Alibaba Group Holding Limited NYSE: BABA HKEX: 9988 Fiscal Year Annual Report 2022
Contents 2 Our Mission 3 Our Vision 5 Our Values 6 Our Vibrant Culture and People 8 Key Events in Fiscal Year 2022 10 Alibaba in Numbers 12 Cloud Technologies beyond the Games 14 Letter from our Chairman and CEO 21 Business Overview 114 Management Discussion and Analysis 168 Directors, Senior Management and Employees 187 Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions 204 Other Information for Shareholders 217 Exemptions and Waivers 219 Risk Factors 285 Definitions 294 Financial Statements 380 Further Information
Be Confident, Be Flexible, Be Ourselves
Our Mission To make it easy to do business anywhere Our founders started our company to champion small businesses, in the belief that the Internet would level the playing field by enabling small enterprises to leverage innovation and technology to grow and compete more effectively in domestic and global economies. We believe that concentrating on customer needs and solving their problems – whether those customers are consumers, merchants or enterprises – ultimately will lead to the best outcome for our business. In the digital era, we are staying true to our mission by helping our customers and business partners harness the power of digital technology. We have developed a large ecosystem powered by technology infrastructure that enables participants to create and share value on our platforms. Our decisions are guided by how they serve our mission over the long term, not by the pursuit of short-term gains. Alibaba Group Holding Limited 2
Our Vision 102 Years We do not pursue size or power; we aspire to be a good company that will last for 102 years. For a company that was founded in 1999, lasting for 102 years means we will have spanned three centuries, an achievement that few companies can claim. Our culture, business models and systems are built to last, so that we can achieve sustainability in the long run. As we continue to expand our businesses from commerce to local consumer services, logistics, cloud, digital media and entertainment, among other sectors, Alibaba has evolved into an ecosystem that is unique, energetic and innovative. We had set medium-term goals for fiscal year 2024 (refer to table below) and believe the goals for fiscal year 2024 put us closer to achieving our vision for fiscal year 2036 (refer to table below). Fiscal Year 2036 Vision Serve 2 billion global consumers Enable 10 million businesses to be profitable Create 100 million jobs Fiscal Year 2024 Goals Continue to expand our globalization efforts Serve more than 1 billion consumers through our China consumer business Facilitate more than RMB10 trillion of annual consumption through our China consumer business We reached the historicmilestone of serving over 1 billion consumers in China – reaching our target for Fiscal Year 2024 ahead of schedule Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 3
Meet We enable commercial and social interactions among hundreds of millions of users, between consumers and merchants, and among businesses every day. Live We strive to expand our products and services to become central to the everyday lives of our customers. Work We empower our customers with the fundamental infrastructure for commerce and new technology, so that they can build businesses and create value that can be shared among our ecosystem participants. We aim to build the future infrastructure of commerce. We envision that our customers will meet, work and live at Alibaba, and that we will be a good company that lasts for 102 years. Alibaba Group Holding Limited 4
Our Values Our values are fundamental to the way we operate and how we recruit, evaluate and compensate our people. Our six values are: Customers first, employees second, shareholders third This reflects our choice of what’s important, in order of priority. Only by creating sustained customer value can employees grow and shareholders achieve long-term benefit. Change is the only constant Whether you change or not, the world is changing, our customers are changing and the competitive landscape is changing. We must face change with respect and humility. Otherwise, we will fail to see it, fail to respect it, fail to understand it and fail to catch up with it. Whether you change yourself or create change, both are the best kinds of change. Embracing change is the most unique part of our DNA. Trust makes everything simple Trust is both the most precious and fragile thing in the world. The story of Alibaba is a story of building and cherishing trust. Complexity begets complexity, and simplicity breeds simplicity. Aliren (Alibaba employees) are straightforward – what you see is what you get. With trust, there is no second-guessing or suspicion, and the result is simplicity and efficiency. Today’s best performance is tomorrow’s baseline In Alibaba’s most challenging times, this spirit has helped us overcome difficulties and survive. In bad times, we know how to motivate ourselves; in good times, we dare to set “dream targets” (stretch goals). Face the future, or we regress. We must shoot for the moon, challenge ourselves, motivate ourselves and exceed ourselves. Live seriously, work happily Work is now, life is forever. What you do in your job is up to you, but you have responsibility to the ones who love you. Enjoy work as you enjoy life; treat life seriously as you do work. If you live with purpose, you will find reward. You make Alibaba different and make your loved ones proud. Everyone has their own view of work and life; we respect each person’s choice. Whether you live by this value depends on how you live your life. If not now, when? If not me, who? This was a tagline in Alibaba’s first job advertisement and became our first proverb. It is not a question, but a call of duty. This proverb symbolizes the sense of ownership that each Aliren must possess. Customers First, Employees Second, Shareholders Third Change Is The Only Constant Trust Makes Everything Simple If Not Now, When? If Not Me, Who? Today’s Best Performance Is Tomorrow’s Baseline Live Seriously, Work Happily Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 5
