What is Tmall? China’s #1 E-Commerce Platform

With an increasing purchasing power and digitization of society, China’s eCommerce market has naturally been growing exponentially.

Today we are taking a deeper look into Alibaba’s Tmall (天猫) aka China’s biggest eCommerce platform in terms of revenue).

We hope our years doing e-commerce in China and our experience as a Tmall Agency will help you understand better the importance of Tmall in the market, as well as the eCommerce best practices.

Quick Summary

• Tmall’s Dominance: Tmall (天猫), a subsidiary of Alibaba and originally part of Taobao, is China’s largest e-commerce platform in terms of sales value. It targets the B2C market, allowing both local and international companies to sell products in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
• Market Share and Popularity: Tmall holds the majority of China’s e-commerce market shares, with about 50.8% of all transactions on B2C platforms, significantly ahead of competitors like JD.com and Pinduoduo. It is renowned for its strict quality and brand reputation standards.
• Consumer Engagement: Chinese consumers spend an average of 7 minutes per day on Tmall, which is more than twice the time spent on JD.com. This high level of engagement underscores Tmall’s importance in the Chinese e-commerce landscape.
• Significance for Businesses: Tmall is crucial for businesses aiming to tap into the Chinese market, with more than 780 million consumers having made purchases through the platform. It is especially noted for its sales events, like the 11.11 (Single’s Day), which generates significant revenue and offers a vital opportunity for brands to maximize sales.
• Luxury Brands Platform: Tmall Global and Tmall Luxury Pavilion cater specifically to international and luxury brands, offering a premium and unique user experience with features like AI and AR to attract and engage consumers.
• E-commerce Growth in China: The Chinese e-commerce market continues to grow, driven by increased internet penetration, rising purchasing power, and the expansion of platforms like Alibaba.
• Selling on Tmall: To sell on Tmall, companies must demonstrate potential and comply with strict requirements, including having official Chinese documents and product registrations. The platform’s fees can be high, but it offers significant visibility and access to a vast consumer base.
• Increasing ROI on Tmall: Success on Tmall requires more than just listing products; brands must actively work on traffic acquisition, conversion, and especially e-reputation. Chinese consumers heavily rely on reviews and word-of-mouth, making a brand’s online presence and reputation critical for attracting new customers.
• Advertising and Marketing Strategies: Effective advertising on Tmall and other Chinese e-commerce platforms requires a tailored approach, with options ranging from homepage displays to banner ads. Brands must focus on creating engaging content that resonates with their target audience to succeed in the competitive Chinese market.

What is Tmall 天猫?

Founded in 2008 under the famous Alibaba group, Tmall (天猫), is the biggest Chinese e-commerce website in terms of sales values. It is a subsidiary of the e-commerce website Taobao (淘宝网). Its target market is primarily B2C (Business-To-Consumer). Tmall’s concept is ambitious and wise as it allows both local Chinese and international companies to sell their products through the platform in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Tmall stands out from its competitor’s thanks to its strict standards in terms of quality and renown.

If we look at the ranking of top Chinese websites based on traffic volume, it is clear that Tmall leads the way, even compared to the most popular search engine in China, Baidu. In terms of time, Chinese consumers are spending on average 7 minutes per day on the app, which is more than twice the time spent on JD.com.

Tmall: The Most Popular Chinese E-commerce Website

Over the years, Tmall was able to grab the majority of china’s e-commerce market shares, establishing itself as the most popular Chinese e-commerce website and becoming the best online gateway for local and international retailers.

As of 2021 Q1, Tmall accounted for around 50.8% of all transactions on B2C platforms, far ahead of the 2nd e-commerce platform JD.com with 15.9% of the transaction share and Pinduoduo with about 13%.

Why does Tmall matter for businesses?

It is estimated that more than 780 million consumers in China have purchased at least once through Tmall, thus, explaining why a growing number of international brands are joining Tmall Global. Even if you are not quite familiar with Tmall, you have probably already heard of it these last few years, during big sales events. Tmall is indeed famous for its multiple sales record such as the 11.11, which can generate 74.10 billion dollars within 24 hours!

