Taobao has officially announced its new overseas initiatives for this year's Double 11 shopping festival, with the campaign set to roll out simultaneously across 20 global markets, drawing participation from more than 1.2 million merchants. As part of the push, 13 countries and regions will offer free shipping, while China's Hong Kong and Macao, along with Singapore and Malaysia, will enjoy "zero-threshold free shipping" for all purchases.
The scope of cross-border goods has also been widened, moving beyond small lightweight items to include medium and large product categories such as furniture and home improvement materials. Notably, over 90% of these medium-to-large items can now be shipped directly overseas from the seller's location. In a bid to enhance user engagement, Taobao will introduce a new overseas traffic entry point on its homepage, along with the launch of the Discover channel and localized overseas rankings and curated lists.
Ye Tian, head of Taobao's overseas business, stated that the platform will take on the complexity of the cross-border supply chain, enabling merchants to operate both domestic and international markets from the same store and with the same inventory—effectively achieving "one investment, two business streams." According to Taobao's data, its overseas business has posted double-digit GMV growth for six consecutive years, with over 150,000 merchants seeing their annual overseas sales double year-on-year after expanding abroad.
Comments