Alibaba Group and Unilever China have announced a strategic partnership that will enable Unilever to reach more customers across China through Alibaba’s data-driven ecosystem. Key areas of collaboration include rural China penetration, cross-border e-commerce, consumer protection and big data.
“We are very pleased to amplify our partnership with an industry leader such as Unilever,” said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group. “We look forward to building on our success in sales over the years and taking the collaboration to the next level. Moving forward, Alibaba Group and Unilever will jointly innovate in big data analytics application, cross-border e-commerce, and supply chain management. In this rapidly changing business landscape, we are committed to continually provide greater value to merchants and better experiences to shoppers.”
“Alibaba has changed the shopping habit of Chinese consumers. Its mission is to make it easy to do business everywhere, and its vision is to build the future infrastructure of commerce. This meets the Unilever’s development needs in China,” said Marijn Van Tiggelen, Unilever North Asia President.
Through this strategic partnership, Alibaba Group and Unilever China will work together to strengthen cooperation to expand distribution channels, especially for consumers in rural areas. The two companies will also work to further develop cross-border e-commerce cooperation and make more Unilever products available on the Tmall Global Unilever store.
The companies also plan to expand application of big data to optimize Unilever’s digital advertising strategy through Alimama, Alibaba’s online marketing business, and reach more consumers through online-offline retail integration. What’s more the agreement will deepen collaboration in Alibaba’s Blue Star programme where each product is tagged with a unique QR code that allows the consumer to verify its authenticity and origin. Finally the two businesses will also develop innovations in supply chain management and offline distribution models.
