ALIBABA’S NEWEST 11.11 GMV RECORD: US$38.4B

Eleven years in, and Alibaba Group, the e-commerce and media giant that created and grew 11.11 into the world’s largest shopping festival, is still delivering record results – and the innovations necessary to make them happen every November.

By the time 11.11 ended at midnight on Monday, Alibaba had generated RMB268.4 billion (US$38.4 billion) in gross merchandise volume in just 24 hours, a 26% jump over last year’s numbers. GMV in 2018 was RMB213.5 billion, or US$30.8 billion.

“Today we showed the world what the future of consumption looks like for brands and consumers,” said Fan Jiang, president of Taobao and Tmall. “We are meeting the growing demand of Chinese consumers and helping them upgrade their lifestyles, while introducing new users to our digital economy from across China and around the world.”

WATCH: Highlights from 2019’s 11.11 Global Shopping FestivalPlay

In addition to a new record GMV, the total number of delivery orders also reached a new high: 1.292 billion, up 59% from 812 million last year. There were 299 brands to reach RMB 100 million in GMV, including Apple, Nike, Estee Lauder and Giorgio Armani. The top 10 countries selling to China through Alibaba’s cross-border platforms were Japan, the U.S., Korea, Australia, Germany, France, the U.K., New Zealand, Italy and Canada.

Last year’s festival was all about the Alibaba ecosystem, and certainly that ecosystem continues to play a critical role in setting new GMV records and generating greater levels of consumer engagement, as Alibaba draws additional businesses into 11.11. 2019, however, was all about consumers: where they are in China, how to reach them and providing them with the best possible selection of products.

Capturing Lower-Tier Consumption

Increasingly, those consumers are in China’s lower-tier cities and rural areas. Alibaba had said that it expected most of the 100 million new users participating in this year’s 11.11 to come from these areas, where China’s biggest consumption growth is happening. In fiscal 2019, more than 70% of Alibaba’s 102 million newly acquired annual active consumers were based there.

“Lower-tier areas are the most important business strategy for us this year and a strategic direction for the company, because China’s less-developed markets have a lot of potential for growth when you consider their population, geography and shopping habits,” said Liu Bo, general manager of Taobao and Tmall Marketing, at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

Alibaba is leveraging its powerful consumer analytics and supply-chain capabilities to create new products for lower-tier consumers, Liu said, firstly by partnering with multinational brands, such as P&G and L’Oréal, and secondly by working with China’s vast network of manufacturers. The company provides both brands and manufacturers with the data they need to develop and market products tailored directly to these new online shoppers.

By delivering better-quality goods at affordable prices, consumers in lower-tier areas “have a lot of potential to make frequent purchases,” Liu said. And Alibaba wants to capture that consumption.

New Products to Meet New Demand

As essential as lower-tier areas are to Alibaba’s growth strategy, the company’s focus on new products is not bound by geography. In fact, this year’s 11.11 alone included 1 million new products on the company’s e-commerce platforms.

“We take new products as a major strategy for this year’s 11.11 has become the largest platform to launch new products,” Liu said. “Many international brands are leveraging the platform and the results have been excellent.”

For example, cosmetics brand MAC sold 60,000 units of a limited-edition, just-for-11.11 lipstick in five minutes of pre-sales. And brands are committed to developing even more new products for Alibaba’s platforms going forward. Ten global brands, including Olay and Shiseido, have committed to incubate more than 50% of their new products with Tmall this year, Jiang said.

The Must-Do of Livestreaming

Once just a single marketing tool among many for brands selling to China, livestreaming has since become a must for any company that wants the attention of Chinese consumers.

These consumers use livestreams, typically hosted by popular key opinion leaders, to find and learn about new products, making it an essential part of product discovery. That’s a stark contract to the West, where most livestreaming platforms are focused on gaming and entertainment.

Just how popular is the trend? Taobao is home to over 4,000 livestream hosts who generate 150,000 hours of content each day. For 11.11, more than 100,000 brands and merchants used livestreaming to market their products.

“It’s a brand-new experience. Livestreaming is becoming ubiquitous for merchants and a new [shopping] channel for consumers,” he said.

