28 Inspiring Alibaba Statistics for Future Instant Purchases

Q: How many employees does Alibaba have in 2021?

Alibaba currently has 251,462 full-time employees, i.e., 133,062 more than in 2020. The number of employees has been growing gradually over the years. In fact, in 2020, the company had even more workers than both Facebook and Yahoo. Alibaba's revenue per employee amounts to $285,540.

In this article, we summed up the most recent Alibaba statistics to help you figure it all out—how stable the company is, how it works, how different it is from Amazon, and how it fits into the big picture of tech giants, which will shape our future. If you live anywhere outside of China, chances are you may be hesitant to order a cheap yet cool trinket you discovered on AliExpress, which is a part of Alibaba Group.

This post might go a long way towards changing your perception in this regard.

Top 10 Facts & Alibaba Statistics for 2022

The company’s estimated worth was $800 billion in 2020.
In Q1 of 2021, Alibaba had 925 million mobile monthly active users.
The company’s annual revenue currently amounts to $109 billion.
Alibaba employs 251,462 full-time workers.
In 2020, Alibaba made a total of $74.1 billion on Single’s Day.
Alibaba’s cloud business grew 58.5% in June 2020.
Alibaba holds the highest number of blockchain patents in the world — 212 out of 3,924.
AliExpress has lower prices than eBay.
Alibaba is the 9th largest company in the world regarding market capitalization.
Jack Ma’s net worth currently amounts to $48.4 billion.

Alibaba Explained in Four Fast Facts

When was Alibaba founded, and what makes the platform unique?

1. Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, a former English teacher.

(The Street)

The former school teacher from China, Jack Ma, wanted to use the power of the wholesale internet marketplace, which led to creating the largest e-commerce company in the world.

In 2014, Alibaba became the largest online commerce platform for small businesses. At the same time, Alibaba’s trading price per share surpassed Facebook and Google.

2. Alibaba’s revenue model is focused on business trade.

(Feedough)

How does Alibaba make money? Alibaba doesn’t use the usual business-to-consumer approach. The company’s idea is to offer a place where suppliers will be able to sell their products at wholesale prices to small businesses, who will then resell them.

Alibaba uses three major web portals — Alibaba.com, Taobao, and Tmall, to connect sellers and buyers.

3. Alibaba is the 9th largest company in the world by market cap.

(Statista)

Alibaba market size statistics show that, as of April 2021, the company reached a market capitalization of $657.5 billion, making it the 9th largest company in the world.

The first two places currently belong to the US giant, Apple, ($2.25 trillion) and Microsoft ($1.96 trillion).

Saudi Arabian oil company, Saudi Aramco, holds third place with a market cap of $1.89 trillion.

4. Jack Ma’s net worth currently amounts to $48.4 billion.

(Forbes)

Based on his wealth history, there’s been a significant increase in Alibaba’s founder net worth since 2020, when his net worth amounted to $38.8 billion.

More Alibaba Facts & Stats to Know Before Hitting ‘Order’

What’s the company’s annual revenue, and how many sellers and users use Alibaba’s platform?

5. The company’s estimated worth was $800 billion in 2020.

(Techspot)

After a sharp rise of its stocks, Alibaba Group regained investors’ trust. It proved to be a company with a flexible business model that secures ROI even in the most challenging times despite the odds.

6. Alibaba stocks hit a record in 2020 as Alibaba stock rate has gone up by 42%.

(WSJ)

This re-established their position among the most valuable tech businesses in the world, which was compromised after a messy Q1 of 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

7. Alibaba.com has more than 150,000 registered sellers.

(Digital Commerce)

Apart from Amazon and eBay, Alibaba.com is one of the largest and most important B2B platforms. When it comes to Alibaba and the number of sellers, the latter is large enough to cover a market of 150 million registered members and over 10 million active buyers.

8. In Q1 of 2021, Alibaba had 925 million mobile monthly active users.

(Statista) (Statista)

At the same time, the number of annual active consumers in Q1 of 2021 amounted to 811 million in China.

9. Taobao statistics from 2020 report that the platform had 710 million active users last October.

(eTOC) (Statista) (SCMP)

Taobao, one of Alibaba’s digital shopping platforms, was the leader in the number of active users in 2020 (along with Pinduoduo and JD.com).

Most Taobao app users are young shoppers. In other words, 25% of the users comprise 25-30-year-olds. 19.9% of them are 19-24-year-olds, and 18.2% make 31-35-year-olds.

Regarding gender, 50.72% of active users are female, and 49.28% are male.

In the same year, Taobao’s revenue reached more than 400 billion yuan ($61.7 billion) in GMV. What’s more, the number of Taobao Live daily active users and live-streamers grew by 100% and 661%, respectively.

10. Alibaba sales statistics show the company’s annual revenue currently amounts to $109 billion (717.2 billion yuan).

(Statista) (Statista)

This is a massive increase compared to the company’s 2019 revenue that reached 509.7 billion yuan ($78.6 billion).

