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Alibaba, JD.com use foreign brands to attract more Chinese consumers, as borders remain closed amid Covid-19 pandemic

  • Imports of consumer goods rose more than 8 per cent to US$242.1 billion in 2020 as domestic goods contracted
  • While still a small portion of e-commerce in China, overseas goods remain attractive to young consumers with unique needs

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Workers in a Tmall warehouse gather orders from customers in Jiangmen, Guangdong province, on November 28, 2018. Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com have been boosting their platforms for overseas brands as consumer goods imports surge in China during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: EPA-EFE
Jane Zhangin Hong KongandYujie Xuein Shenzhen

Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com are using dedicated channels for overseas brands to reach more domestic consumers, as closed borders during the coronavirus pandemic led to a surge in imports of consumer goods last year.

New figures released by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Tuesday showed strong consumer demand for imported consumer goods, especially cosmetics and luxury products such as handbags and watches. Consumer goods imports surged 8.2 per cent last year compared with 2019, reaching 1.57 trillion yuan (US$242.1 billion), according to MOFCOM. In contrast, sales of domestic consumer goods contracted 3.9 per cent, according to numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday.

While consumers in mainland China might once have opted to pick up luxury goods during trips to cities like Paris, Tokyo or Hong Kong, Covid-19 has led online platforms to play a larger role in helping foreign brands sell to Chinese buyers. Some consumers are also discovering that it can be cheaper to buy imported products than getting them from shops in China.

“Compared with counters in shopping malls, it’s much cheaper to buy this stuff through Tmall Global, and it’s more authentic than products from unverified Taobao shops,” said Laura Qiu, a 26-year-old in Shenzhen. “Also, many foreign brands don’t have a physical store in China.”

Qiu said she has been purchasing foreign brands online for about six years. She originally used the cross-border e-commerce platform Kaola, which was acquired by Alibaba in September 2019, but she later started using Tmall Global for cosmetics and skincare products because it had more brands and choices, she said.

Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.

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