A Green 11.11

Jiang said that Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, had delivered 100 million packages before 8 a.m. on Monday, just eight hours into 11.11. But he said the company was committed to fulfilling those orders sustainably.

“Green is the most important keyword for this 11.11,” Jiang said. “We’ve shipped 1.292 billion packages, but through this we want even more to promote the concept of green consumption.”

To that end, Cainiao has set up more recycling stations – 40,000 of them – across China through its Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, while its express-courier partners is hosting an additional 35,000. Consumers will also be rewarded “green energy” points on Ant Forest for their recycling efforts.

Alibaba has established Nov. 20 as “National Cardboard Box Recycling Day” in China, as well, to further promote its push for a green shopping festival.

AliExpress Arrives In Russia With A Joint Venture

The joint venture features AliExpress, Mail.ru Group, MegaFon Russian Direct Investment Fund

The operation to establish a joint venture in Russia signed Alibaba Group – which will bring together e-commerce platforms, social media and popular games for the benefit of the country’s consumers and will offer Russian small and medium-sized enterprises greater access both locally and locally international markets – it’s a done deal.

First announced in September 2018, the joint venture features AliExpress, the leading Russian Internet company Mail.ru Group, the Russian mobile telecommunications operator MegaFon and the sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

After the federal anti-monopoly service of Russia authorized the JV to move forward last June, now AliExpress Russia JV is owned by the majority of Russian shareholders, with a board of directors composed of RDIF executives, Alibaba Group, MegaFon and Mail.ru Group. Group CEO Mail.ru Boris Dobrodeev is the chairman of the board, while AliExpress Russia’s chief Liu Wei and the first deputy general manager of the group Mail.ru Dmitry Sergeev will serve as co-CEO of the JV.

Alibaba remains focused on fulfilling its basic mission

“Alibaba remains focused on fulfilling the mission ‘to make it easy to do business anywhere.’ “AliExpress Russia JV is an important part of Alibaba’s globalization strategy and a key step towards our long-term goal to help 10 million small businesses achieve profitability and serve 2 billion customers worldwide,” he said. Daniel Zhang, Executive Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group.

“Together with Mail.ru Group, RDIF and MegaFon, we are committed to accelerating the development of the digital economy of consumers in Russia and the CIS countries, allowing regional brands and SMEs to reach and serve their target consumers through our unique and innovative shopping experience, “said Zhang.

The JV group and Mail.ru will conclude a strategic cooperation agreement related, among other things, to traffic and product initiatives. The JV will also promote its services on the Mail.ru Group platforms through exclusive solutions for product integration and marketing.

Mail.Ru Group has 100 million Internet users

Mail.Ru Group has 100 million Internet users through its social media properties, messaging, e-mail and online games, with 90% of all Internet users in Russia using at least one of its properties every month. The two largest Russian social media sites of Russia VKontakte and Odnoklassniki and its main email service are all owned by the Mail.ru Group.

In addition to combining social media and e-commerce, the joint venture will work to support the upgrade of consumption in Russia by offering a greater selection of high-quality products on the market. For Russian small and medium-sized enterprises it is an opportunity to tap into a new connected ecosystem in the domestic market, accessing over 600 million consumers using Alibaba platforms, including China, Southeast Asia, Turkey, Europe and India.

The joint venture also plans to participate in the acceleration of the Russian digital economy, exploiting the respective strengths of the parties in electronic commerce, social and digital media, logistics and the local market and helping to build the future commercial infrastructure in Russia and in the world.

Douyin? Here the Future of Social E-Commerce

Today it’s clear how Douyin is showcasing the future of social and e-commerce. Focus on Douyin if you want to win in China. Let’s see why

Chinese e-commerce sector is booming, having a higher e-commerce spend this year than the rest of the world combined. Last data show us, again, how China is such a big opportunity for brands. As we know, the Dragon, once known as less connected country in the world, has become the land of the e-commerce giants with Alibaba and JD amongst many others all dominating online spend right now. But other new players are growing behind the curtain. Pinduoduo, Meituan, Kuaishou, Little Red Book and Douyin some names.

