Alibaba is expanding its operations to Australia and New Zealand. (Photo : Reuters)
Asia is not the only place that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has set its eyes on, as it has also started to extend its reaches down under to Australia and New Zealand.
According to the company's new managing director, Alibaba's primary goal at the moment is to attract more small and medium enterprises in both Autralia and New Zealand to its Tmall Global platform. Zhou said that there are currently 500 to 600 New Zealand brands using the platform to sell their goods, which they want to expand further, Stuff.co.nz reported.
One of Alibaba's main e-commerce platforms, Tmall Global is a website that lets Chinese users purchase goods that are otherwise not registered to be sold in the mainland.
Zhou said that there is a rising demand from the Chinese middle class to purchase goods from overseas, noting that luxury goods were the main bulk of purchases; but now, everyday items have also been included. She added that customers from the rural areas have also increasingly relied on the service for their purchases.
The managing director also revealed that during Alibaba's popular Singles Day promotions, products coming from New Zealand ranked seventh among the most popular ones ordered by Chinese customers. "We want to move the ranking up," she remarked.
Zhou further said that the company is opening its doors to seafood exporters from both countries, as well as those for dairy and other farm products. She explained that Australia and New Zealand are perceived by Chinese buyers as delivering clean and fresh goods.
To strengthen its foothold in the two countries, Alibaba has also announced its partnership with Australian retail giant Woolworths to carry the latter's goods, ABC News reported. The company has also made a deal with the Australian Post in 2014 for shipment of orders to Chinese customers.