Rich, Multi-Dimensional Employee Engagement Initiatives Alibaba Group values every single employee. Through employee engagement activities large and small, we aim to live out our spirit to “live seriously, work happily.” Our Vibrant Culture and People May 10th is our annual AliDay, an employee-appreciation day introduced in 2005 to celebrate the Alibaba spirit of determination, unity, dedication and love that Aliren exhibited during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic. On AliDay, employees can bring their families and friends to our main campus in Hangzhou, China as well as to our offices around the world, so they can understand and experience our vibrant culture firsthand. AliDay Alibaba’s management is keen to understand employees’ views and regularly engages with staff around the world through online channels and in-person events. This allows management to gain visibility of the needs and thoughts of employees, thus contributing to the company’s vitality and healthy organizational development. Ali-versary At Alibaba, employee tenure is likened to the aging of fine wine, symbolizing the transition from recognition to integration and then to legacy. “One Year Aromatic,” “Three Years Mellow,” “Five Years Mature” and “Ten Years Fragrant” are how we characterize employees who have been with the company for one year, three years, five years and ten years, respectively. Every quarter, Alibaba hosts a special ceremony to present customized rings to our “Five Years Mature” employees. li r r At Alibaba, e ployee tenure is likened to the aging of fine wine, symbolizing the transition from recognition to integration and then to legacy. “One Year Aromatic,” “Three Years Mellow,” “Five Years Mature” and “Ten Years Fragrant” are how we characterize employees who have been with the company for one year, three years, five years and ten years, respectively. Every quarter, Alibaba hosts a special ceremony to present customized rings to our “Five Years Mature” employees. Alibaba Group Holding Limited 6
9.10 Customer Day September 10th, the day Alibaba was founded, has been designated as the company’s annual Customer Day since 2015. Known as 9.10, this day was established to encourage all employees to focus on customers and uphold the “customer first” value. No matter how the world changes, Alibaba remains committed to its original purpose of serving its customers. Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group, responded to inquiries as a customer service officer. In 2015, Alibaba launched an initiative to encourage all employees to volunteer at least three hours each year to philanthropic activities. This initiative has become part of the company’s unique culture. Alibaba has hosted its Philanthropy Week every year since 2017 to champion charitable causes with partners across its ecosystem. Another philanthropic initiative is the Alibaba Philanthropy Awards, an annual ceremony to recognize outstanding charity projects, teams and individuals. In fiscal year 2022, ten charity projects, including those which offered support to people with disabilities and hearing or speech impairment, children in remote areas and senior citizens, received awards. Culture of Philanthropy Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 7
Key Events in Fiscal Year 2022 April May Alibaba introduced a series of relief measures to provide ongoing support to merchants on Taobao and Tmall. Taobao Deals announced and completed a brand upgrade with a focus on value-for-money, simplicity, local authenticity and quality assurance. Alibaba rebranded its community marketplace business to Taocaicai. Amap achieved a record high of over 200 million daily active users on October 1, 2021, the first day of the week-long National Day holiday in China. Alibaba Cloud unveiled its new in-house processor named “Yitian 710,” designed for use at our data centers, and announced its plan to set up two new data centers in South Korea and Thailand, assisting local enterprises in digital innovation. October November 2021 DAMO Academy unveiled a cloudbased AI-powered nowcasting platform capable of forecasting short-termweather conditions up to six hours in advance. The 13th 11.11 Global Shopping Festival focused on sustainability and inclusiveness. A record of 290,000 brands participated, which include small and medium-sized businesses, manufacturers from industrial belts and new brands. Alibaba announced a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2030 and introduced a Scope 3+ target, which aims to facilitate 1.5 gigatons of decarbonization across Alibaba’s business ecosystem by 2035. September December Alibaba Group Holding Limited 8
June Alibaba proactively enhanced its corporate governance and increased its transparency by further breaking down its commerce segment into a few segments for financial reporting disclosure.(1) Cainiao entered into a strategic partnership with the Hainan government to co-develop its global smart supply chain pilot zone. Cainiao launched its first air cargo route between mainland China and Africa, reducing the transit time significantly. Leveraging solutions driven by Alibaba Cloud’s technology, Alibaba partnered with Olympic Broadcasting Services to deliver cloud-based services to RightsHolding Broadcasters for the first time during the Olympics Games Tokyo 2020. Cainiao launched an express service to enhance Lazada’s cross-border logistics efficiency, allowing customers in Southeast Asia to receive their parcels from mainland China faster. As of March 31, 2022, DingTalk powered users from more than 21 million enterprises and organizations across the globe. The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 successfully migrated its core games technology services to Alibaba Cloud. Note: (1) This included further breaking down of Alibaba’s commerce segment and reporting separately on China commerce, International commerce, Local consumer services and Cainiao, while keeping others unchanged. 2022 Alibaba Cloud launched Project AsiaForward to cultivate digital talent in Asia Pacific in the next three years. July August February March Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 9
