Alibaba Group held its virtual Asia Pacific press briefing for the 13th 11.11 Global Shopping Festival (“11.11” or “Festival”) on October 27, attended by participants from around the region.

Representatives of Alibaba Group shared insights around the objectives and scale of this year's event, how the Alibaba ecosystem is supporting merchants in the celebrations, as well as key highlights of this year’s Festival, which is set to be the Group’s largest one yet.

In his opening address, Chris Tung, Chief Marketing Officer of Alibaba Group, shared the evolution of the Festival from its humble beginnings 13 years ago into an annual marquee shopping event and global phenomenon. “This year is our largest 11.11 festival to date – we will have more than 290,000 brands participating, with over 14 million deals for more than 900 million consumers in China. This is an opportunity for more consumers to be engaged with more brands all over the world.”

This year, the Festival’s focus on inclusivity and sustainability will make it an even more meaningful one for all, with the Festival aiming to play a vital and influential role in encouraging sustainable action and promoting inclusivity in society.

Tung used a metaphor to explain the shift. In the early stages of 11.11, Alibaba focused on its growth, the same way that parents would focus on a child’s height and strength. But as a child becomes a teenager, the parents shift their focus to nurturing the child’s sense of responsibility. Now that 11.11 has blossomed into a mature teenager, it is crucial for Alibaba to now focus on building up its value system, helping it find its ability to create value for the community and the society at large.

Liqing Zheng, Head of Marketing for this year’s Festival, highlighted the importance of meeting the evolving needs of the more than 900 million-strong consumer base and the goal of creating more interactive and impactful retail experiences with each Festival. She also shed light on the preparations leading up to this year’s celebrations and Alibaba’s three key approaches to support customers even better.

Anita Lv, General Manager of Tmall Global, shared more on Tmall Global’s efforts in adopting cross-border digital infrastructure to overcome supply chain challenges, and how it is strengthening support for international brands and partners to help them meet the increasingly diversified demands for imported products by Chinese consumers.

Due to travel limitations caused by the global pandemic, Chinese consumers are taking to cross-border e-commerce platforms like Tmall Global to purchase quality products from international brands from the comfort of their home. An example of this trend is that the total amount of goods imported into China have grown by 25% YoY to RMB6.7 trillion from January to May 2021 alone. There is a diversification of cross-border shopping into more niche brands and specialty categories. For example, a French baby care brand on Tmall Global that offers a rinse-free baby shampoo to Chinese mothers had seen its sales increase 300% YoY in the first half of this year.

New initiatives centering on sustainability and social good

Going Green:

- Green product vertical: For the very first time, Tmall will be featuring a dedicated vertical to showcase energy-efficient and low-impact products, as well as issuing RMB100 million worth of “green” vouchers to incentivize shopping decisions that contribute to an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

- Collaborations for lower-carbon footprints: Alibaba will be cooperating with brand partners this year to develop new products with lower carbon footprints and create plastic-free, recyclable packaging.

- Package recycling: Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao Network, has rolled out more than 60,000 package collection and recycling stations across China and implemented 10,000 Cainiao Post Stations where users can reuse parcel packaging.

- Alibaba has been focused on green initiatives since the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival this year, and 11.11 is regarded not just as a consumer event, but also a huge opportunity to innovate in finding ways to reduce carbon footprint.

Creating social good through the “Goods for Good” program：

- Launched in 2006, Alibaba’s “Goods for Good” program raises funds for good causes by enabling customers to donate a portion of the sales profit from their purchases to their chosen charitable organization or project.

- Over the past 15 years, the “Goods for Good” program has helped people more than 43 million times. Some of its noticeable projects include providing more than 3 million times of medical support, installing water purification systems in more than 200 rural schools, and providing nearly half a million free meals to elderly citizens living alone across the country.