Alibaba Group said Tuesday it’s partnering with Fung Retailing Ltd. to bring more international lifestyle brands to China.
The collaboration between the world’s largest e-commerce company and Fung Retailing, with a global network of over 3,000 stores, is looking to meet increasing Chinese consumer demand for lifestyle products, both online and offline. It will serve global brands by leveraging Fung Retailing’s marketing expertise, global portfolio of brands and offline retail channels, along with Alibaba’s ecosystem, digital-retail leadership, technology and insights from the 600-plus million users on Alibaba’s platforms.
Alibaba and Fung Retailing announced their strategic partnership at a signing ceremony in Shanghai, at the China International Import Expo.
“We endeavor to help global brands expand their foothold in the China market by fully integrating Alibaba’s strong capabilities in New Retail, big data and technology with Fung Retailing’s unparalleled advantageous in brand and supply chain resources. We believe this partnership represents the beginning of a new chapter for New Retail,” said Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang.
Specifically, Alibaba and Fung Retailing will team up in global brand recruitment and offer brands merchandising, marketing and omnichannel distribution services.
The idea is to make it easier for brands to tailor product development and marketing strategies to meet the changing needs of Chinese consumers. Brands can also draw on Alibaba’s New Retail channels via Tmall and Intime malls, as well as Fung Retailing’s offline stores. That will reduce costs, risks and the time to enter the Chinese market, the two sides said in a release.
Fung Retailing Ltd. Group Managing Director Sabrina Fung said retail is changing exponentially, so it’s important to stay ahead of the curve, which this agreement allows it to do.
“Through this exciting strategic partnership with Alibaba, we will help customers navigate the full Chinese retail economy and reach China’s 1.4 billion consumers more easily. In this evolving retail landscape, and faced with changing consumer behavior and disruptive retail technologies, we are focused on developing new ways to do business,” said Fung.
The partnership will focus on China first, but the two sides said they could potentially expand to other regions served by Alibaba’s platforms.
