Since being introduced in 2008, Tmall has strongly asserted its position as the dominant market leader in the Chinese B2C ecommerce market, with a 57.3 percent share of the marketplace (Bysoftchina).
The scale of Tmall’s success was clear on Singles’ Day, 11 November – Alibaba’s unaudited report said that the gross merchandise volume on its Tmall platform reached 57.1 billion yuan (US $8.98 billion) by 11.50am, just under 12 hours into the sale.
The ever-growing popularity of Tmall with Chinese shoppers can be attributed to its introduction of Tmall Global in February 2014, which gives Chinese shoppers easy access to much-demanded foreign brands. In just 18 months, over 5,400 retailers from 25 countries opened stores on the shopping platform.
Although official sales on Tmall Global have not been released, it is thought that sales on the Tmall Global platform increased ten fold in the first nine months of trading (Internet Retailer).
It is forecast that the total number of online shoppers in China will surpass 750 million by 2020 (Forbes). And, from November to December 2015 alone, Chinese online shoppers are expected to spend US $150 billion in total with an average expenditure of US $210 each, according to Adobe Digital Index. The opportunity for foreign brands, retailers and resellers to invest in this market on the Tmall Global platform is enormous.
Chinese shoppers seek the quality of foreign goods
Tmall Global allows Chinese shoppers to buy authentic foreign products from overseas companies that have no legal entity in the country.
There is a great demand for imported foreign goods in China, with a majority of 56 percent believing that imported products are more credible, with higher quality (Mintel).
Many luxury brands, such as Burberry, Estée Lauder, and L’Occitane were quickly attracted to the opportunities offered by Tmall Global to reach Chinese shoppers (The Drum). Fashion and pure play retailers were quick to follow suit, with ASOS and multiple Amazon stores now present on the platform.
Now, many household FMCG brands and retailers are throwing their hats into the ring, with retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Costco launching stores on the Tmall platform in the past few months.
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Costco Tmall website 25 November 2015
Costco Tmall website 25 November 2015
With 35 percent of Chinese online shoppers purchasing cross-border products online in 2015, compared to 26 percent last year, the Tmall platform offers a massive growth opportunity for both FMCG and GM retailers and brands (Chinese Commerce Research Center).
The complexities of Tmall and Tmall Global
Tmall and Tmall Global are owned by the Alibaba Group which includes Alibaba.com, a business-to-business trading platform, Tmall, a business-to-consumer ecommerce site, and Taobao, a consumer-to-consumer marketplace.
Tmall has three different store formats:
Flagship Store: an exclusive store with the trademark (either ® or ™)
Specialty Store: E-stores that have the required authorization from a brand to distribute on their behalf in China
Monopolised Store: Traders that want sell two or more brands within one of Tmall’s product categories.
Brand View now tracking Tmall and Tmall Global
Brand View is now tracking a wide range of Tmall and Tmall Global stores, and has the ability to track any store across the platforms, accommodating any and all client requirements.
We’re now tracking numerous stores including:
To find out how to add these ecommerce sites to your analysis, speak to your account manager today or email sales@brandview.com