(Another Taobao news online) Not long ago, Jack Ma expressed that if closing down Taobao could destroy counterfeit goods, then Taobao could be shut down tonight.
With the 315 Consumer Rights Day approaching, these words sound particularly handsome. Unfortunately, he cannot do it.
I respect Mr. Jack Ma very much, and this article is about the matter, not the person. To see my respect for Mr. Jack Ma, please search for my article from a few years ago, "Who Can Copy Jack Ma."
However, my respect for Mr. Jack Ma does not change my conclusion that his statement was just a beautiful talk. Alibaba and Taobao are not only held hostage by fake goods, but they are also likely willing or even silently encouraging this situation to continue.
The prevalence of counterfeit goods on Taobao is an undeniable fact. Moreover, Taobao's so-called rights protection platform largely fails to deliver its promised functions.
The existence of counterfeit goods has strategic significance for Taobao. On one hand, due to the large number of counterfeit goods, Taobao can provide consumers with sufficiently cheap products, attracting a large number of buyers. On the other hand, allowing the public sale of counterfeit goods enables countless small sellers who operate speculatively rather than as formal businesses to survive on Taobao. This forms the basis for Taobao's huge transaction volume and traffic.
It seems that Taobao has once tried to change this status quo. Not long ago, Taobao launched its Brand Mall, investing substantial resources to support the growth of this new business platform. This move was interpreted by outsiders as moving towards branding and regulation. The Brand Mall features official stores of enterprises, falling within the B2C category. Since the sellers are companies rather than individuals and cooperate with Taobao on a business-to-business basis, the authenticity of qualifications and goods is greatly enhanced.
However, if we analyze why these corporate brands would enter Taobao’s Brand Mall, we will again discover the strategic value of "counterfeit goods" to Taobao.
Except for a few companies with clear e-commerce strategies such as Li-Ning and Jack Jones, most enterprises are not actively developing e-commerce but are entering Taobao out of preventive strategies.
Ebang Energy, when discussing with many traditional brand enterprises how to enter the e-commerce field, clearly received the following two pieces of information:
One, counterfeit goods being openly sold on Taobao have a significant impact on the price system and credibility of brand merchants. These merchants complain that after many consumers complete their purchases and find quality issues, Taobao sellers cannot provide effective services. And since the goods are counterfeit, the brand manufacturers cannot offer effective after-sales service either. However, consumers don’t see it this way, and out of anger and the need to solve practical problems, they often blame the brand merchants, using some public resources like media or social dissemination methods such as word-of-mouth and forums to criticize the brand, severely damaging its reputation.
Two, the rampant counterfeit goods on Taobao significantly impact the existing channel systems of brand merchants. With counterfeit goods flooding the market and excessive price margins, some channel partners of brand merchants voluntarily or involuntarily join the online sales ranks and demand more policies from the brand merchants to deal with the impact of Taobao sellers. This forces brand merchants into a dual-front battle, greatly reducing their control over traditional channels and fundamentally impacting their operations.
Facing this issue, Taobao does not provide effective supervision. Some brand manufacturers complain that when discussing this issue with Taobao, Taobao rarely talks about capabilities and often gives two options: one, you manage it yourself; two, open a brand store.
During the heyday of Taobao's C2C model, the existence of counterfeit goods was a major force ensuring that goods could always maintain a low-cost feature, one of the main sources of Taobao's traffic, and also a key reason why "e-commerce means low prices." During this period, Taobao's role was to challenge consumer shopping habits and thus change societal shopping behavior characteristics. Although online retail accounts for less than 1% of total social retail, due to its novelty and Taobao's aggressive promotion, it has had a significant impact on public awareness.
Now, Taobao is about to enter the B2C era, and countless small sellers will soon be abandoned. After many years, counterfeit goods will eventually be discarded, but before Taobao fully enters the B2C era, "counterfeit goods" will still exist as a strategic pawn for Taobao. With counterfeit goods in hand, Taobao can ensure that brand merchants have no choice but to move into Taobao instead of other platforms or build their own B2C sites.
People are often confused by Taobao's positioning as an e-commerce company, thinking that any problems with new things can always be forgiven.
But is Taobao really an e-commerce company? It doesn't sell its own goods; it just provides a venue, management, and support, just like Hualian Department Store or Contemporary Mall—it's merely a physical store moved online. However, unlike traditional stores that strictly manage counterfeit goods, Taobao does not regulate reasonably, or even supports them.
Taobao appears to have more and more competitors in the B2C space too. But would JD.com dare to sell counterfeit goods? Would VANCL dare to sell fakes? Would Masa Maso dare to sell counterfeit goods? But Taobao dares. JD.com sells and takes responsibility for its own goods, while Taobao says, "I'm not selling the goods myself; the sellers are selling the goods. If there's a problem, you should find the seller."
For Taobao, counterfeit goods have such strong strategic significance. With this product category in hand, Taobao can coerce brand merchants, other B2C platforms, traditional channels, and disrupt traditional retail. And all this, Taobao can attribute to "problems in development," hoping the outside world looks at issues with a "developmental perspective." Mr. Jack Ma can still say beautiful words like "we can close down tonight" on the eve of 315 Consumer Rights Day.
Taobao uses counterfeit goods to hold consumers, brand merchants, and other e-commerce platforms hostage. However, neither Taobao nor Jack Ma feel distressed by this; instead, they seem to welcome it. They appear to be held hostage by counterfeit goods, but in reality, counterfeit goods are held hostage by them until Taobao completely transforms from "black" to "white."
Relevant thematic articles:
- Shopping Mad--Opening a Store Experience
- Recently, the demotion is quite severe; sharing some insights.
- Achieving the first order on Taobao thanks to Hong Kong buyers.