆蓋40多萬家專業網站的網絡，淘寶賣家可以以不貴的價格向目標受衆發佈廣告。These complementary ventures formed a network, with Taobao at the centre surrounded by interlinked companies. All cross-sold and cross-marketed each other's services and offered packaged deals to Taobao sellers.
這些業務相互補充，形成網絡，淘寶位於網絡的核心，被各個相互聯繫的企業所圍繞。這些企業互相進行服務的交叉銷售和交叉營銷，把衆多服務打包起來提供給淘寶賣家。
As this "ecosystem" developed it attracted other businesses to use Taobao, Alipay, Alisoft and Alimama's platforms to provide further customised services to Taobao sellers.
這套“生態系統”逐漸發展起來，又吸引了其他企業使用淘寶、支付寶、阿里軟件和淘寶聯盟的平臺，向淘寶賣家提供更加深度定製的服務。
The extent and reach of the ecosystem became too hard for rivals to replicate.
這套生態系統的規模和影響之大，競爭對手已經無力模仿。
By 2010 Taobao served more than 80 per cent of China's e-commerce market, with 170m registered users and revenues of more than Rmb20bn from online advertising and fee-paying services such as shop design and sales training.
截至2010年，淘寶佔有中國電子商務市場80%以上的份額，註冊用戶達1.7億，在線廣告和店鋪設計、銷售培訓等付費服務的收入超過了200億元人民幣。
Meanwhile, Ebay moved its business focus to cross-border e-commerce, where Chinese consumers sell to overseas consumers. It holds a leading position in that segment.
與此同時，eBay的業務重心轉移到跨境電子商務方面，中國的商家利用它向海外消費者銷售產品。它在這個領域處於領先地位。
Key lessons. How Taobao kept Ebay out of the market and became China's dominant e-commerce platform in a relatively short space of time holds lessons for Chinese and western companies alike.
關鍵經驗。淘寶如何在相對較短的時間內，把eBay拒於中國市場之外，成爲中國最重要的電子商務平臺，其經驗值得中國和西方企業學習。
First, Taobao provided services and solved problems for the smaller businesses that are the driving force behind China's economic boom. For instance, Alipay enabled people to pay for goods and services easily.
首先，小企業是中國經濟繁榮的推動力量，淘寶爲這些小企業提供服務、解決問題。例如，支付寶讓人們可以輕鬆地進行支付，購買商品和服務。
Second, Taobao set up or integrated services that complemented each other and used this ecosystem to create a bar to competition.
第二，淘寶創建或者整合了互補的服務，並用這套生態系統築起競爭壁壘。
Third, Taobao identified how to help people buy and sell. By making online shopping easy, safe and fun it helped many first-time online buyers build confidence in e-commerce.
第三，淘寶找到了幫助賣家銷售和買家購物的辦法。淘寶使網上購物變得簡單、安全和有趣，讓很多初次接觸網上購物的買家對電子商務樹立起信心。
Mark Greeven, Shengyun Yang, Tao Yue, Eric van Heck and Barbara Krug
本文作者馬克·格雷芬(Mark Greeven)、楊盛贇、嶽韜、埃裏克·範埃克(Eric van Heck)和芭芭拉·克魯格(Barbara Krug)是伊拉斯謨大學(Erasmus University)鹿特丹管理學院(Rotterdam School of Management)的教師
The writers are faculty members at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
譯者:倪衛國
