Alibaba Group news

Lazada’s online grocery supermarket, RedMart, is celebrating its 8 th birthday. Bank vouchers giveaway The retailer tied up with five banks to give away vouchers from SGD8 (US$6) to SGD30 (US$22). These vouchers can be redeemed for purchases on RedMart when used in conjunction with the cards issued by the respective banks. All bank vouchers were given out in the weekend. New features ...

Alibaba has announced goals for its consumer business at its annual investor day. Aims to serve over one billion consumers by 2024 Alibaba Group says it aims to serve more than one billion consumers and exceed CNY10tn gross merchandise volume through its China consumer business by the end of fiscal 2024. The company’s China consumer business covers primarily its China retail marketplaces, d...

Alibaba has announced a game changing partnership with Perfect Corp. to integrate advanced beauty AR solutions into Taobao and Tmall platforms. Virtual try-on before you buy The partnership allows shoppers use Perfect Corp’s augmented reality (AR) technology to virtually try on various beauty products, including lipsticks, blush, eyeliner, eyelashes, eye shadow and complete makeup looks. ...

The two companies announced their collaboration to launch voice ordering in China, bringing digital customer engagement to a new high level. Elevated digital engagement Customers in China now can order Starbucks at comfort of their home through Alibaba’s voice-activated smart speaker, Tmall Genie. Orders will be delivered by Alibaba’s food delivery platform Ele.me within a 30-minute window....

Starting this September, Lazada Philippines shoppers can purchase products online and pay by monthly instalments. The goal is to extend financing to underbanked Filipinos The service, called eShopaLoan, offers monthly instalment options for purchases made on the Lazada online marketplace and LazMall. It finances purchases within the price range of PHP4,000 (US$76.6) to PHP20,000 (US$383). S...

Alipay has launched Alipay Macau, opening up access for local residents to a new ewallet. Easy charge access Previously, Alipay allowed Macau users to register in Alipay using their Macau phone numbers, but were not able to charge their Alipay accounts. The new version of Alipay Macau allows users to link their account to a local bank (e.g. Tai Fung Bank), or charge Alipay in Royal Supermar...

One of the world’s largest ecommerce websites, Taobao, opened its first physical store in Southeast Asia this week. A decision driven by demand The store is located at Funan mall in Singapore. It is a partnership between Taobao and Virmall, a local distributor.   Known as “ Taobao Store by Virmall ”, there are about 300 products on display that are “ specially curated for Singapore Shopp...

Alibaba has confirmed it will acquire NetEase’s cross-border ecommerce platform Kaola for about US$2bn. Platforms to operate independently Alvin Liu, Tmall’s import and export GM, will serve as Kaola’s new CEO. Alibaba says it plans for Kaola to continue to operate independently under its current brand, but the deal means it will no longer compete as a rival to Tmall Global. Maximising c...

Alibaba has opened its first bricks-and-mortar AliExpress store in Europe. AliExpress opens in Madrid Alibaba has opened a 740 sq m store in one of the largest shopping malls in Europe, Madrid Xanadu, Spain, under the AliExpress Plaza banner. It carries around 1,000 products from over 60 brands. The product range mainly covers electronics, but includes Chinese, multinational and local brand...

Chinese online retailer JD.com is reportedly in talks with bankers for US IPO in May next year. Talks still in early stage The company, a joint venture that is 48% owned by JD.com and 10% by Walmart, is seeking to raise around US$500m in an IPO. The talks are still in early stages, and the timing of the stock marketing offering, and the actual amount could change. The joint venture sec...