On the verge of on upcoming IPO we thought it would be a good time to look back on China’s most successful Ecommerce company, Alibaba, and see how it captured 80% of the largest Ecommerce market in the world.
Alibaba joined the Ecommerce trend early on back in 1999 and was founded by former school teacher Jack Ma. Its initial offering was Alibaba.com, a B2B portal connecting Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers.
Shortly after the launch of Alibaba.com in 2003, the firm launched the Taobao marketplace, an eBay like service allowing local Chinese merchants to sell directly to local customers. Taobao, as with other services and platforms of its kind saw raging success and brought upon the release of its own payment system in the form of the now popular Alipay.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma
Alipay launched a year after Taobao and offered merchants free registration and commission-free transactions using the third-party payment platform. Alipay has since become the most used payment service in China, offering online and mobile payment options to a plethora of physical and online services and products.
The heightened popularity of Taobao and Alipay brought upon a companion service to the popular marketplace in the form of Tmall. Starting as a section of Taobao, Tmall offers brand-name retailers and importers the ability to sell its products and services online. Tmall was spinned off into its own standalone service in 2011 and since has become the official online outlet for leading brands such as Apple.
Taobao and Tmall have become the most used online Ecommerce platforms in China and have contributed to global record sales days. This last Single’s Day (AKA 11/11) saw sales reaching $5.75 billion in a 24 hour period from Tmall and Taobao alone.
Given its growing success in the mid 2000’s, internet giant Yahoo! invested $1 billion in Alibaba back in 2005. As a result of the investment Yahoo! now owns 40% of the company. Yahoo! is China’s second largest search engine after local Baidu and is a pioneer in site banner and other online advertising techniques which helped contribute a sizable bulk of Alibaba’s earnings. The partnership has helped Alibaba make its way out of China by offering payment services in Japan and Taiwan.
Alibaba's Headquarters located in Hangzhou, China
Local success brought the need to branch outwards of China and in 2010 Alibaba launched AliExpress. AliExpress offers an online marketplace to give local Chinese merchants the ability to sell outwards of China to the rest of the world. The push to offer RoW services came after eBay had begun offering Chinese sellers the ability to sell to customer Worldwide. Alibaba is continuing to launch services outside of China and recently unveiled 11 Main, an upscale marketplace targeted at the US market.
While local competition in the form of Tencent and JD.com has tried to catch up to the Ecommerce juggernaut, nothing can deny Alibaba’s place as the largest Chinese internet firm. With support and services spanning over internet, mobile, cab hailing, mPOS solutions, vending machines, and money transfers, the upcoming IPO might be what Alibaba needs to spread its reach even farther.
On the verge of on upcoming IPO we thought it would be a good time to look back on China’s most successful Ecommerce company, Alibaba, and see how it captured 80% of the largest Ecommerce market in the world.
Alibaba joined the Ecommerce trend early on back in 1999 and was founded by former school teacher Jack Ma. Its initial offering was Alibaba.com, a B2B portal connecting Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers.
Shortly after the launch of Alibaba.com in 2003, the firm launched the Taobao marketplace, an eBay like service allowing local Chinese merchants to sell directly to local customers. Taobao, as with other services and platforms of its kind saw raging success and brought upon the release of its own payment system in the form of the now popular Alipay.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma
Alipay launched a year after Taobao and offered merchants free registration and commission-free transactions using the third-party payment platform. Alipay has since become the most used payment service in China, offering online and mobile payment options to a plethora of physical and online services and products.
The heightened popularity of Taobao and Alipay brought upon a companion service to the popular marketplace in the form of Tmall. Starting as a section of Taobao, Tmall offers brand-name retailers and importers the ability to sell its products and services online. Tmall was spinned off into its own standalone service in 2011 and since has become the official online outlet for leading brands such as Apple.
Taobao and Tmall have become the most used online Ecommerce platforms in China and have contributed to global record sales days. This last Single’s Day (AKA 11/11) saw sales reaching $5.75 billion in a 24 hour period from Tmall and Taobao alone.
Given its growing success in the mid 2000’s, internet giant Yahoo! invested $1 billion in Alibaba back in 2005. As a result of the investment Yahoo! now owns 40% of the company. Yahoo! is China’s second largest search engine after local Baidu and is a pioneer in site banner and other online advertising techniques which helped contribute a sizable bulk of Alibaba’s earnings. The partnership has helped Alibaba make its way out of China by offering payment services in Japan and Taiwan.
Alibaba's Headquarters located in Hangzhou, China
Local success brought the need to branch outwards of China and in 2010 Alibaba launched AliExpress. AliExpress offers an online marketplace to give local Chinese merchants the ability to sell outwards of China to the rest of the world. The push to offer RoW services came after eBay had begun offering Chinese sellers the ability to sell to customer Worldwide. Alibaba is continuing to launch services outside of China and recently unveiled 11 Main, an upscale marketplace targeted at the US market.