The largest part of Alibaba’s revenue comes from China’s commerce.

In fact, Chinese online sales in 2021 generated 473.68 billion yuan ($72.3 billion), or 66% of the company’s revenue.

(Statista)

Besides domestic retail commerce, Alibaba’s revenue in 2020 came from cloud computing (8%), digital media and entertainment (5%), international retail commerce (5%), China’s wholesale commerce (3%), international wholesale commerce (2%), and innovation initiatives (1%).

In 2021, Alibaba is expected to hold 66% of China’s commerce retail.

12. Based on the latest Alibaba statistics, the company has 251,462 full-time workers.

(Statista) (Alibaba Group)

At the beginning of 2020, the company had more workers than Facebook and Yahoo combined. While Alibaba has offices in various countries (India, Germany, UK, US, Japan), the majority of employers work in China.

13. In 2020, Alibaba made a total of $74.1 billion on Single’s Day.

(Pymnts)

On November 11 every year, Alibaba takes center stage in the Chinese shopping frenzy on Single’s Day.

You may think that Black Friday or Cyber Monday are the most hectic events of this kind in China, but according to Alibaba facts, the company managed to make $74.1 billion on Single’s Day in 2020.

Truth be told, the company started its sales a bit earlier (on November 3).

14. Alibaba Group has 13 major subsidiaries.

(Alibaba Group)

As we already mentioned, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. is an internet company that declares itself as an online marketplace.

However, they have found a way to grow and expand by forming a network of Alibaba Group subsidiaries that specialize in a broad spectrum of services (from finance to groceries):

Taobao,
Tmall,
Freshippo,
AliExpress,
Lazada Group,
Alibaba.com,
1688,
Ele.me,
Youku,
DingTalk,
Alimama,
Alibaba Cloud, and
Cainiao.

15. Alibaba was named the top company in Fortune magazine’s ‘Change the World’ ranking.

(Alizila)

The official Alibaba customs data shows that the company sourced and delivered over 26 million pieces of protective medical equipment outside of China. Fortune magazine recognized their efforts and made them the number one individual company on their list, although they ranked 37th in 2019.

16. There are 11 rules you have to know when ordering from China to the US.

(USA Customs)

When it comes to ordering/importing goods, Alibaba US Customs data indicates that there are 11 established incoterms you have to keep in mind when it comes to China-US trade.

Also, while you do not need a general importing permit, you should check if the goods you are importing (ordering in larger quantities) are on the list of goods that have to be reported to one of the government agencies overseeing trade: FDA, DOT, USDA…

Suppose there are things you wish to order and have delivered from Alibaba rather than from Amazon. In that case, aside from the Alibaba shipping rates, you also have to keep in mind a couple of things.

For example, tariffs and restrictions frequently change due to the ongoing trade war (you can always check these on the website of the US Customs).

Alibaba Trends & Cutting-Edge Technologies

What can we expect from Alibaba in the future?

17. Alibaba’s cloud business grew 58.5% in June 2020.

(CNBC)

The available Alibaba statistics from 2020 indicate that the cloud computing branch accounts for 8% of the company’s revenue. It is by far one of the fastest-growing ventures started by the Alibaba Group in recent years.

Despite still being behind the already established names of cloud computing like Amazon and Microsoft, the company is determined to reach the top by investing 200 billion yuan (about $30.8 billion) into this branch by 2023.

18. Deliveries will be made by autonomous robots starting in 2021.

(Retail Detail) (SupplyChainDive)

Alibaba Group’s R&D Institute announced a breakthrough—starting 2021, deliveries will be made by Xiaomanlv (fully automated and self-driving robots). This should boost the already impressive delivery-related Alibaba statistics.

The company already tested 1,000 robots by sending deliveries to 30 universities in China. Results? The robots managed to deliver 150 packages per day. The customer satisfaction rate made an impressive 98%!

This autonomous robot uses cutting-edge technologies such as big data, deep learning, and geo-localization, which provide it with the ability to make around 500 deliveries a day within a 62 miles range.

19. Alibaba facts reveal that Alibaba and Alipay hold the highest number of blockchain patents in the world — 212 out of 3,924.

(Technode)

Although Alibaba has the highest number of patents, 6 out of 10 top blockchain patent holders are American firms.

That said, IBM holds second place on the list with 136 blockchain patents, followed by Coinplug (107 patents), Accenture (49 patents), Bank of America (49 patents), Metaps (44 patents), and Nchain (43 patents).

20. Alibaba statistics show Apsara stores data in over 100,000 servers.

(Alibaba Cloud)

After Oracle failed to keep up with the needs of its growing databases, Alibaba decided to venture into big data engine projects, establishing Apsara and Alibaba Cloud in 2009. By 2013, they already stored their data on 5,000 servers.

Today Apsara stores over 100,000 data from servers located in 10 data centers across the world.

The number of logistic breakdowns that the Alibaba data center platform caused? Zero.

