February 2024 marks a decade since Alibaba Group ignited one of the biggest revolutions in China’s cross-border retail sector with the launch of marketplace Tmall Global.
From humble beginnings catering to parents’ demand for milk formula, today, the platform puts over 46,000 international brands from more than 90 countries at the fingertips of 100 million Chinese consumers.
Tmall Global’s General Manager Lynn Dong broke down this journey in a recent interview with Alizila.
“We are linked to a billion high-quality active consumers across the Taobao ecosystem. This helps overseas brands directly connect with a vast shopper base,” she explained.
The platform has built a 100-strong network of overseas warehouses that supply products to over 500 international transportation routes, from air and sea to trains and vans. As a result, around half of Tmall Global orders can be fulfilled with next-day delivery.
The platform also empowers merchants to stay nimble and abreast of the latest consumer trends.
Australia’s Blackmores entered China’s vitamin and dietary supplements market in 2012 and established a branch in Shanghai’s pilot Free Trade Zone in 2014.
“The collaboration with leading Chinese platform, Tmall Global on online consumer education and marketing and sales activities has been one of the important key success factors for Blackmores to build strong share position across a range of categories like fish oil, eye health, heart health, as well as joints & bones over the 10-year journey,” said Kitty Liu, Managing Director Greater China at Blackmores.
During 2023’s 11.11 shopping festival, Blackmores achieved double-digit growth by harnessing innovative digital marketing initiatives like livestreaming and short videos.
This year, Blackmores will deploy an AI-enabled customer service tool with support from Tmall Global.
“Blackmores, as Australia’s leading health company, is confident and looking forward to the continuous collaborations with Tmall Global to jointly improve Chinese consumers’ health and contribute to the goal of Healthy China 2030 policy,” said Liu.
Take a peek behind the curtain and watch the video now to see how Tmall Global has grown
This article was updated on March 5 to include third-party commentary