While local competition in the form of Tencent and JD.com has tried to catch up to the Ecommerce juggernaut, nothing can deny Alibaba’s place as the largest Chinese internet firm. With support and services spanning over internet, mobile, cab hailing, mPOS solutions, vending machines, and money transfers, the upcoming IPO might be what Alibaba needs to spread its reach even farther.
Robinhood Shares Surge 11% as Fintech Seeks Independence From Kalshi in Prediction Markets
Marketing in 2026 Audiences, Costs, and Smarter AI
Marketing in 2026 Audiences, Costs, and Smarter AI
As brokers eye B2B business and compete with fintechs and crypto exchanges alike, marketers need to act wisely with often limited budgets. AI can offer scalable solutions, but only if used properly.
Join seasoned marketing executives and specialists as they discuss the main challenges they identify in financial services in 2026 and how they address them.
Attendees of this session will walk away with:
- A nuts-and-bolts account of acquisition costs across platforms and geos
- Analysis of today’s multi-layered audience segments and differences in behaviour
- First-hand account of how global brokers balance consistency and local flavour
- Notes from the field about intelligently using AI and automation in marketing
Speakers:
-Yam Yehoshua, Editor-In-Chief at Finance Magnates
-Federico Paderni, Managing Director for Growth Markets in Europe at X
-Jo Benton, Chief Marketing Officer, Consulting | Fractional CMO
-Itai Levitan, Head of Strategy at investingLive
-Roberto Napolitano, CMO at Innovate Finance
-Tony Cross, Director at Monk Communications
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #FintechMarketing #AI #DigitalStrategy #Fintech #Innovation
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
As brokers eye B2B business and compete with fintechs and crypto exchanges alike, marketers need to act wisely with often limited budgets. AI can offer scalable solutions, but only if used properly.
Join seasoned marketing executives and specialists as they discuss the main challenges they identify in financial services in 2026 and how they address them.
Attendees of this session will walk away with:
- A nuts-and-bolts account of acquisition costs across platforms and geos
- Analysis of today’s multi-layered audience segments and differences in behaviour
- First-hand account of how global brokers balance consistency and local flavour
- Notes from the field about intelligently using AI and automation in marketing
Speakers:
-Yam Yehoshua, Editor-In-Chief at Finance Magnates
-Federico Paderni, Managing Director for Growth Markets in Europe at X
-Jo Benton, Chief Marketing Officer, Consulting | Fractional CMO
-Itai Levitan, Head of Strategy at investingLive
-Roberto Napolitano, CMO at Innovate Finance
-Tony Cross, Director at Monk Communications
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #FintechMarketing #AI #DigitalStrategy #Fintech #Innovation
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
Much like their traders in the market, brokers must diversify to manage risk and stay resilient. But that can get costly, clunky, and lengthy.
This candid panel brings together builders across the trading infrastructure space to uncover the shifting dynamics behind tools, interfaces, and full-stack ambitions.
Attendees will hear:
-Why platform dependency has become one of the most overlooked risks in the trading business?
-Buy vs. build: What do hybrid models look like, and why are industry graveyards filled with failed ‘killer apps’?
-How AI is already changing execution, risk, and reporting—and what’s next?
-Which features, assets, and tools gain the most traction, and where brokers should look for tech-driven retention?
Speakers:
-Stephen Miles, Chief Revenue Officer at FYNXT
-John Morris, Co-Founder at FXBlue
-Matthew Smith, Group Chair & CEO at EC Markets
-Tom Higgins, Founder & CEO at Gold-i
-Gil Ben Hur, Founder at 5% Group
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #Trading #Fintech #FintechInnovation #TradingTechnology #Innovation
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
Much like their traders in the market, brokers must diversify to manage risk and stay resilient. But that can get costly, clunky, and lengthy.
This candid panel brings together builders across the trading infrastructure space to uncover the shifting dynamics behind tools, interfaces, and full-stack ambitions.
Attendees will hear:
-Why platform dependency has become one of the most overlooked risks in the trading business?
-Buy vs. build: What do hybrid models look like, and why are industry graveyards filled with failed ‘killer apps’?
-How AI is already changing execution, risk, and reporting—and what’s next?
-Which features, assets, and tools gain the most traction, and where brokers should look for tech-driven retention?
Speakers:
-Stephen Miles, Chief Revenue Officer at FYNXT
-John Morris, Co-Founder at FXBlue
-Matthew Smith, Group Chair & CEO at EC Markets
-Tom Higgins, Founder & CEO at Gold-i
-Gil Ben Hur, Founder at 5% Group
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #Trading #Fintech #FintechInnovation #TradingTechnology #Innovation
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
Educators, IBs, And Other Regional Growth Drivers
Educators, IBs, And Other Regional Growth Drivers
When acquisition costs rise and AI generated reviews are exactly as useful as they sound, performing and fair partners can make or break brokers.
This session looks at how these players are shaping access, trust and user engagement, and what the most effective partnership models look like in 2025.
