Alibaba will conduct an internal auction of 102 autographed uniforms, signed by group founder Jack Ma, CEO Eddie Wu Yongming and e-commerce chief Jiang Fan for the firm’s employees on September 10, Alibaba’s anniversary, according to a company post on Friday. The new orange uniform, a change from the previous light blue Ele.me outfits, featured 22 brands from the business.
The new uniform was first introduced in late August and the company is in the process of equipping active couriers. The kit includes upgraded helmets and food delivery boxes. Post owner Alibaba said the material was waterproof, wind-resistant and insulated and each set also came with a first aid pouch and a personal information holder to improve rider safety.
Alibaba said it had achieved an initial victory in its quest. On the firm’s second-quarter earnings call, Jiang said the number of daily active riders on Taobao’s Shangou instant commerce platform had surpassed 2 million – an increase of three times from April – creating over 1 million new jobs.
Shangou’s daily order volumes peaked at 120 million in July during an intense subsidy war, while monthly active users reached 300 million in August. The surge eroded Meituan’s market share. Meituan also said its second-quarter net profit fell 96.8 per cent from a year earlier to 365.3 million yuan (US$51.2 million) and projected a loss for the third quarter. Meituan has 3.36 million monthly active riders and its peak of daily orders reached 150 billion, CEO Wang Xing said in an internal letter over the weekend.
