Japanese media pay attention to retail science and technology competition: Alibaba ranks first in the number of patents in the world

CTOnews.com, July 31 (Xinhua)-- China is gaining momentum in the field of "retail technology" involving a new generation of technology in the circulation industry, such as unmanned store operation, according to the Nikkei Chinese website. In terms of the number of patents obtained, Alibaba Group leapt to the first place with 1141 patents, beating Google parent companies Alphabet (1067) and eBay (913).

▲ Picture Source Pexels "Retail Technology" is a cutting-edge technology that uses IT to improve the efficiency of the circulation industry, involving warehouse automation, settlement and consumer positioning information analysis and other aspects. Global retail and e-commerce giants are stepping up research and development and introduction of related technologies, which is expected to significantly change the competitive environment of the circulation industry.

It is predicted that the size of the global retail technology market will triple to 14 trillion yen by 2027, reaching 14 trillion yen (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 712.6 billion yuan). It is reported that Japan lags significantly behind China and the United States.

Astamuse, a Japanese economic news and research company, investigated retail technology-related patents made public in 210 countries and regions from January 2011 to March 2023. There are about 38000 patents with outstanding term.

In terms of the number of patents in various countries, the United States ranks first with 54%, followed by China with 20%. In the first five years to 2015, China accounted for only about 10 per cent of the world's patents, but it accounted for 30 per cent of new patents in the last five years. Japan accounts for 6% of patents, second only to China and the United States, but it does not have a high sense of existence around the world.

The report particularly pointed out that Alibaba is eye-catching in analyzing the location information of smartphones and patents that recommend goods to users through App, especially in real-time analysis of the browsing of e-commerce websites and the selection of technology for recommended products. Ali enjoys a high reputation all over the world, and there are many cases in which other companies cite Ali's patent as a competitive patent when applying for similar patents. Among Chinese enterprises, companies such as Tencent Holdings are also at the forefront in this regard.