Alibaba looks to boost international sales with Tmall World

BEIJING - Alibaba is eyeing the wallets of Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, integrating more domestic brands into its existing sales channels to tap into markets beyond the Chinese mainland as it bids to lure customers with similar shopping needs and tastes.

Caixin reports that Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia are the core regions where the Chinese e-commerce giant will launch its Tmall World brand, to broaden its scope in these markets with better “logistics, payment and localisation support”, the company said.

Alibaba’s current international reach provided to domestic manufacturers seeking export is relatively less developed, and mostly achieved through Alibaba’s lesser-known Aliexpress and Lazada services.

With the introduction of Tmall World, “domestic Chinese merchants whose products attain certain quality and certification standards will be able to sell through a single platform to multiple markets”, said Zhang Zhouping, director of cross-border business of the China E-commerce Association. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).