Tmall Global: How to market your brand in China e-commerce in 2022
02 Feb 2022 | Andy S & Tian Z | 9 min read
Intro
The e-commerce market in China is booming and Alibaba Group‘s Taobao Marketplace (Chinese’s Amazon or Ebay) site has been leading the growth. In February 2014, the Alibaba Group announced that they were launching a new cross-border e-commerce platform, Tmall Global.
It will allow domestic consumers to purchase original imported products overseas at lower prices than if they were bought locally, as well as giving Chinese shoppers access to overseas retailers directly.
The fast-growing nature of the e-commerce industry makes Tmall Global platform an excellent investment opportunity. Foreign brands and companies which may want an international presence, but don’t have the resources or time to establish themselves in China, can utilise Tmall Global.
Tmall Global offers a way to have these companies’ goods and services delivered right into shoppers’ hands without any physical business being involved.
If you are planning to join Tmall Global, this article will be the ultimate guidance in giving detailed information about creating an account. It also provides tips for choosing your type of shop, as well as the requirements for your shop to not only succeed, but thrive!
- What’s Tmall Global?
- The initial conditions for joining Tmall Global
- Successful case sharing for different business models:
- Paris Saint-Germain F.C. joined Tmall Global
- JACE joined hands with Tmall Global and Dingxiangyisheng to empower the brand.
- Create a multi-channel content matrix
- Tmall Global and Acana jointly launched a charity event
- Conclusion
- FAQ
What’s Tmall Global?
Tmall Global is an imported retail platform launched in 2014 by Alibaba to achieve overseas fulfillment. It committed to providing Chinese consumers with global imported goods. It is also the preferred platform to help overseas brands directly reach Chinese consumers and do business in China.
More than 29,000 overseas brands from 87 countries and regions around the world have entered Tmall Global, covering more than 5,800 categories. For over 80% of those brands, it was their first time in the Chinese market.
As one of Alibaba’s globalization strategies, Tmall Global will work with overseas brands in allowing Chinese consumers to enjoy more convenient and higher-quality shopping.
Since the investment promotion in July 2013, Hong Kong’s second largest cosmetics group Zhuoyue.com, Japan’s largest health product B2C website Kenko, and many other overseas shopping platforms successfully sell on Tmall.
There are more than 140 stores on the Tmall Global platform. Hong Kong’s largest cosmetics group and the largest health care product group NBTY in the United States are also planning to enter Tmall Global.
On January 19, 2021, Tmall Global unveiled a new set of solutions at the Tmall Global New Seller Virtual Summit 2021 to help global brands seize new opportunities in the growing Chinese market.
Maggie Liu, General Manager of Tmall Global, said, “Brands, especially small and medium-sized businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic, are doing their best to enter new markets and find new growth channels.”
The initial conditions for joining Tmall Global
The platform welcomes overseas brands to join. As long as they are registered overseas, they can apply to join Tmall Global.
Major categories on Tmall Global
Tmall Global mainly opens up business invitations to brand flagship stores, specialty stores, and authorized stores in the categories of baby care, health care, home furnishing, pets, personal care, digital, food, fashion, and beauty.
The Entry Process for Tmall Global
Under the circumstance that the overall materials needed have been prepared, the entire shop entry process will take 30 days.
Entrance for joining Tmall Global
Open the browser and copy the link below to apply for admission
After entering the website, click “Enter Now” to learn about the four major steps of entering (entry application, qualification review, store pre-launch, the store goes live).
Enterprise and brand qualifications of various types of stores on Tmall Global
| Brand Flagship Store | Flagship Store (Marketplace) | Category Flagship Store | |
| Definition | |||
| Stores opened by brand owners or exclusive dealers directly authorized by trademark holders.In principle, the brand flagship store can only sell products under the corresponding brand. If the store brand is a group brand, it can sell products from multiple brands under the group. The goods must be directly derived from the owner of the store brand trademark. | Stores opened by offline supermarket chains, stores or online B2C website brand trademark owners directly as the main body. | The main body of the store is an offline supermarket chain, store or online B2C website that mainly deals in several categories (such as apparel, maternal and child, beauty, personal care, etc.). The store is directly opened by the brand trademark owner. If a store that meets the above conditions needs to sell products of a brand that is not in specific categories, it needs to provide a first-level authorization or a first-level purchase certificate from the brand’s trademark owner. | |
| Qualification of store opening enterprises | 1. The registration documents of the main company of the shop.2. Declaration of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store3. ID card of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store4. The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company that opened the store | 1. The registration documents of the main company of the shop.2. Declaration of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store3. ID card of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store4. The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company that opened the store5. class 35 trademark registration certificate 6. Special qualifications for stores | 1. The registration documents of the main company of the shop.2. Declaration of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store3. ID card of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store4. The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company that opened the store5. class 35 trademark registration certificate6. Special qualifications for stores |