Over the years, Tmall’s gross merchandise volume increased from 847 billion yuan to 3 202 billion yuan in 2020 (more than 3 times higher)!

Single’s Day: The Biggest Commercial Event

Known as “Single’s Day”, or 11.11 (双11) this 24 hours-event has become the largest physical retail and online shopping day in the world. It is the biggest sales event for e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Taobao. This event is now nearly four times the size of America’s biggest shopping days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thus, if you want to do business in China, you will have to focus particularly on this big day, in terms of communication and marketing, but also in terms of advertising.

China loves festivities, and each of them is a great occasion for brands to launch specific campaigns, Read more about Important dates for eCommerce in China. We introduce you to the most important celebrations and shopping festivals in China, illustrated by examples of brand campaigns.

Tmall: A Powerful Platform for Luxury Brands

For international companies, Tmall can be a useful e-commerce platform to help increase their sales as well as to promote their brand. Luxury brands not only have access to Tmall and Tmall Global but also to Tmall Luxury Pavilion. This pavilion is an “app within an app” that enables top selected clients to get access to the most premium and luxury brands with dedicated flagship stores. They also benefit from a unique user experience such as AI and AR, which can be a determining factor to attract consumers and make them spend more time on your web page.

Is Tmall necessary to sell goods in China?

You have to know that Tmall is indeed the most popular e-commerce website in China, but not the only one! There are plenty of e-commerce websites that can be more suitable for your company, in terms of marketing strategies, but mostly in terms of price. As the leader in the Chinese market, selling products on Tmall can be quite expensive, and even unaffordable for many smaller companies. However, if your company/brands have the resources to start directly on Tmall, we strongly suggest you do it. With work on your store, on-site, and off-site marketing, your journey will be rewarding.

E-commerce in China

If you are interested in expanding your activities in China, you probably already know that e-commerce is the quintessence of business. To export and sell your goods in China, it is undeniable that you will probably want to open a store on leading e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, which attracts every minute thousand consumers. Nonetheless, platforms like JD.com and Tmall only accept high-quality products and brands that already have a good reputation in China.

Given all these conditions, it can be difficult to know which platform suits a company’s needs in terms of sales, audience, marketing, and even advertising. Before getting started, running a market survey is a great idea. It helps with understanding the potential of your product in China and defining a pricing& marketing strategy.

China’s eCommerce landscape is varied and dynamic and can be overwhelming even for locals. But don’t worry we wrote a simple eCommerce in China Guide with the most important information on each of the most popular apps, so you don’t have to do the research yourself!

China eCommerce: An ever Growing Market

With a shift toward new technologies and internet-related tools, the Chinese population is one of the most connected in the world, from purchasing products on the internet to paying for their cab. Thus, it is no surprise that e-commerce platforms were increasingly able to attract Chinese consumers that don’t want to spend time in brick-and-mortar stores.

As seen in the above graphic, the number of online shoppers in China keeps increasing, reaching more than 782 million online shoppers in 2020, following the Covid-19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, with the Covid pandemic, consumers have shifted from offline to online purchases on e-commerce platforms. Moreover, in order to alleviate the tough competition, many brands are sending e-vouchers to their followers through social media, which attracts even more Chinese consumers.

Some of the factors contributing to the e-commerce growth are increased internet penetration, and always increasing spending power, but also the expansion of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

How to sell your goods on Tmall?

In China, the possibility to open a shop on an e-commerce website does not only depend on your motivation but mostly on how your brand appears and the potential, it will have on its platform. If you want to get the opportunity of selling your products on one of the most consulted e-commerce websites in the world, you will need to show what you have to offer, and convince Tmall that you have the potential to attract Chinese consumers interest.

What company can apply to register on Tmall China?