Key Themes:
- Building trader communities through education and local expertise
- Aligning broker incentives with long-term regional strategies
- Regional regulation and the realities of compliant acquisition
- What’s next for performance-driven partnerships in online trading
Speakers:
-Adam Button, Chief Currency Analyst at investingLive
-Zander Van Der Merwe, Key Individual & Head of Sales at TD Markets
-Brunno Huertas, Regional Manager – Latin America at Tickmill
-Paul Chalmers, CEO at UK Trading Academy
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #FinanceLeadership #Trading #Fintech #BrokerGrowth #FintechPartnerships #RegionalMarkets
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
When acquisition costs rise and AI generated reviews are exactly as useful as they sound, performing and fair partners can make or break brokers.
This session looks at how these players are shaping access, trust and user engagement, and what the most effective partnership models look like in 2025.
Key Themes:
- Building trader communities through education and local expertise
- Aligning broker incentives with long-term regional strategies
- Regional regulation and the realities of compliant acquisition
- What’s next for performance-driven partnerships in online trading
Speakers:
-Adam Button, Chief Currency Analyst at investingLive
-Zander Van Der Merwe, Key Individual & Head of Sales at TD Markets
-Brunno Huertas, Regional Manager – Latin America at Tickmill
-Paul Chalmers, CEO at UK Trading Academy
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #FinanceLeadership #Trading #Fintech #BrokerGrowth #FintechPartnerships #RegionalMarkets
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
The Leap to Everything App: Are Brokers There Yet?
The Leap to Everything App: Are Brokers There Yet?
As the arms race to bundle investing, personal finance, and wallets under super apps grows fiercer, brokers are caught between a rock and a hard place.
This session explores unexpected ways for industry players to collaborate as consumer habits evolve, competitors eye the traffic, and regulation becomes more nuanced.
Speakers:
-Laura McCracken,CEO | Advisory Board Member at Blackheath Advisors | The Payments Association
-Slobodan Manojlović,Vice President | Lead Software Engineer at JP Morgan Chase & Co.
-Jordan Sinclair, President at Robinhood UK
-Simon Pelletier, Head of Product at Yuh
Gerald Perez, CEO at Interactive Brokers UK
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #FinanceLeadership #Trading #Fintech #Innovation
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
As the arms race to bundle investing, personal finance, and wallets under super apps grows fiercer, brokers are caught between a rock and a hard place.
This session explores unexpected ways for industry players to collaborate as consumer habits evolve, competitors eye the traffic, and regulation becomes more nuanced.
Speakers:
-Laura McCracken,CEO | Advisory Board Member at Blackheath Advisors | The Payments Association
-Slobodan Manojlović,Vice President | Lead Software Engineer at JP Morgan Chase & Co.
-Jordan Sinclair, President at Robinhood UK
-Simon Pelletier, Head of Product at Yuh
Gerald Perez, CEO at Interactive Brokers UK
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #FinanceLeadership #Trading #Fintech #Innovation
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
Mind The Gap: Can Retail Investors Save the UK Stock Market?
Mind The Gap: Can Retail Investors Save the UK Stock Market?
As the dire state of listing and investment in the UK goes from a financial services problem to a national challenge, the retail investing industry is taken to task.
Join a host of executives and experts for a candid conversation about the future of millions of Brits, as seen from a financial services standpoint:
-Are they happy with the Leeds Reform, in principle and in practice?
-Is it the government’s job to affect the ‘saver’ mentality? Is it doing well?
-What can brokers and fintechs do to spur UK investment?
-How can the FCA balance greater flexibility with consumer protection?
Speakers:
-Adam Button, Chief Currency Analyst at investingLive
-Nicola Higgs, Partner at Latham & Watkins
-Dan Lane, Investment Content Lead at Robinhood UK
-Jack Crone, PR & Public Affairs Lead at IG
-David Belle, Founder at Fink Money
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #FinanceLeadership #Trading #Fintech #RetailInvesting #UKFinance
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
As the dire state of listing and investment in the UK goes from a financial services problem to a national challenge, the retail investing industry is taken to task.
Join a host of executives and experts for a candid conversation about the future of millions of Brits, as seen from a financial services standpoint:
-Are they happy with the Leeds Reform, in principle and in practice?
-Is it the government’s job to affect the ‘saver’ mentality? Is it doing well?
-What can brokers and fintechs do to spur UK investment?
-How can the FCA balance greater flexibility with consumer protection?
Speakers:
-Adam Button, Chief Currency Analyst at investingLive
-Nicola Higgs, Partner at Latham & Watkins
-Dan Lane, Investment Content Lead at Robinhood UK
-Jack Crone, PR & Public Affairs Lead at IG
-David Belle, Founder at Fink Money
#fmls #fmls25 #fmevents #Brokers #FinanceLeadership #Trading #Fintech #RetailInvesting #UKFinance
Connect with us at:
🔗 LinkedIn: / financemagnates-events
👍 Facebook: / financemagnatesevents
📸 Instagram: / fmevents_official
🐦 Twitter: / f_m_events
🎥 TikTok: / fmevents_official
