Tmall and VF corporation deepen partnership in China

Tmall, China’s largest B2C platform under Alibaba Group, has formed a strategic partnership with VF Corporation to expand the global leader’s offerings of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories in China.

Under the agreement, Tmall Innovation Center (TMIC), the dedicated retail innovation arm of Tmall, will provide VF Corporation data-driven consumer analytics from the 654 million annual active consumers across Alibaba’s marketplaces, enabling it to tailor products for Chinese consumers.

VF Corporationis the parent company of apparel brands Vans, The North Face and Timberland and this is the first high-level partnership in the apparel category.

“With Tmall’s unparalleled customer insights, strong technical support and in-depth market knowledge, we are eager to work with the world’s leading companies to help them bring their best products into the China market in the most-effective and efficient way. Through our partnership with VF Corporation, we are committed to helping VF Corporation create products that can precisely match the appetite of the Chinese consumer,” said Liu Bo, general manager of Alibaba’s Marketing Platform Business.

The partnership will focus on identifying new consumption trends, pre-launch testing, consumer profiling, and post-launch tracking to optimize product design, range and assortment to uncover unmet needs of Chinese consumers.

“We’re very excited to partner with Tmall Innovation Center to further unleash the power of consumer insights and analytics,” said David Wagner, executive vice president of Global Strategy & Growth Platforms for VF.

“Tmall Innovation Center’s data-driven insights have enabled VF brands to better serve the Chinese customers, who make up one of the most-important markets for our business and brands,” he continued.

Established in 2017, Tmall Innovation Center is focused on improving the effectiveness of and efficiencies around launching new products by marrying the platform’s consumer insights with analytical and research capabilities.

Tmall Innovation Center has collaborated with 100 leading enterprises, covering 800 individual brands. The household names which have already benefited include P&G, Unilever, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Shiseido, Mars and Samsung.

Source: retailinasia.com