Whittard of Chelsea is selling tea to Chinese consumers via Alibaba’s Tmall Global online marketplace.
The tea and coffee producer and retailer is now selling 29 products on Tmall Global, with English Rose Tea and luxury hot chocolate both proving popular.
Reponse has been positive, says Whittard, since it joined Tmall in July at a time when Chinese consumers are spending on British products, which they perceive as high quality and luxurious.
“We’re excited to partner with Alibaba and offer some of our quintessentially British products to the Chinese market,” said Mark Dunhill, managing director at Whittard of Chelsea. “This move is an important step forward for us as we know that high quality European products are extremely popular with Chinese online shoppers. This has been demonstrated by the sales we have enjoyed since we joined the Alibaba’s Tmall Global, which have been well ahead of expectations.”
Amee Chande, managing director for Alibaba Group, UK/Ireland & Nordics said: “We are very proud that Whittard of Chelsea will be using the Tmall Global platform to sell their iconic British tea, coffee and cocoa products directly to Chinese consumers. We’ll be working with them across the Alibaba ecosystem, through Tmall Global and Cainiao to manage deliveries and logistics. It’s great to be working with yet another classic British brand to expand into China and reach the millions of consumers who have a thirst for high-quality British products.”
Tmall Global currently hosts 7,700 brands from 53 countries and regions, including the US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, on its platform. Many are selling purely online and have no physical presence in China.
The platform recently held a high profile sales day on August 8 2016, dubbed 8.8. The event focused on educating Chinese consumers about global brands not based in China. During the one-day campaign, Tmall Global featured more than 2,000 top products from overseas markets.