(For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022) Alibaba in Numbers Notes: (1) Includes GMV generated from Alibaba’s China consumer-facing businesses (China commerce, Local consumer services and Digital media and entertainment segments) and International commerce during the twelve months ended March 31, 2022. (2) The translations of RMB into US$ were made at RMB6.3393 to US$1.00, the exchange rate on March 31, 2022 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. (3) Served through consumer-facing businesses in the Alibaba Ecosystem for fiscal year 2022. (4) Includes annual active consumers of China’s consumer-facing businesses for the twelve months ended March 31, 2022. (5) Includes overseas annual active consumers of Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol and Daraz for the twelve months ended March 31, 2022. GMV generated from Alibaba’s China consumer-facing businesses RMB7,976 billion(2) (US$1,258 billion) Alibaba Ecosystem GMV(1) RMB8,317 billion(2) (US$1,312 billion) ~1.31 billion Global AACs(3) Over 1 billion China AACs(4) 305 million International AACs(5) 903 million China commerce retail business AACs Alibaba Group Holding Limited 10
(For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022) Alibaba in Numbers Notes: (1) Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse (GHG) emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization (e.g. emissions associated with fuel combustion in boilers, furnaces, vehicles). Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat or cooling. (2) Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly impacts in its value chain. (3) Scope 3+ refers to the emissions generated by a broader range of participants in the platform’s ecosystem, currently outside of the Scopes 1, 2 and 3. We announced a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality and published the inaugural Alibaba Carbon Neutrality Action Report in December 2021: Beyond our own operations and direct value chains, we pledge to leverage our digital platforms to encourage even broader participation by stakeholders affected by our efforts. Scope 3+(3) By 2035: Facilitate 1.5 gigatons of ecosystem-wide decarbonization. Scopes 1, 2(1) By 2030: Achieve carbon neutrality in its operations. Scope 3(2) By 2030: Reduce carbon intensity across value chains by 50% compared to 2020. Alibaba Cloud achieves carbon neutrality. Scope 3+ Scope 3 Less Control More Control Sustainable Consumption Green Logistics & Supply Chain Digital Workplace Re-commerce Green Transportation Sustainable Cloud Producers and Developers Merchants and Service Providers Scopes 1, 2 Use, Disposal and Recycle Customers Suppliers Upstream of Suppliers Customers Use, Disposal and Recycle Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 11
Alibaba Group entered into a long-term strategic partnership agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2017 for jointly accelerating the digitalization of the Olympic Games. In fiscal year 2022, Alibaba Group utilized digital technologies such as cloud computing to support various work in the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 (“Beijing 2022”) and Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (“Tokyo 2020”), covering event support and promotion. Other than sports events, these technologies can also apply to many scenarios to facilitate life and work. Cloud Technologies beyond the Games The Beijing 2022 successfully migrated its core games technology services to Alibaba Cloud to provide multi-faceted technical support for the events. It has realized a move to cloud-based services, further reducing the time and cost investment on IT infrastructure and associated management. With the advanced cloud-based capability to analyze real-time intelligence, the planning and management of the Beijing 2022 was further streamlined and improved. In this way, host cities can save time and costs associated with the legacy physical infrastructure investment. Hosting Core Systems on Cloud Alibaba has launched an innovative cloud-based technology “Cloud ME” powered by its real-time communication (RTC) solution, which facilitates social interactions and enables people to enjoy real-time conversations with each other via life-sized, true-to-life projection despite the COVID-19 restrictions. The Cloud ME booths were available both within the closed-loop management system at Beijing 2022, as well as outside for participants of the Olympic Winter Games so that they could experience interesting social interactions in a mixed reality. Leveraging Alibaba’s global cloud network and self-proprietary algorithms, the benefits of real-time communication can be enjoyed by various day-to-day scenarios in the future, including a wide range of online interactive activities, video conferencing and other enterprise services. Distance-defying Technology “Cloud ME” Alibaba Group Holding Limited 12
During Beijing 2022, Alibaba Group and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) provided Live Cloud via OBS Cloud, allowing Rights-Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) to receive the multilateral live signals of the Games in either ultra-high definition (UHD) or high definition (HD) in a flexible and cost-effective way. OBS Cloud supported service delivery for RHBs for the first time during Tokyo 2020, enabling remote post-production and production to be done faster. The implementation of cloud technology also provides an alternative to heavy investment and manpower for RHBs and the host cities, effectively reducing the carbon footprint of broadcasting-related operations. In the future, more sports and international events will be able to make use of Cloud technology to save energy and reduce emissions while enhancing the audience’s viewing experience. Efficient and Innovative Broadcasting in the Cloud Cloud-based AI Digital Persona Alibaba’s digital persona is a cloud-based AI model, which uses Text to Speech to synthesize human voice and leverages 3D-driven technology to create various realistic facial expressions and natural body movements. Dong Dong, the cloud-based virtual influencer unveiled by Alibaba at Beijing 2022, engaged with fans, such as performing live talk shows, to introduce Olympic fun facts to the audience and cheer for the Olympians. In the future, Alibaba will push technology boundaries even further to create an enthralling mixed reality. Digital personas or virtual influencers will find new ways to engage with their audience and participants through immersive experiences or a metaverse-style setting, whether during large-scale, global sports events like the Olympic Games, virtual conferences or 3D exhibition tours. Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 13
