Part 3/11:
Following Taobao's success, Alibaba expanded its offerings by developing Tmall (originally Taobao Mall), catering to larger brands and more established merchants. Today, Taobao and Tmall comprise the core of Alibaba’s Chinese e-commerce operations, generating over half of the company's revenue in recent quarters. A key driver of this revenue is customer management revenue (CMR), which includes marketing services, commissions, and software subscriptions paid by merchants. This merchant-centric model underscores an important insight: Alibaba’s profitability hinges more on its business partners than individual consumers.