Taobao Enhances Cross-Border Shopping Features for Users in Malaysia and Singapore

Taobao International, a division of China’s largest online shopping destination Taobao Marketplace operated by Alibaba Group, announced a series of service enhancements to make cross-border shopping more convenient, enjoyable and reliable for its users in Malaysia and Singapore, including new user-friendly website features, a new shipping option and an on-time delivery assurance.

The new website features include a revamped homepage (world.taobao.com) for shoppers located outside mainland China. The homepage will offer customized product and storefront recommendations, based on data about individual users’ product preferences, to make it easier for consumers to find what they want. Shoppers in Taobao’s major overseas markets also will benefit from having prices on product-detail pages quoted automatically in their local currency as well as in Chinese yuan.

In recent years, interest in the wide variety of merchandise available on Taobao Marketplace has grown substantially among Chinese-speaking consumers in Malaysia and Singapore. Taobao International launched its dedicated homepage for consumers in Southeast Asia in September 2013, serving shoppers from Malaysia and Singapore in particular. This announcement reaffirms Taobao International’s commitment to consumers in these two major markets in the region.

“Malaysian and Singaporean consumers are already no strangers to our platform and we strive to enhance cross-border shopping on all fronts to make purchasing on Taobao a fun and hassle-free experience for them,” said Kevin Xu, Manager of Taobao International Operations.

New from Taobao International specifically for consumers in Malaysia and Singapore:

1. New shipping service – A new consolidated shipping option – Taobao Global Direct Shipping Service – for shoppers in Malaysia and Singapore offers another reliable alternative to third-party parcel-forwarding services. Users selecting Taobao Global Direct Shipping Service can place orders for products from multiple sellers in one go and immediately consolidate the shipment, as well as pay for both the China portion and the international portion of cross-border delivery. The consolidated orders are delivered directly to the user’s designated shipping address in Malaysia or Singapore. This service is in addition to the existing Taobao Consolidate & Ship Service (previously known as “International Parcel Forwarding Service”).
2. On-time delivery assurance – To give shoppers in Malaysia and Singapore more peace of mind, from mid-September, Taobao International together with its delivery service partners will introduce on-time delivery assurance. Users opting for Taobao Global Direct Shipping Service or Taobao Consolidate & Ship Service will receive assurance that the international leg of their purchase delivery is completed within six working days, and will be eligible for compensation if their purchases do not arrive within that timeframe.
3. Promotional offers – To promote the convenience of its cross-border shipping services and localized payment methods, Taobao International is providing the following offers for users in Malaysia and Singapore:

• August 18 to August 24: Users selecting Taobao Consolidate & Ship Service can enjoy 50% off for the first kilogram of the shipping cost. Each user is entitled to benefit from the special discount once. For more details about the promotion, see here.
• August 25 to September 4: New users and users who have not used Taobao International’s cross-border shipping services from May 18 to August 17 can enjoy the Taobao Global Direct Shipping Service at a special rate as low as RMB2. Each eligible user is entitled to benefit from the special discount once.
• Special discounts are also available to Malaysian users selecting Malaysia eBanking[1] and Singaporean users selecting eNETS Debit as their payment method. For more details, see here.

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About Taobao Marketplace

Launched in May 2003, Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com) is the online shopping destination of choice for Chinese consumers looking for wide selection, value and convenience. Shoppers choose from a wide range of products and services on Taobao Marketplace, which features hundreds of millions of product and service listings. Taobao Marketplace was China’s largest online shopping destination in terms of gross merchandise volume in 2014, according to iResearch. In addition, the Mobile Taobao App was the No. 1 e-commerce app in China as of the end of March 2015, according to iResearch. Taobao Marketplace is a business within Alibaba Group.

[1] The payment option “Malaysia eBanking” allows users to make payments with debit cards from one of the six major banks in Malaysia, including Maybank, CIMB, RHB, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank, and AmBank.