Eligible merchants on Taobao and Tmall can enroll in Alibaba’s new pan-clothing global free shipping plan, so they can sell their products directly to consumers in several markets outside the mainland, the Hangzhou-based company said in a statement in response to the South China Morning Post’s inquiry. Alibaba owns the Post.
Taobao and Tmall merchants who sell goods in the pan-fashion category – including men’s and women’s garments, sports and outdoor apparel, shoes, bags and accessories – are eligible to take part in this programme, Alibaba said.
“In the fast fashion industry, Taobao apparel merchants have a great advantage on a global scale,” Alibaba said. “They have leading e-commerce operations experience and are backed by the supply chain capacity of the ‘world’s factory’.”
Taobao and Tmall are the primary Chinese online retail platforms of Alibaba Group Holding. Photo: Shutterstock
Qualified merchants need only send ordered goods to a designated consolidation warehouse in China, and Alibaba will handle the cross-border logistics. This arrangement currently covers a few markets in Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, according to the statement
Alibaba’s latest initiative ratchets up its efforts to compete against popular Chinese-founded fast-fashion retailer Shein and international budget-shopping platform Temu, run by Pinduoduo owner PDD Holdings.
The first-mover advantage of Alibaba in online shopping overseas, through platforms such as AliExpress and Lazada, has been eclipsed by the strong performance of Shein, Temu and ByteDance-owned TikTok Shop.
Temu, for example, recently started offering a similar “one-stop service” to lure more Chinese merchants to its platform. Temu takes care of pricing, marketing and consumer services, while the merchants and manufacturers ship their goods to designated warehouses on the mainland.
Expedited delivery services have become a crucial factor for cross-border e-commerce operators striving to boost orders on their platforms.