© Weibo. Zhang Yiming recognized the importance of the social networks environment, so Douyin also integrated social sharing with major platforms such as QQ, Weibo, and WeChat.

That’s why is not wrong to say that the opportunity for brands isn’t in the Alibaba’s & JD’s. Whilst they account for over 50% of Chinese e-commerce, it’s more effective as a brand to go after the other portion that isn’t the lions share that is found through other e-commerce channels. Let’s see how Douyin is becoming month by month an important player in e-commerce sector. We’ve mentioned Douyin but also the “underbelly” of Chinese commerce, such as private communities, for example social sellers on WeChat.

Short-Form vertical video is going to be the dominant format over the next 5 years, and Douyin is the platform that will lead the way. We’ve always been confident on short-form video, and a large reason for that is the huge growth of Douyin, with over 500m monthly active users and rising, and over 50% of those using the app daily.

Today it’s clear that Douyin is showcasing the future of social and e-commerce, seamlessly integrating the two through content and future technologies. 

Douyin’s latest feature is a true game-changer. You can now select a feature in a video, for example, a person or item of clothing, and search for other videos or images containing them or directly buy the products recommended. What’s the meaning? It’s what we’ve predicted will happen: Next generation of social media led by AI. 

Could be a shock, but forget Tmall, Taobao and WeChat – focus on Douyin if you want to win. Let’s see why. Right now Douyin’s aims are to get as many users as possible and grow the platform, even outside China, and give exposure to great content, there is no ulterior motive like there is with other social platforms that are pay-to-win.

© Chinadaily. Video-based e-commerce is shaping up to be the next revenue battleground for China’s leading video apps, Douyin and Kuaishou.

On Douyin, content wins, and that’s the best time for brands to build an audience.  Digital experts always been bullish on short-form video and Douyin in particular, and this latest feature reinforces that and opens up a world of possibility for brands in connecting with their audience. Brands need to be working toward how they can leverage the direction that social is moving to, and they need to be doing that now – this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Are you going to start building an audience on Douyin?

China is a huge opportunity, but everyone should remember that it pays tenfold if you think outside the box, be bold and be creative. Think beyond the status quo platforms that everyone talks about and look at the opportunities everyone forgets. This is where the real arbitrage can be found, and Douyin is one the top player to interact with.

Alibaba Group To Improve The Experience Of Visitors To Universal Parks & Resorts

The two have formed a partnership to improve the user experience and to digitize the operations of the future Universal Beijing Resort, which will open in 2021

A cutting-edge theme park with the best technology that improves the user experience. This is the Alibaba and Universal Parks & Resorts project that intends to make the future Universal Beijing Resort, which will open in 2021, one of the most technological theme parks in the world.

The park will use facial recognition during park admission, app-based food ordering and more. To help is the ABOS project, which offers all the tools and services of Alibaba to companies so that they can better meet the pace and needs of the Chinese market.

Brian Roberts, president and CEO of US communications and entertainment company Comcast, owner of Universal Studios, said it was important to make sure that Universal makes it fun and easy for guests to enjoy their time with family and friends.

Visitors can use the local Koubei service app

“Our collaboration with Alibaba will help us do exactly that. Together, we can take the theme park experience to a new level, “Roberts said.

Visitors will be able to book tickets and hotels via Beijing’s Universal Fliggy flagship store and will also be able to watch the resort’s schedule and universal movies on Alibaba’s Youbu video streaming app.

Once at the resort, visitors have the opportunity to use Alipay’s facial recognition technology for anything. The use of Alipay mini-programs is also planned to improve the guest experience, such as travel planning or parking, as well as encouraging low-carbon lifestyle choices.

Alibaba’s cloud computing arm will support the technology infrastructure

The companies, which also collaborate with the Beijing Tourism Group, expect the collaboration to offer “the best experience for guests” and establish a new benchmark for the entertainment industry and theme parks globally.

Daniel Zhang, executive president and CEO of Alibaba Group, said: “This partnership will also bring to fruition a multidimensional, data-enabled operations-management solution for the industry and create a truly digitized theme park,” he said. “The future of commerce is driven by technology and big data, and digitization will be the source of brand-new growth opportunities for all businesses.”

