Seasonal Thai fruits will get a boost in what would be China’s biggest online sales event since the outbreak of Covid-19 as consumers there brace themselves for spending sprees to make up for time lost in lockdown.
Imported fresh food and other signature delicacies from Thailand will be offered during this year’s Tmall 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival for the first time via its country flagship stores on Tmall, Alibaba’s premier B2C e-commerce platform. The Thai food flagship store on Tmall, operated by the Department of International Trade (DITP) of the Thai Ministry of Commerce, currently showcases a selection of popular Thai food, beverage, and fresh food products as well as promotional offerings.
“This is our first time to take part in Tmall’s 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival as a country. Through the event, we hope to present some of Thailand’s best fruits and food & beverage products to Chinese consumers, while also building their understanding of the uniqueness of Thai products,” said Mr. Somdet Susomboon, Director-General of DITP.
As part of its effort to help Thai fruit industry players who have faced difficulties in marketing their products due to Covid-19, the Thai government has recently facilitated the launch of new rail routes to make it easier for seasonal Thai fruits to arrive in China. The same rail routes will be deployed to the benefit of fruit merchants marketing Thai fruits to Chinese consumers during the 6.18 sale on Tmall.
“As online commerce has become a new normal and an ever more crucial channel for retailers to effectively reach consumers in the post-coronavirus era, we have put in extra efforts this year to bring together some of the world’s best delicacies to Chinese shoppers. We are thankful for DITP’s partnership and support to make Thailand’s signature food products a hit during the Tmall 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival,” Ms. ZHU Xia, Managing Director of Tmall Food & Fresh.
Aside from the country flagship store, more than 150 Tmall merchants selling Thai fruits and food & beverage products will also play a part in the sale.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister to debut on Alibaba’s live streaming platform
Since May, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mr. Jurin Laksanavisit have championed an initiative called “Thai Fruits Golden Months” that seeks to drive the sales of Thai fruits both domestically and internationally particularly in China, which is a major importer of Thai fruits. As part of that campaign, DITP, on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, has joined hands with Tmall to market Thai fruits to Chinese consumers during this year’s Tmall 6.18 sale.
To drive interest and sales for Thai fruits and other delicacies, Mr. Laksanavisit will make a special appearance on Taobao Live on June 9 to educate Chinese users about Thai fruits and other specialty food products in an engaging setting in order to build trust and boost sales among those products. Accessible via the Taobao mobile app, Taobao Live is where merchants and key opinion leaders (KOLs) use live-streaming to market to their fans and customers.
Livestreaming played a vital role for many brands and retailers during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in China. The overall sales result generated by live streaming has increased significantly from last year. On the first day of the 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival alone, GMV generated through Taobao Live hit RMB5.1 billion.
Tmall 6.18 sale aims to help set businesses on the recovery path
Tmall has kicked off its 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival to stimulate China’s consumption engine and help global brands capture opportunities to reconnect with Chinese consumers. The event comes shortly after Alibaba’s achievement of US$1 trillion in GMV transacted in the Alibaba Digital Economy for the fiscal year 2020.
This annual campaign, which will run from June 1 to 20, has received overwhelming support, with the number of participating merchants doubling from last year. Following the kickoff, GMV in the first ten hours was 50% higher over the same period last year during the campaign.
From Tmall Global, an extension of Tmall dedicated to global brands without operations in China, more than 25,000 brands from 92 countries and regions including Thailand offering over 400,000 new products are participating in the sale this year. The number of new brands participating in Tmall Global increased by 64% year-over-year.
“Online consumption has seen a post-pandemic revival since March, and the sales rebound that we have observed on Taobao and Tmall has been very encouraging,” said Mr.LIU Bo, vice president of Alibaba Group and general manager of Tmall and Taobao marketing and operations.
Alibaba Group has been at the forefront of promoting exports of Thai agricultural products to China by cultivating consumers’ appreciation of and stimulating interest in the products through its digital ecosystem, which comprises channels such as Tmall and Freshippo. In April 2018, a three-day flash sale on Tmall supported by the DITP saw more than 80,000 Monthong durians pre-sold to Chinese consumers in the sale’s opening minute. DITP plans to increase sales in Durians as well as introduce mangosteens coconuts and specialty food products to the Chinese market.
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