Tmall.com—Chinese: 天猫; pinyin: Tiānmāo—was formerly known as Taobao Mall.
It is a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses and has emerged as one of the top 20 most visited websites in the world. Tmall is an online, B2C marketplace, specifically designed by Alibaba for Chinese consumers. This online selling forum was designed keeping Chinese purchase habits, consumption habits and characteristics in mind.
You can connect with the Chinese consumer market either by setting up a Wholly Foreign Owned Company or by joining forces with an already existing Chinese company targeting the same audience. Both these investment opportunities are more suitable to medium-sized or large-scale businesses. Small businesses don’t have the resources to venture into a market physically—they don’t have the finances to rent office space, hire employees and sustain operational expense.
Tmall is an easy way for foreign businesses to sell solutions in the Chinese market without having a physical presence.
Where Did It All Begin?
Tmall was introduced to the world in Gateway’17 business conference. It provides brands a unique B2C platform that can be customized according to the needs of businesses. This means brands can offer a customized online experience on their storefront to their customers.
Moreover, in order to sell on this online platform, businesses need to register and gain approval from wholesalers. This streamlines the number of businesses available online, only highly-demanded products can make its way to the Chinese consumer.
What can be sold on Tmall?
Some products are more popular than others, but other than that any trusted brand or in-demand product can be sold on Tmall. Here is a list of product categories, gaining popularity on Tmall:
Apparel, accessories and footwear
Personal care
Mom and baby
Electronics
Beauty and skincare
What Are The Benefits Of Using Tmall?
Trusted brands can take two different routes in selling goods on this forum. You can set up a company or store in China (this will require registration and a lot of paperwork) and use Tmall to access the right Chinese consumer. This provides you a lot of control over your online experience. This method is recommended to businesses that ship products into China or have a physical presence within China.
Businesses can also sign up as wholesalers. This will allow you to use your brand name; however, you won’t have a personal storefront to maintain. The Tmall store under which your products are being sold will be responsible for the logistic, operations and marketing of your products.
Tmall is a great way for small-scale businesses to benefit from the thriving Chinese market. But for higher returns and better control of your businesses, a physical presence within China is essential. If you want help setting up a store in China, get in touch with Business China.
We provide hassle-free and comprehensive registration process and advisory service to foreign companies willing to invest in China.
Our English-proficient consultants will aid you throughout the registration process, cross all the red tape and make sure that the entire process is convenient.
Along with helping in the registration and incorporation of WFOE, joint ventures and partnerships, we also offer premium accounting and company management services.
Call +86-020-2917 9715 to know more about our services.
