"Alibaba and the 40 thieves"? That is what always come to my mind when I think about "Alibaba". Oh gosh, time to wake up! Face it, this is "Alibaba" conglomerate, the Alibaba Group that is about to take the IPO crown when it’s expected to debut on Sept 18, 2014. It’s a long awaited debut for what is the largest Internet and e-commerce based company in the world!
Alibaba has a myriad of operations, and investments, from its Alibaba marketplace (wholesale business-to-business sales and service), Taobao marketplace (think Amazon and EBay combined), Alipay (think PayPal and all mobile payments combined), TMall (think online BestBuy), cloud services (think SalesForce.com), Tudou (think Netflix and Youtube), and many more. Basically almost everything you can buy or do on the internet in China, Alibaba has some ownership of it. It has also recently started expanding into a more global company, bringing its services and products to a larger audience. In many ways, Alibaba’s IPO is regarded as the next coming of Internet-driven riches, following the likes of Facebook, Google, Amazon, and eBay, minting millionaires by the thousands.
I have used Taobao marketplace and TMall before and I was amazed with the great variety of goods I can buy online and arrange for transport company to ship from China to Singapore! I can purchase these exactly same products on Taobao at 1/3 to 1/2 the price (inclusive of shipping to Singapore!) of what I need to pay in Singapore! As a result, I foresee great price competition for non-perishable goods that are sold in shops in Singapore! This could have a great detrimental effects on retail and shops rentals in Singapore! From this, I am avoiding retail and shops' properties in Singapore! I am also avoiding industrial properties in Singapore! Great danger lurks for investment in these properties (unless you have the choicest locations!).
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