As we turn the page on 2020, here’s a look back at our most-read stories in a tumultuous, but pivotal, year.

Stories on a new wave of innovation spurred by Covid-19 drew the biggest Alizila readership last year. Through a series of news stories, features and videos, we shed light on how businesses – from IKEA and Fender to Coach and Allbirds – even cultural institutions, like the Louvre Museum, used digital tools to connect, communicate and engage with consumers in a time of crisis. Among the most widely shared stories was our feature on China’s leading department-store chain, Intime, and how it bounced back from Covid-19, offering some hope and inspiration for a battered retail sector.

Other content our readers were most deeply engaged in included our coverage of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, China’s booming livestreaming trend, luxury brands advancing into digital, and our bite-sized videos that explain the different businesses within Alibaba Group’s ecoystem. 

Below are Alizila’s 10 most-popular stories of 2020.

1. How Livestreaming Drives Retail and E-Commerce Success
Mark and Zoe, the founders of New York-based e-commerce livestreaming consultancy, And Luxe, explain how livestreaming creates a three-dimensional, interactive and social shopping experience for Chinese consumers looking to discover brands from across the globe. Check it out here. And if you’re interested in a recap of the year in livestreaming for Alibaba, this video is also worth watching.

2. How Intime Survived Covid-19, Online and Offline
As the stay-at-home economy soared, so did traffic to Chinese department-store chain Intime’s offline-to-online shopping app, Miaojie, which lists more than 90% of the mall’s stores across the country. Read the full story here.

3. What is Ele.me?
Alibaba’s on-demand delivery platform Ele.me literally means, “Are you hungry?,” in Chinese. In this video, we show you the app in action and why it is much more than just a food-delivery service.

4. Alibaba.com Spotlights B2B Companies with New Initiative
At the start of 2020, B2B online marketplace Alibaba.com launched a series of weekly events for U.S. businesses, aimed at offering them the tools and skills necessary to grow both at home and overseas. And that only marked the first in its string of efforts to support SMEs impacted by the pandemic. To find out more, watch Alibaba.com’s year in review here. 

5. How Brands have Embraced Digital Transformation during Covid-19
From digitally native brands to global fashion houses, this article includes several of the best examples we’ve seen of companies tapping into technology to outlast the outbreak. Read the story here.

6. Jack Ma Foundation Shares Coronavirus Prevention Handbook
Last March, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma’s namesake philanthropic foundation and the Alibaba Foundation announced the release of the Covid-19 Prevention and Treatment Handbook, which details the learnings and best practices from medical staff who worked on the frontlines of the outbreak at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. For more on the foundations’ efforts to help curb the pandemic, click here.

7. Tmall Unveils Interactive 3D Shopping Experience
During the 6.18 shopping festival, Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce platform launched its 3D shopping feature – the latest of its New Retail technologies. Using their phones, consumers can browse 3D showrooms of more than 100 brands, including IKEA. Watch the video here.

8. How Innovation and Flexibility Helped Allbirds during Covid-19
San Francisco-based startup Allbirds was a brand that stood out in its ability to tap digital tools and adapt to the challenges brought on by Covid-19. In April, we caught up with Erick Haskell, the president of international at Allbirds, to find out more about the sustainable footwear brand’s journey. Catch the story here.

9. Daniel Zhang on Growth and Digital Transformation in the Post-Coronavirus Era
“Despite the uncertainties in the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, there is one thing we are certain – the world is moving toward digital-first and digital-everything.” Read the full transcript of Alibaba Group Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang’s comments here.

10. VIP Tours in Europe Streamed on Your Phone
The travel industry has been hugely impacted by Covid-19. Until global travel can resume again, watch how Alibaba’s travel-services platform Fliggy is bringing Europe’s most-favored tourist spots to consumers via livestreamed tours. This ongoing series has featured the likes of the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre in France, Spain’s Prado Museum and the British Museum.

Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest Alibaba updates in your inbox every week.