Alibaba’s $1T Transaction Volume Forecast

Alibaba has set its transaction volume sights high for the next four years, saying that, by 2020, it hopes to double its annual transaction volume to more than $1 trillion.

“What I can share with you is that, in four years, we have a very clear goal which is, in fiscal 2020, Alibaba wants to be the first company to have a retail market base scale of over $1 trillion, so that is our clear goal in the next three to four years,” CEO Daniel Zhang said at a conference this week.

Alibaba also projected a 48 percent increase for the fiscal year ending in March, as its executive team attempted to calm investors’ concerns about its growth. Despite China’s economic slump and increased competition, Alibaba is optimistic about its forecast.

Alibaba’s Jack Ma also noted during a conference that the company is going to change how it reports GMV, since he said it’s not the only standard fiscal measure to show how well a company is doing. That’s why Alibaba will stop reporting GMV every quarter but instead will only provide annual GMV metrics. To keep investors informed, Alibaba said it would disclose more of its other financials from other business segments to ensure investors are confident in its figures. This includes more about its online marketplaces, cloud computing, mobile media, etc.