The Alibaba Business Operating System (ABOS) program is a complete solution that helps brands use all the tools available in the corporate ecosystem, which includes marketing and branding, sales, product development, customer services, finance, logistics, supply chain and management channel and local services on request.

China, The New E-Commerce Trend Is Second-Hand Luxury

The trend is confirmed by Liu Bo, general manager of TusStar Venture

The Chinese luxury goods sector has received a steady stream of investments in recent years. TusStar is one of the capital investors that pays money in the sector, acting as the main investor for the high-end operator of used Ponhu-Luxury.

Building an integrated offline platform for second-hand luxuries is what the market will need in the future, TusStar Venture’s general manager Liu Bo told TechNode.

“In Japan, the penetration rate for used luxury goods has reached a 1: 1 ratio, which means that every time a new stock is bought, an old one will be resold. In China, only 3% of the stock is sold. Basically, nobody bought second-hand luxuries,” Liu said.

TusStar invests in high-tech, high-growth start-ups

Liu expects growth in the market for the sale of high-end used products in China. “One must think that one day, if an economic recession hit China, second-hand luxuries would retain their value as they did in Japan in the past. The cultures of East Asia are similar. We see promising growth points in the luxury sector second-hand in China “.

In his current role, Liu keeps an eye on TMT investment opportunities, energy savings and the environment, as well as the new economy and new services.

Moreover, TusStar invests in high-tech and high-growth start-ups, focusing mainly on TMT, mobile internet, cleantech, new material, health care, advanced production, education, intelligent hardware and consumption area. The company, in confirmation of this, has signed agreements with over 300 startups and so far has invested over 2 billion RMB.

But China, despite strong progress, seems to appreciate offline trade more

Some argue that digitization is the main driving force behind luxury sales in China, but Liu argues that the real “battle” develops offline. “Only some users might consider buying luxuries online. Most customers, in fact, care little about the discount, aiming more at brands and quality.”

According to a report published by Bain Analysis in 2019, although online luxury sales have surpassed the global market in 2018, online penetration in other luxury categories remains very low, with the exception of cosmetics.

“There are still many opportunities to build platforms in this area,” Liu said. “But it’s not the kind of e-commerce platform on the Internet that people talk about today, but an offline platform that unites all the key nodes of the entire commercial chain.

Meituan Exceeds Baidu: It is The Third-Largest Internet Company In China

The delivery food platform is preceded only by Alibaba and Tencent

Meituan, the Chinese delivery food platform, closed at $ 89 per share on October 8th, up 5.08% from the previous day, reaching an all-time high of $ 89.25 per share with a market capitalization of $ 516.2 billion.

The evaluation currently makes Meituan the third largest Internet company listed in China after Alibaba ($ 428.3 billion) and Tencent ($ 394.3 billion).

On the other hand, Chinese Internet research and Baidu’s artificial intelligence engine closed at $ 99.53 on October 9 with a value of its US stock market at $ 34.69 billion, actually lagging behind Meituan as the fourth largest Chinese Internet giant.

Meituan and Tencent are currently the two kings of Hong Kong shares

As a Meituan pillar activity, the financial report shows that the transaction amount of food and beverage delivery activities in the second quarter of 2019 was 93.1 billion yuan, up 36.5% year-on-year; the number of food and beverage delivery orders was 2.1 billion yuan, an increase of 34.6% on an annual basis. Furthermore, the average value increased by 1.4% on an annual basis.

According to an analyst at Tiger Securities, Meituan and Tencent are currently the two kings of Hong Kong shares. The data also showed that Tencent Holdings, in recent days, recorded a turnover of 4.967 billion HK $, while the turnover of Meituan approached 3.238 billion HK $.

Amazon Reduces Its Investments In India

The new Indian rules for e-commerce companies could have to do with the fall in investments

E-commerce giant Amazon has invested $ 395 million dollars in its market unit in India this year, which is one-third of what it did in 2018 with $ 1.3 billion, according to local newspaper Economic Times. With only three months to go to the end of the year, it seems likely that this will be the first time since 2012 that Amazon’s annual investment in India has fallen.

