After Suggesting Yahoo Split Up, Jack Ma Divides Taobao in Three

Three parts! (photo from manageria.gazeta.pl)

After suggesting at the recent All Things D conference that Yahoo might solve some of its problems by splitting into smaller pieces, Jack Ma has applied this same strategy to his own company. We received a note from Alibaba today alerting us of the move, one that will see e-commerce giant Taobao form three separate companies.

The (Three) Tao of Jack

We’re told that as of today, these three Alibaba subsidiaries will begin operations as follows:

• Taobao Marketplace – “China’s leading consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platform”
• Taobao Mall – “China’s leading business-to-consumer (B2C) shopping site”
• etao – “a product search engine designed to make it easier for consumers to find goods and services offered by all e-tailers”

On its Alizila news site, an Alibaba official explains the move:

You can’t be all things to all people as one big Taobao.com website. This will allow us to expand consumer traffic because we now have three entry points (for online shopping) instead of one entry point.

While I’m not convinced that it will necessarily expand consumer traffic, it should make things a little easier for managers to focus on these fragmented silos.

Jack Ma explained the move in greater detail in a letter to the company’s employees. Alibaba has kindly provided us with a copy, which we have included below.

Photo: manageria