21. Alibaba is the third biggest provider for IaaS.

(Businesswire)

The company’s cloud computing service has millions of customers and covers 21 regions around the world. In 2020, Alibaba Group held a 9.5% share in the global IaaS market.

Alibaba vs Amazon vs eBay

What are the main differences between Alibaba, Amazon, and eBay, and which platform offers the best digital shopping experience?

22. Amazon has a higher market cap than Alibaba.

(MacroTrends) (MacroTrends)

As of June 22, 2021, Amazon’s and Alibaba’s market cap amounts to $1.8 trillion, i.e. $572.51 billion.

Alibaba’s market cap reached a peak in December 2020, amounting to $842.11 billion, only to go down in 2021.

In contrast, Amazon’s market cap witnessed constant growth over the years, reaching its peak in 2021.

23. Alibaba stats show AliExpress has lower prices than eBay.

(Tollo to Shop)

Although both platforms offer a wide range of products, the prices on AliExpress are much lower. For example, a pair of Redmi AirDots will cost you about $41 on eBay and $14 on AliExpress.

With that in mind, when it comes to shipping, AliExpress ships from China while eBay ships from the seller’s location. This means that Alibaba’s shipping price is more or less fixed, while eBay’s shipping fees will depend on your location.

For this reason, you can expect products from eBay to arrive in a day at your US address.

24. Compared to Amazon, Alibaba has a larger gross merchandise value.

(Marketplace Pulse) (Edge by Ascential)

Alibaba data shows that the company’s GMV in 2020 reached a record $1 trillion, while Amazon’s GMV in the same year amounted to $490 billion.

On the other hand, last year, Amazon generated more revenue than Alibaba— $386.064 billion vs. $71.985 billion.

25. Alibaba has a higher annual gross profit than eBay.

(MacroTrends) (MacroTrends)

eBay’s annual gross profit in 2020 amounted to $7.798 billion. In contrast, Alibaba’s profit was nearly six times higher, reaching $40.230 billion.

The 2021 data (ending March 31) shows eBay’s and Alibaba’s current gross profit amounts to $8.371 billion and $45.191 billion, respectively.

26. In 2020, Alibaba Group reported higher ROE and ROA than Amazon.

(Stock News)

The growth rate of Alibaba and last year’s stock data show that BABA boasted higher Return on Equity and Return on Assets rates, at 21.51% and 5.5%, respectively.

Amazon reported an ROE of 20.79% and ROA of 4.65%.

27. Alibaba is split into three businesses, while Amazon has a single core business.

(Investopedia)

Although both are essentially e-commerce companies, they have opposite approaches to doing business. This might turn out to be one of the deciding factors in the battle of Alibaba vs Amazon.

Amazon is a single entity. On the other hand, Alibaba Group splits its actions into three core subsidiaries: Alibaba, Taobao, and Tmall.

This provides the Chinese company with a chance to be more agile and answer to market challenges faster.

28. Is Alibaba bigger than Amazon when discussing the workforce? Amazon has the highest number of employees compared to Alibaba and eBay.

(HelpCenter app)

when it comes to the number of full-time employees? No, it’s not. Amazon has 1,298,000 workers, while Alibaba reported having 251,462 full-time employees as of March 31, 2021.

Is Alibaba bigger than eBay regarding the number of employees? Yes, given that eBay has a much lower number of employees compared to Amazon and Alibaba — 12,700.

On the flip side, eBay is a company that has the highest revenue per employee ($811,024).

For comparison, Amazon’s and Alibaba’s revenue per employee in 2020 amounted to $297,381 and $285,540, respectively.

FAQs

Who is richer, Amazon or Alibaba?

On paper, Amazon is richer than Alibaba. Starting with the net worth of Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, who is currently the wealthiest person in the world ($177 billion net worth).

The statistics are also on Amazon’s side when it comes to the annual revenue. However, although revenue numbers show that Amazon made $386.064 billion in 2020, while Alibaba made ‘only’ $71.985 billion, the gross merchandise value (GMV) favors the Chinese company ($1 trillion vs. $490 billion).

Is Alibaba bigger than Google?

Based on the 2020 revenue, Google is bigger than Alibaba ($181.69 billion vs. $71.985 billion).

In addition, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has a larger market capitalization ($1.5 trillion) than Alibaba Group ($657.5 billion).

However, when it comes to the number of full-time employees, Alibaba is bigger than Google’s Alphabet (251,462 vs. 135,301 workers).

How many employees did Alibaba have in 2021?

Alibaba had 251,462 full-time employees, i.e., 133,062 more than in 2020. The number of employees has been growing gradually over the years.

In fact, in 2020, the company had even more workers than both Facebook and Yahoo.

Alibaba’s revenue per employee amounted to $285,540.

Final Take on Alibaba Statistics

The Chinese giant is slowly but surely turning into a world leader owing to a history of well-thought-out decisions and dedication to technological development. Alibaba Group’s agile approach helps them easily navigate the challenges of the changing market, especially during the pandemic.

As you can see from our Alibaba statistics, the company is original in many respects so we have reasons to believe even higher revenues await in 2022.