Product details

Xianyu is a corporate venture of the Alibaba Group launched in June 2014. Literally translated as 'idle fish', it is a successor of the second-hand goods business of Taobao, China's top C2C marketplace. Charismatic intrapreneur Mr Chen Weiye sees three areas where his venture will develop: the exchange of second-hand goods, Airbnb-like home sharing and the gig economy. Xianyu is based on 'ponds' or online spaces where members share real-world interests (such as clay figurines, Harley Davidsons) or proximity (neighborhoods, campuses). This facilitates exchange and lowers barriers to business activity. The community is run and driven by a 'host', which in turn is enabled by Xianyu's governance and data policies. The idea is a platform with hundreds of thousands of active communities thriving and with their own unique cultures. By mid-2017, about 200 million unique users had bought goods at Xianyu. More important than growth, however, is the venture's strategic nature: a bet that holds a key to shape the future of Chinese, and maybe global, consumption.