| Qualification of brand | 1. The original and scanned copy of the trademark registration certificate or trademark registration application acceptance letter of the brand being sold. If you provide a trademark registration application acceptance letter, you need to provide a supplementary explanation of the non-R trademark.2. If the main company of the store is not the trademark holder, an exclusive authorization letter issued by the trademark owner must also be provided. | 1. The original and scanned copy of the trademark registration certificate or trademark registration application acceptance letter of the brand being sold. If you provide a trademark registration application acceptance letter, you need to provide a supplementary explanation of the non-R trademark.2. The store must provide a full four-level licensing or importing documentation from the trademark owner as source of origin. | 1. The original and scanned copy of the trademark registration certificate or trademark registration application acceptance letter of the brand being sold. If you provide a trademark registration application acceptance letter, you need to provide a supplementary explanation of the non-R trademark.2. The store must provide a full four-level licensing or importing documentation from the trademark owner as source of origin. If you specialize in beauty, health & baby products, a full second-level licensing or importing documentation from the trademark owner as source of origin. Is required. |
| Authorized Store | Specialty Store | Galaxy Specialty Store | |
| Definition | |||
| Stores authorized by the owner of the brand trademark. | Stores with two or more brands under the same business category. | The store that sells the goods of the brand flagship store. | |
| Qualification of store opening enterprises | 1. The registration documents of the main company of the shop.2. Declaration of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store3. ID card of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store4. The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company that opened the store | 1. The registration documents of the main company of the shop.2. Declaration of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store3. ID card of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store4. The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company that opened the store | 1. The registration documents of the main company of the shop.2. Declaration of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store3. ID card of the authorized representative of the main company that opened the store4. The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company that opened the store |
| Qualification of brand | 1. The original and scanned copy of the trademark registration certificate or trademark registration application acceptance letter of the brand being sold. If you provide a trademark registration application acceptance letter, you need to provide a supplementary explanation of the non-R trademark.2. Authorization letter issued by the trademark owner | 1. The original and scanned copy of the trademark registration certificate or trademark registration application acceptance letter of the brand being sold. If you provide a trademark registration application acceptance letter, you need to provide a supplementary explanation of the non-R trademark.2. If the store company is authorized by the trademark owner to operate branded goods, it is necessary to provide a complete authorization or purchase certificate from the trademark owner that meets the requirements of the category authorization level |
Fee Schedule
Tmall Global costs are spread mainly over three categories: Deposit; Annual Technology and Service Fee; and Real-Time Transaction Fee (Commission Fee).
Click the image below and reveal the comprehensive cost spreadsheet on the Fee schedule.
Successful case sharing for different business models:
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. joined Tmall Global
After Paris Saint-Germain Football Club entered Tmall Global, it opened an official overseas flagship store selling official football uniforms, training uniforms and other peripheral club products.
As soon as the news of Messi’s transfer came out, in Paris Saint-Germain’s overseas flagship store, two newly-released color-matching jerseys for the new season were completely sold out, leaving only a few pairs of socks left in stock.
Messi’s new season No. 30 jersey was sold out on the day it was released in the official flagship store. Through the sale of Messi’s uniforms, Paris has almost made back the annual salary paid to Messi. Within 24 hours of announcing Messi’s joining, Paris made nearly 30 million euros just by selling Messi’s jersey.
It is reported that 64% of Messi’s new jersey orders come from China. Expanding the Chinese market and establishing in-depth communication with Chinese fans have become one of the important tasks of overseas football clubs.
At present, not only Paris, but also other football clubs such as Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and Inter Milan have also joined Tmall Global, selling peripheral products to Chinese fans. “
JACE joined hands with Tmall Global and Dingxiangyisheng to empower the brand.
JACE is a latex bedding brand, which entered the Chinese market in 2016 and became the top seller in the latex bedding category on the Tmall Global platform in 2020.
In just 5 years, JACE has developed into a latex bedding expert serving nearly 500,000 households a year, and has gained a lot of recognition and favor.
In 2021, only the first quarter of sales on the Tmall Global has achieved a breakthrough of 53 million. The year-on-year growth can reach 380%.
Looking at the marketing path in the past five years, it is not difficult to find that the influence of JACE is gradually expanding, which all stems from the precise insight and new marketing model behind it.
On its fifth anniversary, JACE teamed up with Tmall Global and Dingxiangyisheng to carry out a series of brand upgrade activities, which not only directly increased sales, but also further strengthened JACE’s memory symbol among target consumer groups.
In order to realise the transformation from mother and baby latex bedding to latex bedding specialists, JACE, together with Tmall Global and Dingxiangyisheng, jointly created a TVC called “New Definition Star Sleep”.
The two parties also jointly launched the topic activity #1825 Days Without Insomnia# on Weibo, which triggered a large number of users’ spontaneous participation and dissemination.
The topic was exposed to 26 million users in just 3 days after going online, forming good brand feedback.
This online marketing path demonstrates the insight capabilities of JACE. The real resonance presented in the short film undoubtedly plays an accurate and effective role in capturing the attention of users for JACE, even in an era of fragmented information.