Analysts tracing the history of Amazon India have mentioned that over the past seven years, its investments have steadily increased year by year with a phenomenal peak in 2018. This level could be attributed to Amazon’s entry into the food sector in India.

Amazon’s sharp decline in India has attracted the attention of Indian and US lawmakers

The news of Amazon‘s sharp decline in its investments in India has also attracted the attention of Indian and US legislators. During the Indian summit of the World Economic Forum held in New Delhi, Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal and US trade secretary Wilbur Ross had a long debate on this issue.

Ross asked Goyal for the new guidelines for e-commerce in India regarding its foreign direct investment (FDI) rules, which in the past had put a strain on foreign-funded e-tailers.

India, on the other hand, seems to have become a land of conquest for many Chinese investors. From Tencent to Alibaba, up to pass for Xiaomi.

The decision has also created controversy after local institutions and Amazon

“India is very clear on domestic and political compulsions. We welcome all e-commerce companies that want to work in India as agnostic platforms. We do not want to look at structures that fall within the scope of the law, but in a sense to break the spirit of the same. This is the clear position of the government and we have been clear for decades regarding the BJP” Goyal told Ross.

In his response to Goyal, Ross claimed that Amazon would have spent much more in India if it had not experienced a decline in growth due to e-commerce policies. “It is more important to obtain the most efficient form of retail trade. The demand for a country like India must balance those economic benefits for the population as a whole, even going against the special interests of the retail segment or competitors. nationals, “the US trade secretary said.

Douyin Introduces The Reverse Search Function In Images

The company has revised its revenue target for 2019, in a range from 120 billion yuan ($ 16.8 billion) from a previous target set at the end of last year of 100 billion yuan

Douyin, a popular Chinese short video app known as TikTok outside of China, has introduced a reverse image search tool that allows some users to find in-video products such as clothing, which they can then purchase directly from within the app.

The move could help ByteDance, owner of Douyin, take advantage of the growing popularity of the video app, which has accumulated 320 million active users every day in July. The Beijing-based company has just revised its revenue target for 2019, in a range from 120 billion yuan ($ 16.8 billion) from a previous target set at the end of last year of 100 billion yuan, according to Reuters.

The function is only available for users selected on the Chinese version

The new function was identified by Chinese technology analyst Matthew Brennan, who showed the Twitter search tool for the first time last week. While watching a video clip of Chinese comedian Xiao Shenyang, other celebrity videos appeared after clicking on the circle icon on the right side of the screen. While Brennan moved the research area on Xiao’s trousers, similar apparel products appeared that could be purchased directly by users.

ByteDance has not commented on the news, but the description on the app page said that the reverse search function can be used to find other celebrity videos or videos of similar pets, based on still images, suggesting that the company is collecting identifiable data from its content that could potentially be used to generate advertising revenue.

The function is only available for users selected on the Chinese version of the app and it is not clear whether Douyin will make it available in the foreign market in the future. It is also not clear whether the platform is scanning videos that Douyin users have labelled as private.

Other companies have also used this technology, attracting however several criticisms on the privacy front

Supported by artificial intelligence algorithms, the technology behind the reverse image search is not new. The Google search engine offers the feature, but has raised privacy concerns, especially in the era of deepfakes.

In August, the Zao face exchange app, supported by Chinese social media developer Momo, became viral on social media but immediately sparked controversy over privacy issues. The growing concern for privacy related to facial recognition has led to Facebook’s decision to discontinue an automatic photo tagging option, according to Reuters.

Singles Day, China Prepares For The Big E-Commerce Event

Singles Day is considered the biggest day of the year for brands in China, but the problems could be just around the corner

Singles Day, one of the most anticipated days in China, is coming and so dealers and brands are accelerating their activities for the big day. Last year, to understand the scope of the event, the brands have accumulated as much as $ 30.8 billion on the Alibaba, Taobao and Tmall platforms.

Singles Day and other big e-commerce holidays can represent, for many brands, more than half of their annual sales. Singles Day can often serve as a test case to show how a brand will perform for the rest of the year.