Alibaba Group Holding Limited 14 In response to the external environment changes, our guiding principle has been “be confident, be flexible and be ourselves.” We have further clarified our commitment to the three major strategies – consumption, cloud computing, and globalization – as the immovable pillars guiding Alibaba’s future. Letter from our Chairman and CEO
Letter from our Chairman and CEO Dear Shareholders, Every year, I look forward to this opportunity to share my thoughts with you. The ever-changing environment globally and in China has forced us to address many “questions of our times” over the past year. I know Alibaba’s decisions and development in the future is on top of mind for everyone, and I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for your continued support and confidence in Alibaba. Over the past year, we were deeply impacted by the tremendous uncertainties brought about by the capricious nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new expectations of the Internet sector in China, and high frequency of international geopolitical conflicts. This may be the year in which changes in the external environment has been most severe in decades. In response to these big and impactful changes, our guiding principle has been “be confident, be flexible and be ourselves.” “Be confident” means being confident in the development of the China economy, being confident in the future of the digital economy, and being confident in people’s pursuit of a better life. As long as these macro trends are clear and definite, then we are confident that Alibaba has a solid foundation for its existence and growth, and that we can make a meaningful contribution to society. “Be flexible” means actively adapting to the changes in the environment by examining Alibaba objectively through the lens of socioeconomic developments and truly understanding the expectations that society has of Alibaba. We need to find Alibaba’s path within the context of the major trends of society’s development and macro-economic cycle. “Be ourselves” means focusing on our core strategy and continually raising the bar on our capability to create value for customers and society. We need to improve our relationship and dialogue with society, and address uncertainty in the external environment with the certainty that we create through our own efforts. Clarification and progress of our three major strategies Despite the challenges, Alibaba delivered a stable and rewarding year. In early 2022, we have further clarified our commitment to the three major strategies – consumption, cloud computing, and globalization – as the immovable pillars guiding Alibaba’s future. Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 15
Letter from our Chairman and CEO During this past fiscal year, we achieved our stated goal of serving more than 1 billion annual active consumers in China. This is a milestone in the development of Alibaba. This means that our platform not only has the most expansive and most valuable consumer group in China, but we have also gradually built a comprehensive matrix of retail formats that offer distinctive value propositions. Over the past fiscal year, there were more than 124 million consumers on Taobao and Tmall with annual ARPU exceeding RMB10,000 with 98% continuing to be active year over-year. And among the over 300 million annual active consumers on Taobao Deal, 20% had never shopped on Taobao or Tmall previously. Among Taocaicai’s annual active consumers this fiscal year, more than 50% are purchasing fresh groceries on the Alibaba platform for the first time. We believe that these two businesses will make greater contributions in the future to our overall retail matrix. We remain more committed than ever to creating value for customers, focusing on the user experience, and generating diversified growth through a matrix design and serving a variety of needs of different cohorts in differentiated retail scenarios with the goal of increasing total wallet share of our 1 billion annual active consumers. At the same time, following many years of development, we have gradually established a distributed logistics network that covers delivery demands for local (near), intermediate, and far distances. Our comprehensive logistics network has been invaluable during special situations like COVID: from the partnership-driven national express delivery established in the early years to the gradual expansion into regional and local delivery; from far distance delivery to local (near) distance appointment-based delivery, same-day delivery and next-day delivery; and to the intra-city logistics and real-time logistics fulfilment network that has been built and scaled in recent years. Alongside the continued development of its logistics infrastructure, Cainiao has also been continuously strengthening its customer service capabilities. This fiscal year, 69% of Cainiao’s total revenue came from external customers, and the daily cross-border and overseas packages processed by Cainiao have exceeded 4.5 million. We must evolve faster than the times, be adamant in improving ourselves and be more agile and flexible, allowing every unit in the organization to learn quickly and act proactively. We believe that we are on the correct path. Alibaba Group Holding Limited 16
Letter from our Chairman and CEO We are in the process of moving deeper into the industrial Internet sector from the consumer Internet sector, and are working hard to enhance their integration. This past year, Alibaba Cloud maintained its leading position in the Chinese market and realized full-year profitability for the first time since Alibaba Cloud’s establishment 13 years ago. Since the first day our cloud computing was established, we have believed in its massive and universal value proposition, so we have been incredibly determined to focus our technology strategy around cloud computing. Today, cloud computing has become essential to the increasing adoption of the industrial Internet and as society is becoming smart and digitalized. By 2025, the size of China’s cloud computing market is expected to reach RMB1 trillion, which is three times the size of the current market and speaks to the massive market potential. To capture this historical opportunity where every sector and industry is going digital, we need to continue to build our technology and product capabilities, and fully integrate the basic infrastructure of cloud computing with big data and artificial intelligence. We need to go deep into every industry and offer unique solutions. DingTalk’s