In a much-anticipated move, Alibaba Group’s Fliggy travel service platform, has launched a ‘Fliggy Buy’ shopping service for Chinese travellers, which offers overseas merchants – including international duty free and tax free retailers – ‘a new solution to capture opportunities presented by the growing purchasing power of Chinese outbound travellers’.

 

Furla Hong Kong and Laox of Japan have already joined this channel, and more merchants are expected to join. However, at this stage Alibaba Group told TRBusiness that it was unable to reveal any additional names of any duty free & travel retail merchants it was in talks with or who it was specifically targeting.

 

“Duty free and tax free stores are our focus during the first phase of rollout, as they are the most visited shopping and consumption venues amongst Chinese outbound tourists,” reveals Roman Zhu, Head of Fliggy Buy at Fliggy.

 

Japanese duty free operator, Laox officially opened its tax-free reservation store on Fliggy Buy on 20 March. Its customers can reserve and purchase tax free products before they travel to Japan and pick them up from Laox’s physical stores on their arrival. The customer must designate a date and time at which they will pick up their goods and this must be between three and thirty days after reservation/purchase. Laox’s motivation for opening the new store is to save travellers ‘precious time’ on their holidays, by allowing them to browse and shop for products from the comfort of their own home.

 

“By using our new store, foreign tourists can spend as much time as they wish on choosing from excellent products made in Japan before actually arriving in the country, which will leave plenty of precious extra time to enjoy majestic views and cultural experiences in this country,” says the company.

 

This announcement from Alibaba follows the recent news of the group’s ‘memorandum of strategic cooperation’ made with China Duty Free Group (CDFG) in November last year. Under the terms of the agreement, the two sides entered into what they hoped would become a ‘long-term, stable and mutually beneficial partnership’, creating a tax free cooperation through resource sharing and complementary offers. They also vowed to create new models in retail and tourism shopping.

 

CDFG INVOLVEMENT?

Alibaba’s Manager of Corporate Affairs (APAC) was unable to disclose to TRBusiness whether CDFG would be one of the merchants to offer its products and services via the new platform at this time.

 

In essence, the new Fliggy Buy shopping channel for Chinese travellers will enable them to browse and buy goods before reaching their destination, picking them up in stores after they arrive.

 

“It also advances Alibaba’s ‘Global Fun’ strategy, which promotes international travel for Chinese tourists by working with industry players to give the tourists a richer experience while abroad,” says the Hangzhou headquartered company.

 

As mentioned, merchants on Fliggy Buy will include duty free and tax free stores, both overseas and within mainland China, internationally renowned brands, specialty local stores and an increasing range of shopping destinations.

 

HOLISTIC TRAVEL SOLUTION

“Fliggy is committed to making it easy to conduct travel business in the digital era,” said Roman Zhu, Head of Fliggy Buy at Fliggy. “The launch of Fliggy Buy represents our latest move to work with merchants targeting the vast numbers of tourists from China to develop innovative solutions and offer them targeted customer traffic.

 

“Our aim is also to embrace the potential of digital technology and provide a holistic travel experience encompassing food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment.”

 

Through Fliggy Buy, Chinese customers can access detailed information and buyers’ reviews about products, presented in their own language, prior to an overseas trip.

 

This helps them understand features and compare prices across different merchants before committing to a purchase.

 

They can ensure the items they want, especially limited editions, are in stock before the trip and make reservations online, as well as seek online customer service. Alibaba states that, ‘buying from duty free and tax free stores is an added benefit’.

 

Chinese travellers using this service can choose from a range of products, including cosmetics, suitcases, bags and alcohol offered by popular merchants. After selecting a pickup store, as well as inputting their personal information and completing payment, consumers can then pick up their goods at their leisure, allowing them more time to explore and experience the destination.

 

CHINESE TRAVELLERS’ SPEND +9% YOY

“Our next step is to enrich the product categories on Fliggy Buy and recruit more overseas merchants to include high-end luxury brands, household electronics sellers, as well as pharmacy and cosmetics stores, assisting them to reach more Chinese consumers,” says Zhu.

 

With users visiting 192 countries and regions in 2018, outbound travel is an important part of Fliggy’s business. Fliggy’s insights show an upward tendency of Chinese travellers spending overseas, as the average spending of these travellers grew 9% year-on-year in 2018.

 

 

As a platform operator, Fliggy says it is dedicated to helping merchants and associations working in the tourist industry worldwide to build direct relationships with Chinese consumers.

 

This launch of the new platform feeds into Alibaba Group’s globalization strategy and its long-term goal of serving two billion consumers around the world and supporting 10 million businesses to operate profitably on its platforms by 2036.