Tmall Global and Other Marketplace Changes in 3Q 2019
by Ker Zheng
Tmall & Tmall Global
Tmall Global Rolls Out Three Policies for Singles Day (Chinese) - Sept 25
Tmall Global will focus on three things for Singles Day: incubating new categories, introducing new brands, and launching new products. Nine new product categories will be rolled out: oral care, men's care, hair restoration products, oral appliances, baby wash products, pet care, imported bedding, and more.
400 new overseas brands will sell on Tmall Global for the first time. It is estimated that over 100 new brands will surpass 10 million RMB in sales on Singles Day. Over 3,500 new imported products will be rolled out, with 3,000 of them being exclusive to Tmall Global.
Tmall Global releases rules for Singles Day (Chinese) - Sept 24
Sellers must register items from Sept 24-30. Pre-heat promotion time will take place on October 20th, with actual promotions starting on October 21st and lasting until November 10th. Merchants must provide transportation insurance services for items shipped during this time. They must also pay for import taxes, except for certain situations
Perfect Corp has integrated its YouCam Makeup AR virtual try-on technology into the Taobao/Tmall shopping experience.
Amorepacific Group Partners with Alibaba (Chinese) - Sept 11
The two will collaborate on launching new products together under the Tmall New Product Innovation Center. Alibaba will assist Amorepacific by lending its data and consumer insights to help incubate new products.
Tmall Announces New Tips for Fashion Sellers on Singles Day (Chinese) - Sept 2
Taobao launched a "hot search" function on its home page, displaying relevant product recommendations for 50% of users. The section will be updated in real-time
First 'Tmall Experience Center' Opens in Shanghai - July 19
Brands such as Bobbi Brown, Abercrombie, and Swisse will leverage the center to launch pop-up activations and engage consumers
Tmall 2.0 Goes Big On Customization - July 11
The upgraded format gives more tools to merchants to support sales on the platform.
New Brand Launches: Chemist Warehouse (renewal), Fenty Beauty, Suqqu, RMK, Net-a-Porter, Coach, Everlane, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Chanel Beauty & Fragrance
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JD.com & JD Worldwide
JD.com expands operations overseas in the Southeast Asia market (Chinese) - Oct 9
JD.com increased its stake in Vietnamese e-commerce platform Tiki to 25.65%, as Amazon announced that it would open a Singapore website and make plans for Southeast Asia expansion. JD.com is also launching an e-commerce project with Google Shopping to explore the North American market.
JD.com releases National Week Data (Chinese) - Oct 6
Data shows that consumption-related categories such as travel, food & beverage, outdoor sports, and digital products were hot this year. Average consumption from Oct 1-4 rose 1.7x from the same period last year. New users came from younger user groups, specifically in Guangdong, Guizhou, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.
JD.com aims to slash delivery times with offline partner program - Sept 24
The new program will better integrate offline channels amongst JD's retail partners, including Walmart stores, grocery stores, liquor stores, etc. Items will go directly from these retail outlets to the end consumer, instead of passing through traditional warehouses, distribution centers, and delivery stations.
JD.com will Link Up with its Media Channels to Tackle Singles Day (Chinese) - Sept 22
It will set up an "immediate purchasing alliance" to connect JD.com items with social traffic channels. Users will be able to search for items, take coupons, or share promotion information, in exchange for a commission.
JD.com launches its Pinduoduo rival, with a little help from WeChat - Sept 21
The new WeChat mini-app, Jingxi, offers flash sale deals and deeply discounted products. The factory-to-consumer model helps match factory-made items with end consumers.
The clothes will purportedly be made and delivered within 7-10 days
Notable Brand Launches: Brooks Brothers, A2 (deeper partnership)
Netease Kaola
How Will Kaola and Tmall Global's Merger Affect the Industry Structure? (Chinese) - Oct 12
In the month since Kaola and Tmall Global's merger, a flood of international brands have started to sell on Kaola's platform. This includes Jurlique, L'Oreal, Olay, Dr.Ci:Labo, Filorga, EltaMD, Cetaphil, Bioderma, and Cemoy. Japanese department store chains such as Harukas have also started to sell on Kaola.
High operating costs weigh on Netease's e-commerce business (Chinese) - Oct 3
Offline store expansion and high storage costs for its cross-border business are weighing heavily on Netease's e-commerce business. Since Kaola focuses on providing the best customer experience, its costs are relatively high. Along with these reasons, heavy competition and regulatory risks contributed to the decision to sell to Alibaba for US$2 billion.
After the Acquisition: Once Former Enemies, Now Partners (Chinese) - Sept 16
After battling it out for years, Kaola and Tmall Global will hold their first Singles Day promotions together. Kaola's brand is strong amongst cross-border e-commerce consumers, but Tmall Global will provide significant technical and traffic support as it plans to scale its business. Additionally, the two will not compete on price as they did in the past, leading to a healthier market for merchants.
Xiaohongshu / Little Red Book
The Next 3-5 Years Will Be the Golden Age for New Brands (Chinese) - Sept 20
Founder of Little Red Book Miranda Qu pointed out that the next few years will be good for smaller niche brands. She notes that young people are no longer blindly purchasing big brands when making purchasing decisions. They are instead beginning to pursue personalized brands with distinctive ideas and good value. Good brand = good design + good story + good worth of mouth
Experiential grassroots marketing is popular, and Little Red Book has the highest tolerance for brand marketing (Chinese) - Sept 16
The platform's unique ecosystem gives it an advantage over other social media platforms. KOLs can recommend products through grass roots marketing and promote trust between consumers and new brands. Short video content is making a splash when it comes to houseware, beauty, skin care, personal care, and digital products.
The partial disappearance of a $3 billion shopping app shows the biggest risk for China's unicorns - July 31
Xiaohongshu was taken down from several Android app stores in China as government authorities were displeased with the degree of fake and illegal content on the platform. It is rumored that this refers to e-cig products, injected skin treatment products, and other questionable products.
Little Red Book establishes a Community Committee (Chinese) - July 4
The committee is designed to maintain platform content quality. The team will focus on analyzing real-time feedback from a select group of quality users.