Presenters

Hanane GoubilFollow

Disciplines

Advertising and Promotion Management | Business Analytics | E-Commerce

Abstract (300 words maximum)

Amazon is an e-commerce technology company best known for its fast delivering time and for being one of the tops of the big four technology companies in the United States. Despite its success in the U.S. and several countries abroad, it has struggled to succeed in China since 2004 where Alibaba and JD.com control 82% of the market. This is due to Amazon failing to compete with Alibaba and neglecting to acclimatize their online offers to appease Chinese customers’ preferences. An example of this is that Alibaba has its own payment system called Alipay, while Amazon had yet to include its own and unique payment system in China. Another example is something as small-scale as Amazon’s website. Alibaba's and JD websites are bright, colorful that incorporate a collection of ads, while Amazon’s is simple and minimalistic -- a design that appeases American preference (Martin, 2019). Overall, this gives Alibaba and JD an increased and extensive apprehension of Chinese local tastes. Following, China’s e-commerce industry is amongst the largest in the world with $1.935 trillion in revenue (Williams 2019). However, Amazon has recently had to shut down its distribution centers in China due to being unprofitable and stagnant. (Dastin, 2019). Another reason for Amazon's downfall in China was due to numerous government regulations placed on them, from a limit on cloud services to taxes (Essays, 2018). This Case Study explores the challenges that Amazon faced in competing against Alibaba and JD.com in China and why it could not replicate its success in the United States.

Keywords: Amazon, China, Asia, Competition, Alibaba, Profit, Case Study, Emerging Markets, International Marketing

Academic department under which the project should be listed

CCOB - Marketing & Professional Sales

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Mona Sinha

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Amazon: A Maze Through China - An International Marketing Case Study

Amazon is an e-commerce technology company best known for its fast delivering time and for being one of the tops of the big four technology companies in the United States. Despite its success in the U.S. and several countries abroad, it has struggled to succeed in China since 2004 where Alibaba and JD.com control 82% of the market. This is due to Amazon failing to compete with Alibaba and neglecting to acclimatize their online offers to appease Chinese customers’ preferences. An example of this is that Alibaba has its own payment system called Alipay, while Amazon had yet to include its own and unique payment system in China. Another example is something as small-scale as Amazon’s website. Alibaba's and JD websites are bright, colorful that incorporate a collection of ads, while Amazon’s is simple and minimalistic -- a design that appeases American preference (Martin, 2019). Overall, this gives Alibaba and JD an increased and extensive apprehension of Chinese local tastes. Following, China’s e-commerce industry is amongst the largest in the world with $1.935 trillion in revenue (Williams 2019). However, Amazon has recently had to shut down its distribution centers in China due to being unprofitable and stagnant. (Dastin, 2019). Another reason for Amazon's downfall in China was due to numerous government regulations placed on them, from a limit on cloud services to taxes (Essays, 2018). This Case Study explores the challenges that Amazon faced in competing against Alibaba and JD.com in China and why it could not replicate its success in the United States.

Keywords: Amazon, China, Asia, Competition, Alibaba, Profit, Case Study, Emerging Markets, International Marketing