Alibaba launches Tmall Global in English portal for sellers

Alibaba’s Tmall Global has launched its first English-language website to attract more merchants and businesses from around the world to join the Chinese cross-border online shopping platform.

The Tmall Global in English portal makes it easier for sellers of all sizes to capitalise on burgeoning demand from Chinese consumers for high-quality imported products.

Tmall Global already features 20,000 international brands in more than 4000 categories from 77 countries and regions. This outreach aims to make Tmall more appealing to small, medium-sized and niche brands from other countries with products that would meet the demands of China’s post-1995 generation.

The website details Tmall Global and the solutions it offers to overseas merchants entering the China market. It includes steps on how to open a flagship store on Tmall Global and tap direct import tools, such as Tmall Overseas Fulfillment (TOF), an initiative launched late last year to provide international merchants a low-cost, low-risk way to take a first step toward selling to China before making a more full-fledged market entry.

The Tmall Global in English portal also provides tools that streamline the process to join Tmall Global. Businesses wanting to open a flagship store can fill out a questionnaire and input basic information about their operation. That information will be pre-screened, and qualifying applicants will be contacted within 72 hours. Apart from offering assistance during the onboarding process, Tmall Global will also advise merchants on how to optimise their operations after they establish a presence on the platform.

“Tmall Global’s mission is to connect high-quality international brands across the globe with Chinese consumers,” said deputy GM of Tmall Global Yi Qian. “We believe the launch of this English-language website will expedite the process for brands and merchants to introduce their products to Chinese consumers. The website will widen our reach to merchants, especially to those medium and small sized businesses around the world.” 

After the launch of Tmall Global in English, work is continuing on other language versions of its entry portal for merchants, including Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Last year, the number of new flagship store openings on Tmall Global doubled from the year previous, and that growth rate is expected to accelerate further this year.

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