To register your company on Tmall, you have to know that Tmall requires its merchants to have official Chinese documents as well as to have your products registered with the local authorities. This is the reason why most of the foreign brands you’ll see on Tmall tend to be international and F500 brands that already have an entity in China (We can help you register your company in China and get a license for your products categories!).

Learn more on Tmall Registration Process: How can brands register on Tmall? – In this post, you’ll learn what is the requirement to start selling on Tmall, the types of stores as well as the fees.

Tmall Registration and running fees:

If you want to sell your goods on Tmall, be aware that the fees are quite high (although, in most cases and with the right strategy it is totally worth it)

• A Tmall Flagship store costs between 50,000 RMB and 100,000 RMB

• Marketplace: between 100,000 RMB and 150,000 RMB

• In terms of technical services, you will have to pay between 30,000 RMB and 60,000 RMB per year

• Sales commission for Tmall can represent 0.5% to 10% of sales (although most of the time it will be around 2% and 5%).

• Finally, as a subsidiary of Alibaba, Chinese consumers are purchasing with Alipay, so it will represent 1% of your sales.

How do you increase your ROI on the Tmall Marketplace?

Although Tmall is the biggest Chinese eCommerce platform in the world, it won’t magically create money. You’ll have to work hard to get those sales and be more visible than your competitors. Once you’ve managed to open your store you’ll have to think about traffic acquisition and conversion. The good news is the more you sell, the more visibility you get and the higher your conversion rate gets. The hard part is to get initial traffic and sales but there are solutions for that.

The importance of e-reputation in China

Driving traffic to your store won’t be the issue, but getting those first sales can be tricky. In order to do so, you’ll have to work on your online presence and reputation. Indeed, Chinese consumers are extremely suspicious of products and brands that they have never heard of before. They will most of the time rely on other users’ experiences, recommendations, looking at reviews.

Word-of-mouth is actually one of the best ways to attract new customers, and this is why your brand e-reputation is essential when it comes to entering the Chinese market. You will also have to be careful when it comes to consumers’ feedback on your products, as it will influence potential consumers and even e-commerce platforms such as Tmall. Get a few hundred sales, encourage your customers to let review and you’ll be set for success.

• Social Media: Wechat, Red, Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou… there are plenty you can join. They are great to build a following and improve customer loyalty. They allow you to interact directly with your target audience and run paid advertising for traffic acquisition and even get customers’ detailed reviews (red). Some of them also tend to rank quite high on Baidu which is great for credibility.
• Kols & Influencers: They are well trusted and highly influential. There are many ways you can collaborate with Kols offering you some flexibility in the way you wished to promote your brand.
• PR, forums, and Q&A: The best way to build brand credibility. Third-party recommendations for your brand will always be more effective to increase conversion than official brand communication. Just like social media posts, they rank high on Baidu.

Advertising on Tmall

Advertising in China requires a different approach from what we are accustomed to, especially on Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Tmall. However, some tools of advertising are quite similar to ours.

Banner ads

Depending on your budget and reputation, you will be able to display your products on Tmall’s homepage, and even advertise your brand on a banner ad, as you can see in this ad for the French company Sisley. If you want to have more pieces information about advertising on Tmall, feel free to contact us.

We are Tmall Partner – Contact us to get started

The Chinese market is one of the most promising in the world in terms of opportunities, both for smaller companies like startups, but also for larger international companies. However, in order to succeed, you will need to local e-commerce websites, such as Tmall, the leader in e-commerce in China. To do so, you will need to do a lot of research beforehand as well as be prepared to complete quite a long procedure in order to sell your goods on the platform. That’s why working with specialists in the Chinese market can be the key to success.

Working with an agency that has both western and Chinese points of view like Gentlemen Marketing Agency can help you overcome the pitfalls of the Chinese market. As a Tmall Partner, we have accompanied many companies entering the Chinese market through Tmall. Proud of the success of the companies that contacted us, our experts are ready to help any company willing to do business in China. So, if you are interested in doing business in China, do not hesitate to contact us and we will reply within 24 hours.