The Alibaba News Roundup is a weekly digest of events and happenings across the company. This week, we look at Dingtalk recording 400 million users and rolling out a new software update to support enterprise users’ app experience. Also covered are Cainiao’s launch of a dedicated flight service to transport fragrance items between Europe and China, as well as its new container-booking system. And we look at Fliggy’s partnership with the Natural History Museum in London.
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DingTalk Records 400 Million Users
Alibaba’s corporate communications app, DingTalk, has reached 400 million users, 17 million of whom are enterprises and organizations. The company said Thursday that the latest software upgrade to version 6.0 will further heighten user experience, including in-app development, unified task-management and personalized virtual workstations to support role-specific users. These upgrades are part of DingTalk’s longterm goal to build a cloud-based platform to support businesses of all sizes to digitize and streamline their work communication online. Last year, DingTalk opened up its “zero-code” development platform, Yida, to carry out development easily and at low cost. With more than 1,300 APIs, 12,700 functions and plug-ins, the process for individuals and enterprises with zero-to-low developer bandwidth to customize DingTalk can sometimes be just as simple as drag-and-drop.
Alibaba Initiates New Europe-China Route for Perfume
Alibaba Group’s cross-border e-commerce platform, Tmall Global, and logistics unit Cainiao Network recently launched its first “perfume route,” a dedicated flight for transporting fragrances between Europe and China daily. This is to meet Chinese consumers’ growing appetite for niche, artisanal scents, which they can’t always access easily due to cross-border logistical challenges: Perfume suppliers are often refused by air carriers, as their fragrances may contain flammable substances, such as alcohol. Although maritime shipping has been the most common option, smaller brands have found it hard to meet the minimum volume requirements to ship by sea. The service from Tmall Global and Cainiao offers an alternative for Europe’s parfumiers, with shipping-safe packaging specially designed for the route. Chinese consumers can receive their imported perfumes from Europe in as few as three days using the new route.
Cainiao Launches Container-Booking Service to Connect 200 ports Worldwide
Alibaba Group’s logistics arm, Cainiao Network, has launched its container-booking service for air and sea freight, connecting 200 ports in 50 countries. The company’s new cross-border, port-to-port shipping fee will be 30% to 40% lower than the average market rate, with booking confirmation available in as few as two business days after an order is placed by the merchant. The announcement comes at a time when the global container shortage problem has increased shipping costs, putting more pressure on import and export businesses. According to United Nations trade data, around 60% of goods are shipped by container via 180 million containers worldwide. Click here to make inquiries about the container booking service.
Fliggy Brings the Natural History Museum in London to Chinese Viewers
Alibaba’s travel-services platform, Fliggy, has partnered with the Natural History Museum in London this week to offer a virtual tour to Chinese consumers through livestreaming. Hosted by two of the museum’s science educators, more than 100,000 viewers tuned into the stream in the first minute on Wednesday to virtually browse the museum. Viewers also took part in a short Q&A with the hosts, with questions being asked in real-time through the livestream. Since February 2020, Fliggy has hosted livestreaming sessions to help travelers maintain a link to destinations around the world as international travel remains limited because of Covid restrictions. Some of its latest sessions featured famous French landmarks, such as the Pompidou Center, the Louvre and Palace of Versailles.
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