development has allowed us to have an even more unique entry point to the industrial Internet. Through integrated DingTalk and Cloud strategy, we can help more enterprises advance from the digitization of organizations and offices towards broader business and operations digitization. This will result in widespread use of cloud computing and big data analytics in various scenarios and needs. Over the years, we have been unwavering in our commitment to growing together with our customers, there are more than 4 million paying customers, which include more than 60% of the A-share listed companies in China. We will continue to plant seeds in sunrise industries and customers that represent the future, and together drive the high-quality and sustainable development of our cloud computing business. The direction of our globalization is very clear. We are focused on exploring consumption sector opportunities and cloud computing. Another way to understand our three business strategies is “two verticals and one horizontal.” Today, Alibaba has multiple consumer-facing brands in many regions and countries around the world, which include AliExpress, Lazada, Trendyol, and Daraz. In overseas markets, we have more than 300 million annual active consumers. For cloud computing, Alibaba is offering services in 27 regions worldwide. We believe that we must compete in the international market in order to demonstrate Alibaba’s excellence in the field of cloud computing. Alibaba Group is the world’s third largest and Asia Pacific’s largest infrastructure-as-a-service provider by revenue in 2021 in U.S. dollars, according to Gartner’s April 2022 report.(1) In the 2021 Gartner Solution Scorecard for integrated IaaS and PaaS, Alibaba Cloud achieved a score of 81 out of 100. We believe Alibaba Cloud was ranked first in the world and achieved the highest scores in the four core evaluations of computing, storage, network, and security, when compared with other global cloud service providers. Proactively Seek Change, Create the Future There is a saying that people often overestimate the change in one year and underestimate the change over five or ten years. I believe that, in addition to the changes in our businesses, the series of changes we made on our organization and culture over the past year will together be the opening act of Alibaba’s future development. We must evolve faster than the times, and be adamant in improving ourselves. We must be faster in translating consensus into action. Even if these changes need longer time frame to realize, we believe that we are on the correct path. We boldly experimented with a new management responsibility system under our multi-governance structure. Since its establishment 23 years ago, Alibaba has evolved into an enterprise company driven by multiple business engines. Our various businesses are in different industries, in different life cycles and face different opportunities and challenges. This means that they each need more independent business strategy and management understanding, and can rapidly make appropriate judgement and decisions in response to shifting market demands. We also must be conscious of the unpredictable nature of a market in a volatile environment. We must make the organization more agile and flexible, and allow every unit in the organization to learn quickly and act proactively, thereby ensuring Alibaba’s future is propelled forward by the different business engines collectively. Note: (1) Source: Gartner, Market Share: IT Services, 2021, Neha Sethi et al., April 8, 2022 (Asia Pacific refers to Mature Asia/Pacific, Greater China, Emerging Asia/Pacific and Japan, and market share refers to that of infrastructure-as-a-service) Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 17
Letter from our Chairman and CEO We also laid out clear management principles that will guide our development – “capacity building, value creation.” One of Alibaba’s core values is customer first, and in order to realize this goal of customer first, we must be able to continually create new value for our customers. This is a new demand on our capabilities. In a highly competitive market, it is like sailing against the current. If you don’t advance, you are retreating. We believe that taking a long-term approach without capability accumulation is essentially empty promises, and businesses that cannot create value cannot grow in a healthy and sustainable fashion. If the COVID-19 pandemic was a touchstone, it made us realize that our accumulated capabilities and efforts can contribute some color to people’s lives and provide some support to the normal operations of cities, businesses and schools. There are many real, concrete yet subtle threads of connection between us, communities, micro businesses and the selfemployed. It allows us to examine and improve our capabilities continually. Only through leveraging our abilities to do more can we live up to the expectations of society. To better realize our desire for “capacity building and value creation,” we have also implemented OKRs widely across the company. This pushes us towards sharing “the same desires from top to bottom and alignment between left and right” and evolving from purely quantitativedriven to more value-driven. ESG serves as our strategic pillar for sustainable, high quality development During the Wuzhen Internet Conference last year, I formally announced ESG and Common Prosperity as the two key strategies of Alibaba’s social responsibility. In December 2021, we published our Carbon Neutrality Action Report; this is an important milestone in Alibaba’s development. We aim to achieve carbon neutrality in our own operations by 2030; reduce carbon emission intensity by 50% through collaboration with upstream and downstream partners on our value chain by 2030; take the lead in achieving carbon neutrality in our cloud computing, and become a green cloud; leverage the power of our platform to facilitate a reduction of 1.5 gigatons of carbon emissions in 15 years. These are ambitious goals and also a very serious commitment. At the same time, we hope these goals will mobilize us to proactively seek change and drive innovation or even opportunities for disruption of existing businesses in our pursuit of sustainable development. We believe sustainability goals will profoundly transform all industries, so we must look even sooner and further into the future. Social responsibility is deeply embedded into Alibaba DNA. As a platform we innately facilitate social interactions, and the extensive cooperation amongst the many types of participants on our platform has not only brought about innovation and the emergence of new types of businesses, it has also created massive employment opportunities. Despite the tremendous uncertainty brought about by the pandemic and other reasons, we expect to have over 5,800 fresh college graduates joining Alibaba this year.