Taobao
 | |
 Screenshot of Taobao homepage on January 5, 2023 | |
| Available in | Chinese |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Country | China |
| Owner | Alibaba Group |
| Website | taobao.com |
| Current status | Active |
Taobao (淘宝) is a Chinese-language website that serves as an online shopping marketplace, with a similar structure to Etsy in North America, allowing businesses to maintain their own shopfronts while still having listings appear in a global site search. Within the lolita fashion community, Taobao is significant as the most common sales platform for Chinese indie lolita brands.
History
Taobao was launched in 2003[1] as a direct-to-consumer alternative to their successful B2B marketplace, Alibaba[2]. At present, Taobao boasts nearly 500 million registered users and more than 60 million regular visitors every day[3].
How it came to be, peak of usage, notable events/updates. Add sections and subsections as needed.
Usage
11/11 sales
Since 2009, November 11th of each year marks Taobao's annual sitewide Singles' Day sale [4], named as such for the date notation consisting of all ones. This day marks heavy discounts and typically the highest sales volumes of the year around this date. Many indie lolita brands release special sale items or lucky packs for 11/11, though delays are to be expected for any orders placed around this date due to the increase in orders to be processed and shipped[5].
Idlefish/Xianyu
Xianyu, also known as Idlefish, is Taobao's accompanying secondhand goods marketplace[6]. While the platform used to be accessible directly at 2.taobao.com, it has since moved to become an app-only marketplace (though individual listings are still accessible on web via the item.taobao.com link format while signed in).
Purchasing from Taobao
To order from Taobao, the majority of international shoppers make use of either shopping services, forwarding services, or reseller shops. For more information on making Taobao orders, please see Shopping on Taobao and/or Shopping & Forwarding Services
Footnotes
- ↑ "Taobao". South China Morning Post. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ↑ Oberholzer-Gee, Felix (July 2009). "HBS Case Collection - Alibaba's Taobao (A)". Harvard Business School - Faculty & Research. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ↑ "淘宝简介". Taobao. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ↑ "Double 11 Shopping Festival". China Internet Watch. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ↑ "Lolita Fashion on Taobao (Part 3): 11/11 Edition!". Alice in Lolitaland. November 10, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ↑ "IdleFish". Alibaba Group. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
External links
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