Attract traffic through offline pop-up stores
After presenting online, JACE, together with Tmall Global and Dingxiangyisheng, held a “World Sleep Day Theme Exhibition” in Hangzhou, which gained a good reputation through providing an immersive experience.
At the same time, the JACE participated in the World Sleep Day joint exhibition “Technology Sleeping New Mankind”,in Shanghai.
The exhibition was initiated by Tmall Mother & Child, and jointly organized by the five major Mother & Child brands: JACE, ibaby, Downlandkids, Domia, and Haima Barbie.
During this period, JACEkids, a child bedding sub-brand of JACE, made its debut, declaring to consumers that JACE will continue to enrich the brand’s vertical categories and ensure the diversity of its product lines.
At the moment the attention of young consumers is occupied by a large amount of conventional and uncreative advertising information, and so it is easier to impress users with a truly immersive experience and more sincere publicity.
Create a multi-channel content matrix
In addition, JACE has planned a series of content matrix models aimed at strengthening users’ memory of the brand, with a full range of content marketing.
In 2021, JACE focus on social media marketing via platforms such as Little Red Book, Douyin, Bilibili, and adopt KOL marketing strategies to launch content on brand concepts and products, in order to expand brand influence.
Meanwhile, private traffic pools such as WeChat service accounts and mini-programs will be used to further mine users’ needs, and convert potential customers into loyal users.
In addition, live broadcast for brand marketing is also an important part of the JACE content matrix.
In the new stage of development, JACE will further develop in-depth cooperation with top anchors such as Weiya, and shorten the distance between brands, products and consumers through live broadcast.
JACE’s upgrade marketing with point-to-face type accurately conveys the brand’s voice to a new generation of target audiences.
Tmall Global and Acana jointly launched a charity event
Acana and Tmall Global jointly launched the “Love animal plan” campaign. During the event, which lasted just three days, Acana’s sales increased 6-fold compared to usual.
Importantly, the event also made more people pay attention to the stray cats and dogs, and raised their awareness of rescue.
Insight into development trends to meet consumer needs
Why is this event able to achieve good results? Because the brand strives to reach the ideal goal of pet food consumers.
In China, the number of cats and dogs has exceeded 100 million, and these pet owners constitute a powerful pet consumption scale of nearly 210 billion yuan (£24.4 billion).
The quality of cat food and dog food has naturally attracted more and more attention. At the same time, according to reports, more than 60% of pet owners are aware of the importance of healthy pet food. Therefore, it is necessary to create a high-quality, nutritious and healthy pet food brand.
Aiken aims at satisfying consumer demand, and has firm control over consumer psychology and the market, making success inevitable.
High-quality services promote consumption boom
The younger generation of pet owners pay more attention to pet health, so over the past two years the sales of high-protein, low-carbohydrate grain-free pet food have increased.
As far as quality is concerned, Acana is the leading brand in grain-free food, and the food conforms to the natural diet of dogs and cats. Over the years, it has been praised by global pet nutrition experts and favored by pet owners.
In terms of service, Acana optimizes page descriptions and builds professional journals on the front end, conducts a comprehensive quality inspection before the pet food is put on the shelves, and transmits the test report transparently in the front of the product details page.
Acana also carries out specialized recruitment in the back-end, allowing people with veterinary expertise to serve customers. From the early product guarantee to the personable service later on, it has further stimulated consumption.
Charity event
“Love animal plan” utilised the influence of celebrities. Zuo Ye, a popular idol in recent years, posted a short video of his pet cat. This video increases the exposure of public welfare activities and lays the foundation for the next steps
After Zuo Ye initiated the call on Weibo, Tmall Global announced the official start of its charity activities. Afterwards, Acana advocated using their shopping bags and courier boxes to make waterproof huts to shelter stray animals from the rain, and encouraged everyone to adopt stray animals.
The brand also invited several pet bloggers on Little Red Book to evaluate and recommend their products to enhance consumers’ trust.
According to statistics, the topic of this event is unprecedentedly compelling, and the number of views on Weibo has reached 12.75 million. Tmall Global also provided various preferential benefits to consumers this time.
The number of add-ons for 3 days reached 107%, new customers accounted for 64%, and sales reached nearly 3 million.
This charity event provided a one-stop marketing solution with a strong celebrity appeal and resource matrix, and helped brands find a breakthrough through consumer insight and emotional communication.
At the same time, Acana’s high-quality pet food allows every pet and poor stray pet who accompanies us like family to be nourished and grow up healthily, realizing the social value of the brand.
Conclusion
The Chinese market for cross-border e-commerce products has been rapidly growing. It is true for any company wishing to enter the Chinese market that joining Tmall Global will just be the beginning.
In order for your brand and product line to succeed as those in our case studies, you need an entire marketing strategy tailored specifically towards Chinese customers, as they were successful by firstly doing well with local consumers. Other than that, you have to compete with local products in China.
We can help you thrive where others may have failed, or at least been less successful than they could’ve been if given the ultimate guidance from experts who know what works and what doesn’t in the Chinese market. If you need help, get in contact with our bilingual China marketing team!
FAQ
Don’t forget to share this post!