Alibaba Group-owned Tmall Global is launching a new ‘World Duty Free’ prepay service for Chinese tourists prior to travelling and it reports that the King Power International Group (Thailand) is the first major retailer to join the scheme.

 

King Power has already opened its web-based Tmall ’duty free storefront’ at http://kingpowerdutyfree.tmall.hk/ and the company says it is now aiming to use the service ‘to enhance cross-border e-commerce opportunities for global companies looking to reach Chinese shoppers when they travel.’

 

Commenting, Maggie WU, Head of Tmall Global said: “We are excited that Thailand’s King Power is launching its duty-free store on Tmall Global. Cross-border e-commerce has great potential in China and Tmall Global will continue to help brands and retailers sell into China through innovative solutions – at the same time providing Chinese consumers a wide variety of product choice.”

 

 

PRE-PAID GUARANTEED SPEND LEVELS

The Tmall company explains that the King Power Duty Free store on Tmall Global gives Chinese customers the opportunity ‘to purchase stored-value cards online’ before their vacation – in this case in Thailand.

 

When they finally visit the store(s) they can then apparently purchase goods up to the value of those cards in any of King Power’s five shops in the country – including those located at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.

 

“In the future, the ‘World Duty Free’ service on Tmall Global will support online purchases of specific duty free items and delivery of those items to the airport for customers to pick up,” said the company.

 

 

 

MORE RETAILERS LOOKING AT THE SCHEME

It also claims to be working ‘with duty free companies in South Korea, Japan and Europe’ to open similar virtual stores on the ‘prepay’ platform.

 

The new service will also allow participating retailers to create their own customised promotional discounts for Chinese tourists, to ‘help them minimize the hassle of carrying cash and dealing with exchange rates’.

 

The Tmall company adds that while the King Power Duty Free store has been online ‘for less than a month’, total orders from consumers to date have apparently passed the CY.1m ($161,000) threshold, with the average spend per order claimed to be CY7.135 ($1,150).

 

[Ed’s note: This ‘World Duty Free’ service is not connected to the World Duty Free company which was recently the subject of acquisition by Dufry].