Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-07-23
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| Unilever's company logo at an expo in 2013. (File photo/CFP) |
Global
consumer goods company Unilever, which streamlined its brands from over 2,000
to 400 plus, is planning to expand its offerings in China through a newly
formed partnership with e-commerce operator Alibaba, according to the Economic
Observer.
Unilever
and Alibaba formally signed a strategic partnership deal in Hangzhou on July
20, with the two companies planning to work together on expanding in rural
markets and cross-border e-commerce, according to a statement released by
Unilever.
In an
interview with the newspaper on July 14, Unilever North Asia president Marijn
van Tiggelen said his company will introduce brands currently not available in
China through Alibaba's platforms.
Unilever
entered the Chinese market in 1986 where it currently only offers around 20 of
its more than 400 brands, the newspaper noted.
The planned
introduction of more brands into China, the newspaper said, is an aggressive
move caused by Unilever's falling sales in emerging markets.
Unilever
posted a 2.7% sales decline in 2014, with the Chinese market having recorded
declines of over 20% during the third and fourth quarters, the newspaper said.
According
to van Tiggelen, the company noticed that more and more Chinese travelers have
been buying consumer goods during their overseas trips in the past two years,
and Unilever hopes to introduce these products only available in overseas
markets into China.
The
introduction of a new product into China through traditional retail channels
often needs to go through a long period of time between regulatory review and
establishment of distribution, while e-commerce platforms present a cheaper and
easier alternative, said Jeff Zhang, head of Alibaba's China Retail Marketplaces
division.
Under the
newly signed deal, Unilever plans to launch a marketing campaign through
Cun.Taobao, an Alibaba platform targeting rural markets, every quarter, the
newspaper said.
Unilever is
also interested in working with Alibaba on the Chinese company's payment
service Alipay, rural operations Cun.Taobao and big data, van Tiggelen added.
According
to Zhang, Alibaba is trial running a system established for vendors in rural
regions to order goods through Alipay, and Unilever is one of the companies
that will take part in the trial operations.
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