(1) In 2021, alongside China’s historic achievement of comprehensive poverty alleviation, we upgraded the Alibaba Poverty Alleviation Fund into a Rural Revitalization Fund. We supported rural revitalization through the three dimensions of industrial revitalization, talent revitalization and technology revitalization. We also put forth ten key initiatives in the latter half of last year. Through the mobilization of multiple businesses and long-term planning, we aim to implement our initiatives steadily and step-by-step taking into consideration both commercial value and social value. We will start in Zhejiang, focusing on technological innovation, economic development, job creation and care for vulnerable populations. Whether it is the flood in Henan or the pandemic in Shanghai, we have done everything we can to contribute to support the needs of people’s lives through the commercial infrastructure and capabilities that we have accumulated over the years. Note: (1) According to the number of offer letters that Alibaba Group’s core businesses released. Alibaba Group Holding Limited 18
Letter from our Chairman and CEO Over the past year, we have also worked to improve our corporate governance. We are committed to providing our employees with a nurturing work environment that supports personal growth and has a lot of vitality. More and more employees are enjoying new company benefits such as family care leave, flexible working arrangements, and interest-free home loans with lower thresholds. We believe that our employees are the drivers of the company’s growth and we always aim to do more for our employees. All in all, Alibaba is committed to a path of sustainable and high-quality development. You will soon see the ESG Annual Report that we are about to publish, where we will share much more about our progress in environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance. Looking back on the past 23 years, Alibaba has been at the forefront of the development of an era. Alibaba has been creating and capturing opportunities presented by the digital economy era and China’s rapid growth. Alibaba’s past is intimately related to the development of China, and Alibaba’s future path will continue to be highly aligned with China’s economic growth and social development – whether it is technological innovation, creating a better life, pursuit of high-quality development, or enhancing international competitiveness. We hope that more inventions and creations will continue to be born at Alibaba that can serve the interests of our collective society. The world will keep changing, but value is eternal. The more uncertain the era, the more we need to proactively seek valuable change. This is my 15th year in the company, and together with everyone, I hope we continue to charter Alibaba through even more positive changes in the future. Daniel Zhang Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alibaba Group July 2022 Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 19
Overview Business
Alibaba Group Holding Limited 22 Business Overview Company Overview To fulfill our mission “to make it easy to do business anywhere,” we enable businesses to transform the way they market, sell and operate and improve their efficiencies. We provide the technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers and other businesses to leverage the power of new technology to engage with their users and customers and operate in a more efficient way. We also empower enterprises with our leading cloud infrastructure and services and enhanced work collaboration capabilities to facilitate their digital transformation and to support the growth of their businesses. Our businesses are comprised of China commerce, International commerce, Local consumer services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital media and entertainment, and Innovation initiatives and others. An ecosystem has developed around our platforms and businesses that consists of consumers, merchants, brands, retailers, third-party service providers, strategic alliance partners and other businesses. For fiscal year 2022, we served approximately 1.31 billion annual active consumers through our global consumer-facing businesses in the Alibaba Ecosystem, including over 1 billion in China and 305 million consumers outside China. Total GMV transacted in the Alibaba Ecosystem was RMB8,317 billion (US$1,312 billion) for fiscal year 2022, which included RMB7,976 billion (US$1,258 billion) of GMV generated from our China consumerfacing businesses, including those in China commerce, Local consumer services and Digital media and entertainment segments, and US$54 billion of GMV generated from our International commerce retail business. We also serve millions of enterprises through our Cloud business, and many of our customers are reputable industry leaders in their respective verticals. In fiscal year 2022, Alibaba Cloud served more than 60% of A-share listed companies in China. China Commerce China Commerce Retail We are the largest retail commerce business in the world in terms of GMV in the twelve months ended March 31, 2022, according to Analysys. Our China commerce retail businesses primarily include Taobao and Tmall, which together constitute the world’s largest digital retail business in terms of GMV for the twelve months ended March 31, 2022, according to Analysys, Taobao Deals which offers consumers valuefor-money products, Taocaicai which provides nextday pick-up services for groceries and fresh goods at neighborhood pick-up points, as well as our direct sales businesses which offer upgraded consumer experiences with integrated online and offline capabilities, including Tmall Supermarket, Freshippo and Sun Art. During the same period, we generated approximately 67% of our revenue from our retail commerce business in China. The 11.11 Global Shopping Festival is a large-scale global festival held by Alibaba Group annually.
Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 23 Business Overview Consumers also enjoy the quality and convenient delivery services provided by Trendyol’s fulfillment and logistics networks. Beyond Türkiye, Trendyol has expanded internationally by leveraging its product sourcing capabilities and supply chain advantages in Türkiye. In addition, we operate Daraz, a leading e-commerce platform across South Asia with key markets in Pakistan and Bangladesh. International Commerce Wholesale We operate Alibaba.com, China’s largest integrated international online wholesale marketplace in 2021 by revenue, according to Analysys. During fiscal year 2022, buyers who sourced business opportunities or completed transactions on Alibaba.com were located across over 190 countries. RMB 8,317 billion GMV(2) Notes: (1) Served through consumer-facing businesses in the Alibaba Ecosystem for fiscal year 2022. (2) In the Alibaba Ecosystem for fiscal year 2022 ~1.31 billion Global AACs(1) We have also developed a digital commerce infrastructure that offers an upgraded consumer experience by seamlessly integrating online and offline capabilities for our marketplaces and direct sales businesses. Leveraging our product and supply chain capabilities as well as fulfillment and delivery expertise, our consumers can enjoy a broad variety of quality products at different price points with a wide selection of delivery options that satisfy their varying needs. China Commerce Wholesale 1688.com, China’s largest integrated domestic wholesale marketplace in 2021 by net revenue, according to Analysys, connects wholesale buyers and sellers across a wide range of categories. International Commerce International Commerce Retail Our International commerce retail businesses, including Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol and Daraz, empower brands and merchants with local market insights and critical commerce infrastructure, in turn serving local consumers through wide product selection and differentiated customer experience. Lazada, a leading and fast-growing e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, serves one of the largest user bases among the global e-commerce platforms by providing consumers with access to a broad range of offerings from local SMEs, and regional and global brands. Additionally, Lazada operates one of the leading e-commerce logistics networks in Southeast Asia, which provides reliable, quality and convenient logistics services to its consumers and merchants. AliExpress, one of our international retail marketplaces, enables global consumers to buy directly from manufacturers and distributors in China and around the world. We also operate Trendyol, which we believe is by far the leading e-commerce platform in Türkiye in terms of both GMV and order volume in 2021. It serves local consumers with a broad selection of products and services through its e-commerce business as well as instant delivery services for food and groceries.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited 24 Business Overview Local Consumer Services We use mobile and online technology to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and convenience of consumer services for both service providers and their customers in two distinct scenarios: “To-Home” and “ToDestination.” Our “To-Home” businesses, including Ele.me and Taoxianda, enable consumers to easily access merchants’ services at home. Ele.me, a leading local services and on-demand delivery platform, enables consumers to order food and beverages, groceries, FMCG, flowers and pharmaceutical products anytime and anywhere. Taoxianda, our onlineoffline integration service solution for FMCG brands and third-party grocery retail partners, facilitates the digitalization of retailers’ operations, helps them open online stores and provides customized marketing recommendations. Our “To-Destination” businesses, including Amap, Fliggy and Koubei, provide consumers with convenient access to quality services at their destinations. Amap, a leading provider of mobile digital map, navigation and real-time traffic information in China, provides users with a simple one-stop access point to services such as navigation, local services and ride-hailing. Fliggy, a leading online travel platform, provides comprehensive services to meet consumers’ travel needs. Koubei, our restaurant and local services guide platform for in-store consumption, provides merchants with targeted marketing solutions, digital operation capabilities and analytics tools and allows consumers to discover local services content on the platform. Cainiao Leveraging our self-developed and our logistics partners’ capacities and capabilities, Cainiao offers domestic and international one-stop-shop logistics services and supply chain management solutions, addressing various logistics needs of merchants and consumers at scale. Cainiao also uses data insights and technology to digitalize the entire logistics process and enhance the capabilities of our logistics partners, thereby improving consumer experience and efficiency across the logistics value chain. For consumers, Cainiao offers parcel pick-up services through Cainiao Post, our neighborhood logistics solution that operates a network of neighborhood, campus and rural village stations and residential self pick-up lockers. Consumers can also enjoy parcel pick-up at the doorstep and time-guaranteed delivery service through Cainiao. For merchants, Cainiao has built a full-fledged fulfillment network at provincial, city, and county levels in China, which offers customized fulfillment solutions to different types of merchants on our platforms. Globally, Cainiao has developed a network of assets and partners to support merchants on our cross-border and international commerce retail platforms such as AliExpress, Tmall Global and Lazada. Cloud Our Cloud segment is comprised of Alibaba Cloud and DingTalk. Alibaba Group is the world’s third largest and Asia Pacific’s largest Infrastructure-as-a-service provider by revenue in 2021 in U.S. dollars, according to Gartner’s April 2022 report (Source: Gartner, Market Share: IT Services, 2021, Neha Sethi et al., April 8, 2022) (Asia Pacific refers to Mature Asia/Pacific, Greater China, Emerging Asia/Pacific and Japan, and market share refers to that of Infrastructure-as-a-service). Alibaba Group is also China’s largest provider of public cloud services by revenue in 2021, including PaaS and IaaS services, according to IDC (Source: IDC Semiannual Public Cloud Services Tracker, 2021H2). Alibaba Cloud offers a complete suite of cloud services, including proprietary servers, elastic computing, storage, network, security, database and big data, and IoT services, serving our ecosystem and beyond. We leverage these capabilities and technologies to provide our customers across various verticals with industryspecific solutions, enabling intelligent business decisions and operations. In addition, we offer Alibaba Cloud’s enterprise customers a number of DingTalk’s solutions to empower them with enhanced work collaboration capabilities and easy access to Alibaba Cloud’s big data analytics and AI capabilities, further facilitating their digital transformation. We believe our cloud services’ added value translates into direct and tangible results, and these services have become a critical foundation for our customers, many of whom are reputable industry leaders in their respective verticals. DingTalk is our digital collaboration workplace and application development platform that offers new ways of working, sharing and collaboration for modern enterprises and organizations. Equipped with our cloud capabilities and big data analytics, DingTalk aims to facilitate the digital transformation of enterprises and organizations. Millions of enterprises and users use DingTalk to stay connected and work remotely. According to QuestMobile, DingTalk is the largest business efficiency mobile app in China by monthly active users in March 2022.
Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 25 Business Overview Digital Media and Entertainment Digital media and entertainment is a natural extension of our strategy to capture consumption beyond our commerce businesses. Insights we gain from our commerce businesses and our proprietary data technology enable us to deliver relevant digital media and entertainment content to consumers. This synergy delivers a superior entertainment experience, increases customer loyalty and improves monetization for content providers across the ecosystem. Youku, the third largest online long-form video platform in China in terms of monthly active users in March 2022, according to QuestMobile, serves as one of our key distribution platforms for digital media and entertainment content. Quark, our onestop platform for information search, storage and consumption, helps young users gain access to a variety of digital content and information for learning and work purposes. In addition, Alibaba Pictures, driven by high-quality content and technology, is an integrated platform that provides content production, promotion and distribution, intellectual propertyrelated licensing and commercial operation, cinema ticketing management and Internet data services for the entertainment industry. Youku, Quark, Alibaba Pictures and our other platforms, such as newsfeed and literature platforms, allow users to discover and consume content as well as interact with each other. In addition, we develop, operate and distribute mobile games through Lingxi Games. Innovation Initiatives and Others We continue to innovate and develop new service and product offerings with the goals of meeting the needs of our customers, improving efficiency in their daily lives and creating synergies among our ecosystem participants. DAMO Academy, our global research program in cutting-edge technologies, aims to integrate and speed up knowledge exchange between science and industry. DAMO Academy encourages a collaborative environment that facilitates the application of scientific discoveries to real-life circumstances. Tmall Genie smart speaker, a leading smart speaker in China, provides an interactive interface for our customers to easily access services offered by our ecosystem participants. Our Ecosystem An ecosystem has developed around our platforms and businesses, consisting of consumers, merchants, brands, retailers, third-party service providers, strategic alliance partners and other businesses. At the nexus of this ecosystem are our technology platform, our marketplace rules and the role we play in connecting these participants to make it possible for them to discover, engage and transact with each other and manage their businesses anytime and anywhere. Much of our effort, time and energy is spent on initiatives that are for the greater good of the ecosystem and on balancing the interests of its participants. We feel a strong responsibility for the continued development of the ecosystem and we take ownership in this development. Accordingly, we refer to this as “our ecosystem.” Our ecosystem has strong self-reinforcing network effects benefitting its various participants, who are in turn invested in our ecosystem’s growth and success.
26 Alibaba Group Holding Limited Alibaba Ecosystem The following chart sets forth the key businesses and services provided by us: China Commerce Retail Wholesale Retail International Commerce (Taobao Deals) (Taocaicai) (Idle Fish) Logistics Infrastructure for China and International Commerce Technology Infrastructure for Digitalization and Intelligence Logistics Cloud Wholesale Infrastructural Elements of the Alibaba Ecosystem
Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report 27 To-Home (Ele.me) Local Consumer Services Digital Media and Entertainment Innovation Initiatives and Others (Amap) To-Destination (Taoxianda)
Alibaba Group Holding Limited 28 Business Overview Our Strategies Digital adoption and transformation in retail are accelerating globally since the COVID-19 pandemic, reshaping consumer behavior and enterprise operations. On the consumer side, shopping online has become a habit for more people and in more product categories. On the retail side, online sales is no longer an option but a necessity for brick-andmortar retailers. The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought fundamental changes to how people work and learn, accelerating the digitalization of enterprises and organizations. We believe this is the new normal. While such transformation presents tremendous opportunities, it also requires focus, innovation and agility in establishing the necessary strategic capabilities. With our environmental, social and governance responsibilities as the foundation of our long-term strategy, we choose to stay focused on strengthening our leadership and building core capabilities in three strategic areas: consumption, cloud, and globalization. Consumption Consumption continues to present significant opportunities in China and globally. In China, while we believe that our one billion annual active consumer base already represents the vast majority of Internet users with meaningful consumption power, there remains significant opportunities for us in wallet share expansion. We aim to capture these opportunities by serving the diversified needs of different consumer segments in accordance with their consumption power and mindset. We offer a multidimensional matrix of consumer apps with clearly differentiated value propositions that aim to meet the various consumer demands across metropolitan and less-developed regions, across differing time sensitivities, and across different income levels and consumption models. We will continue to enhance and enrich our portfolio of consumer apps, and enable new consumption models and formats to better serve the evolving needs of consumers. We are also further strengthening our supply chain capabilities, including through the direct sales model and integrated online and offline solutions, to strengthen the competitiveness of our products and services and enhance our penetration in categories that are essential to our consumers’ daily lives. In addition, to enhance the positioning of our Taobao app, China’s largest digital retail platform, from a transaction-focused marketplace to a consumer destination for discovery and shopping, we continue to focus on creating personalized, immersive and interactive experience through relevant and highly engaging consumption-related content and our apps’ rich interfaces and features. We are also actively exploring new consumption models, formats and technologies to create next-generation experience for our users. Over the years, we have established a comprehensive infrastructure for digital commerce with diversified fulfillment models. Through Cainiao, we aim to establish a hybrid delivery network covering intra-city, intercity and supply chain services. We are building instant delivery and same-city express delivery capabilities in key cities in China to fulfill a reliable neighborhood shopping experience. We are also investing to establish a nationwide express delivery network with cold-chain, bulky and large appliance delivery capabilities to provide merchants with comprehensive delivery options in key categories such as fresh produce, FMCG and electronics. We will continue to invest in these capabilities to enhance our core competitiveness and value creation to our merchants and consumers, achieving sustainable and high-quality growth. We will discuss the consumption opportunity outside of China under the globalization strategy.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NjQ5NDA=