By NST Business
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia was among the fastest-growing exporters to China on the cross-border platform of Alibaba, Tmall Global, in 2017.
Malaysia ranked seventh, according to the 2017 Tmall Global Annual Consumers Report, after niche countries such as Greece, Chile, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Austria, Israel and Denmark measured by year-on-year growth.
The biggest group of purchasers of imported products from these countries were those born in the 1990s, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of the total number of Tmall Global users and contributed nearly 40 per cent of total sales.
"The three major motivations for this group to buy imported products are trying new things, aspiring to own luxury items and aging anxiety.
"The most popular Malaysian product categories are food products, coffee and mother and baby products such as baby strollers and prams," it said.
Meanwhile, Tmall Global sustained its position as the largest B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce platform for imported products in China, with a market share of 27.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017.
There is still significant untapped potential in this sector, with the report estimating annual growth of 20 per cent in transaction volume and a market scale of 20 billion renminbi by 2019, the report said.
Besides that, Tmall Global hosted more than 16,400 brands (a 13 per cent increase from 2016) from 68 countries on its platform in 2017.
Its penetration rate, calculated as a ratio of Tmall Global users to Alibaba’s total number of users, increased across the country, showing that more people can now afford imported products.
Between 2015 and 2017, the total number of Tmall Global customers has tripled, with more than 30 per cent of them spending more on the platform.
Consumption upgrade will continue to be key for the growth of Tmall Global and cross-border e-commerce in China.
In 2017, sales of products from countries other than the top three seller countries rose above 50 per cent for the first time, reflecting more diverse product origins and showing that consumers were more willing to explore products from less conventional import countries.
An interactive shopping experience has proven to be a key driver of sales conversion.
Tmall Global offered product search, official recommendations, community recommendations and merchant-initiated communication to enhance the customer experience.
Mobile live broadcast and celebrity recommendations have risen to become the newest and most effective ways of engaging customers and generating sales.