Australia is among the top three nations importing products into China using Alibaba platform Tmall, according to Tmall Global’s 2018 consumers report.
The report, which ranks countries based on the volume they sell through the platform, has found Australia has increased its ranking on the list by two places since last year. Australia is now only behind Japan and the United States, and jumping ahead Germany and South Korea in terms of sales.
The growth can be attributed to a greater demand for health and nutrition supplements, baby products and milk powder produced in Australia. Food supplements were the second most popular category on Tmall Global overall, while “health and nutrition supplements” were one of Australia’s top three sales categories through the platform.
The report also found Chinese post-millennials were the main customer base for buying these products through overseas sellers on Tmall.
Consumers aged between 18-27 accounted for close to 50% of the total number of Tmall Global users and contributed to nearly 40% of total sales through the platform. The report highlights “content and emotional interaction” as a driving factor for consumer decisions.
In a statement, managing director of Alibaba Group, Australia and New Zealand, Maggie Zhou said setting up an Australian office has helped facilitate growth in businesses seeking to export goods to the Chinese market.
“With 515 million annual active consumers now using our China retail marketplaces the opportunity for Australian businesses remains enormous, and we are excited to be part of the China journey for even more local brands in 2018,” she said.
Tmall Global hosted products from 68 countries on its website in 2017, which included 16,400 brands. It claims it is the largest B2C e-commerce platform for imported products in China, with a market share of 27.6% in the fourth quarter of 2017 and a belief there is more for “significant untapped potential”. Between 2015 and 2017, the number of customers purchasing from Tmall Global has tripled.
