Alibaba Group’s Tmall, China’s largest B2C marketplace for brands, has fast become the “go-to” platform for Chinese consumers who want access to new gadgets and products from around the world.
In 2017, 12 million products debuted on Tmall, a number expected to exceed 20 million this year, as global brands respond to the array of innovation capabilities available to them.
“Inspiring millions of Chinese consumers to pursue better lives, Tmall aims to help every brand speed up its product R&D, innovation process and time-to-market, reducing the risks faced by introducing a new product. This also allows more new categories and products to feature in Chinese consumers’ lives at a much faster pace,” said Tmall President Jet Jing.
By marrying the platform’s valuable consumer insights with analytical and research capabilities, Tmall Innovation Centre (TMIC), the dedicated retail innovation arm of Tmall, is focused on improving the effectiveness and efficiencies around launching new products. TMIC has collaborated with 81 leading enterprises over the past year, covering 600 individual brands. The household names which have already benefited include P&G, Unilever, L’Oréal, Estee Lauder, Shiseido, Mars and Samsung.
TMIC has announced an alliance with 10 leading research and data technology firms to extend the capabilities of the ecosystem. Through this, TMIC is now joining with the industry to provide brands the necessary insights and analysis to supplement their research and development around new products, which will shape their China strategy. Partners include global market-research firms, The Nielsen Company, Ipsos, Kantar TNS, GFK and Euromonitor International, along with Kantar Worldpanel, which specializes in consumer panels and insight, and AdMaster, a Chinese marketing data technology company.
This alliance pairs TMIC’s consumer reach and insights with the methodology and knowledge of its partners. Solid models will be built that cover the end-to-end process of product development, from R&D to precision marketing.
Statistics from Alibaba have shown that brands working with TMIC have managed to cut the length of their product development cycle in half, at the same time mitigating the risks of misjudging consumer tastes and preferences.
For example, with TMIC’s discovery of younger women’s preference for mouthwash products with flower and fruit flavors, Listerine, Johnson & Johnson’s oral care brand, will launch two mouthwash products in China during this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival targeting women. Using the insights from TMIC, Listerine have only needed around five months to complete the “idea-to-shelf” journey.
