Alicast From Alizila

Sweaty Betty Vice President for China Lexie Morris details how the stylish U.K. fitness apparel brand targeted Alibaba's Tmall Global for its entry into China and its expansion plans in the world's largest consumer market. 

Senreve founder Coral Chung shares the creative secrets that have fueled her handbag and accessory brand’s success in China and around the world.

Mark Yuan and Zoe Zhang are the founders of New York-based e-commerce livestreaming consultancy, And Luxe. In this Alicast with Monica Suk, the married couple looks back at the past four years of bringing Western brands and products to life for Chinese consumers and the prospects the model will catch on in other parts of the world.

Bain & Co. Senior Partner Bruno Lannes is co-author of a research report titled China Luxury Report 2020: New Growth for China's Luxury Goods Market along with Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury unit. On the latest Alicast he talks about the year that was and expected trends in the year ahead for luxury retailing in China and elsewhere in the world.

Alibaba's 11.11 is over, but the important lessons brands learned during the world's largest shopping festival will stand them in good stead throughout the entire year. Gartner Managing Vice President Danielle Bailey joins Alicast to explain how brands can adopt 11.11-style experimentation and marketing innovations for success in other campaigns on the calendar.

With Alibaba's Global Shopping Festival behind us and Black Friday just ahead, WPP's David Roth - CEO of The Store, Chairman of Brand Z and a China e-commerce expert - shares his thoughts on brand behavior in China, the future of livestreaming in e-commerce and how Black Friday in the U.S. is different from 11.11, the world's largest shopping event.

Can a startup go global right away? Josh Ghaim, CEO of a startup called Nuria, says yes and is demonstrating how it's done through collaboration with Alibaba's Tmall Global. Ghaim co-founded his skincare company after 15 years at Johnson & Johnson. And he says these days, whether you're a big company or  startup, embracing digital transformation in the era of e-commerce it's easier than it ever was to reach new consumers in new markets across the world.

It’s fair to say that without Alibaba.com, there would be no Alibaba Group. The group’s oldest and most-venerable e-commerce platform was at the heart of what Jack Ma and his fellow founders started up in 1999. The 2020 version of the B2B platform has become a global, digital marketplace matching buyers and sellers. It is – among other things – an end-to-end platform for U.S. small and medium-sized businesses looking to go global. 

Along with its human toll. Covid-19 also had a profound impact on China’s retail sales. At the height of the pandemic in January and February, foot traffic dried up due to lockdowns, and retail sales dropped sharply in most categories. As China has emerged from the effects of the virus, we’ve seen retail sales rebound and new, interesting patterns of consumer consumption emerge, some of them looking as if they’re reshaping the sector. We spoke with Daniel Zipser, McKinsey senior partner in China, to understand how the country weathered the unprecedented brick-and-mortar shutdown and the new and emerging online and offline consumption patterns, post-Covid. The transcript below has been edited for brevity and clarity.

In our latest Alicast, Harvard Business School Executive-in-Residence Daniel O'Connor shares his thoughts – and results of a case study – about Alibaba's Tmall Innovation Center. The model of working closely with brands and using consumer analytics to help create new products that can be sped to market in China is revolutionary. It's also something big companies and brands in the West should consider to become more plugged-in and agile in meeting customer needs.

Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg talks about how Covid-19 has allowed her to reset and reevaluate her business, her outlook on the China market and the role of innovation that has been core to her vision since she pioneered the wrap dress nearly 50 years ago. Her brand's digital pivot has included deeper engagement with Chinese consumers and fundraising for pandemic relief via Alibaba's Taobao Live channel and becoming one of the first brands to move its runway show online for Shanghai Fashion Week.

Fliggy's Frank Huang discusses the travel platform's recent developments, its relationships with customers and travel & hospitality brands and what the future will look like.

In the four-plus years since its founding, Tmall Global has become China's number-one import e-commerce platform. Deputy GM Yi Qian joins Alicast to discuss its recipe for success and future plans.

You can tell a lot about a future partner from his play on the basketball court. That's how Qupital's two founders met. Now, just a couple years later, they are running a rapidly expanding online lending platform out of Hong Kong for borrowers who might otherwise find short-term borrowing difficult.

Luxury consumption is on the rise in China, as consumers seek a lifestyle upgrade. Increasingly, they’re turning to online options. L2’s Danielle Bailey talks about how e-commerce platforms and brands are adapting to this growing and exciting market segment.

Little did Sandy Friesen know that a video livestream from her living room in the U.S. would catapult her small handwoven handbag company to success 8,000 miles away, in China. Welden's "bags-to-riches" tale holds lessons for U.S. brands looking to enter China's markets.

Just ahead of Lazada's 12.12 shopping festival grand finale, CEO Max Bittner talks about how the e-commerce platform is growing and thriving on its own steam and with help from parent Alibaba Group's online know-how, technology and deep ecosystem.

Mintel's Matthew Crabbe explains how retailers and brands can be successful in catching the eye of discerning -- and increasingly sophisticated -- Chinese consumers.

Cindy Chow, executive director of the HK$1 billion Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund Jack Ma founded in 2015 discusses some of the Fund's flagship programs, such as the Jumpstarter competition, its successes and what lies ahead.

AliHealth Vice President Ma Li highlights innovative programs and initiatives that the Alibaba unit employs to make it easier for doctors and patients to communicate and to help secure the supply chain for pharmaceuticals in China.