Despite the great importance of the event, or precisely for this reason, many foreign brands encounter management and implementation difficulties.

The problems that brands may encounter are the most varied

Foreign brands and retailers often find it difficult to adapt to the size and speed of the Chinese e-commerce market. The market in question, in fact, is much broader than any that they have ever faced in the past and the standards for customer service are high. In fact, customers expect immediate answers, quick deliveries and incentives for purchases.

Furthermore, the demand for certain products can increase enormously during e-commerce vacations and many retailers refuse or cannot get enough units because of their budgets. This is particularly common when the brands of smaller countries in Europe enter China for the first time.

In many cases, however, some retailers and brands with independent websites have shrunk. This can also happen to some of the larger platforms. Retail players should stress their servers and infrastructure a few weeks in advance to avoid this. In some cases, on the other hand, international brands and retailers choose local logistics service providers who are unable to handle the increase in demand during e-commerce vacations.

The large platforms, to overcome the difficulties listed above, could place banners with promotions of different brands to attract users for the big day. Brands can apply for these slots and get “free” traffic without having to spend on advertising. However, they generally have to provide great discounts to qualify. All this requires at least a month in advance for the organization.

Furthermore, retailers and brands should take stock of the items they sell, ordering them in advance from suppliers. They should also move the high turnover inventory to warehouses in the Hong Kong or China free trade zones for faster delivery.

What can brands do to prepare for the event?

The influencers, in all this, play an important role as a medium between brands and different customer bases. In fact, they help create trust and also activate sales.

Finally, offering discounts and incentives during the days and weeks preceding Singles Day is often cheaper than doing it on the big day. Many brands and retailers do it for less popular items and reserve their most popular items for the big day when there is less time to inform customers about newer items.

The day after the events the big brands should follow simple rules to remain, in any case, competitive and professional. To apologize for any delivery delays and send coupons to disappointed customers, for example, can be a good choice to retain customers.

Finally, it is important to take stock of what has worked and what has not. Singles Day is often a determining factor in how a brand will perform in the rest of the year. The costs of acquiring traffic are quite high, however, so don’t be discouraged if the ROI is not as high as expected.

TikTok, World Expansion: Priorities In The United States, Japan and India

With over 500 million monthly active users in 154 countries worldwide, TikTok is rethinking its future

TikTok, the ByteDace app that deals with short videos, has labeled the United States, Japan and India as strategic countries to favor its expansion abroad, according to Chinese media reports LatePost.

While the United States and Japan have already been popular markets for TikTok, the Beijing-based startup has increased its emphasis on the Indian market, where the company has increased the number of active daily users (DAUs) by 50 million units in 2019 .

The number of new users of TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin reached 188 million in the first quarter of 2019, with an increase on an annual basis of 70% and half of them came from India, as reported by the analysis organization Sensor Tower app. The Indians also installed the TikTok app 89 million times in the first quarter of the year, more than eight times last year’s number. By comparison, the United States has gained around 13 million installations over the same period of time.

To continue its growth in the Indian market, TikTok will join Vigo

Due to this rapid growth, India has been updated to the list of strategic countries, although it had previously been ranked lower in terms of average revenue per user (ARPU), an indicator applied internally by the company to differentiate the markets.

The move also comes after a backlash that the company faced in April, when the Indian government ordered TikTok to be removed from Google and the Apple App Store for two weeks. The sanction came due to alleged encouragement to obscenity and other illegal content. After the reversal of judicial prohibition, the app quickly returned to the country’s main downloads.

To continue its growth in the Indian market, some sources have reported that TikTok will be joining Vigo, another video-sharing app owned by ByteDance.

TikTok continues its rise in the world, with a special focus on South America

But between the new frontiers of the app there is not only India, Even the Brazilian market, in fact, has attracted the attention of TikTok’s plans. Everything comes from when its competitors, including the Kuaishou platform (marketed outside China as Kwai) and the live streaming app YY, are growing rapidly in many South American countries.

Tiktok, meanwhile, removed the UK from selected strategic countries. The Chinese company has been under investigation in the United Kingdom since February, due to the way in which it collects and uses the personal data of young users, with particular attention to the safety of minors present on the platform