Daily Times

The Internet is unique in how it has impacted the way that the global economy interacts with each other. Throughout history, many circumstances and events influenced international trade and tourism in countries all around the world. Factors ranging from war, law, and government policies to language barriers and modes of transport all affect how easy it is for individuals,companies, and products to gain access to other countries. The emergence of the internet age has impacted both the developing and developed world but on different scales.

The Internet has hugely benefitted global trade and tourism especially with China. The Chinese story of internet adoption is unique in itself by keeping many factors constant. It can be easily adopted by developing economies like Pakistan, which can be used efficiently to transform the fate of the nation. China has not achieved this by changing transport, language, or laws: it has achieved this by being a tool to connect existing systems and processes together. E-commerce websites like Tmall now connect global sellers with shipping experts and free trade zones, providing a way for them to sell their products in China without investing in a China office. This has given a huge number of new sellers access to the massive Chinese market. Meanwhile, travel websites like Fliggy take data gathered about individuals, and connect it with existing immigration procedures to simplify the visa application process for both applicants and embassy staff. This, in turn,connects Chinese tourists to the global tourism industry.Even if you haven’t heard of Tmall Global before, there’s still a good chance you may have heard the name “Alibaba”.

Alibaba group is one of the most successful and well-known e-commerce companies in China Combined, the group’s operations account for 60 percent of the Chinese e-commerce market.Globally, Alibaba Group is best known by the ‘Alibaba’ name itself. Alibaba.com is its global B2B (business-to-business) platform, allowing Chinese sellers to reach business customer around the world. Meanwhile, AliExpress.com connects Chinese sellers with global consumers on the B2C (business-to-consumer) side. And Pakistan is also effectively using this source for B2B (Business-to-Business) transactions generally for bulk buying.

In China, Alibaba Group is best known for its e-commerce smart apps, which include Alipay for payment, and Taobao and Tmall for online retail. These appsare used every day by a huge number of people in China.

I would like to introduce this concept for Pakistan audience to create public awareness for our society and policy makers to design such case study mechanism in Pakistan. I will be primarily focusing on Tmall Global, an offshoot of Tmall. Tmall is a part of the Taobao platform that allows brands and businesses to sell directly to consumers. At the end of 2013, Tmall reached a new milestone when Alibaba launched ‘Tmall Global’as an addition to the platform. For Tmall customers, this meant a dedicated space for purchasing all kinds of high quality goods from around the world-goods which may otherwise be difficult to find in China. Tmall Global’s slogan targets the popularity of foreign goods in China. “100 percent original, authentic foreign goods: 100 percent foreign merchants; 100 percent domestic return.”

For foreign businesses, the appearance of Tmall Global meant a unique new opportunity to sell their goods to the Chinese market.Many international brands are available on the standard Chinese Tmall site, but all of them operate from within the country. Many other companies around the world want to sell their goods in China, but registering and opening an office in the country is simply not achievable for most of them. Tmall Global operates differently from Tmall China. Using Alibaba’s vast e-commerce network, it removes the obstacles facing these companies, allowing them to take advantage of the massive demand for foreign products in China without having to register in the country.

Tmall Global works by using a team of international cross-border drop shipping specialists. They handle all the logistics on behalf of the platform’s sellers. This system allows delivery to Chinese consumers within 5-8 working days. As an alternative solution, orders can be processed from a bonded warehouse based in one of the China free-trade zones. The results have been impressive. As of 2017, Tmall Global offered 14,500 brands of products in 3,700 categories from 63 countries and regions all around the world. For more than 80 percent of these products, it is the first time they have ever been able to enter the Chinese market. With such a wide range of products available within 1-2 weeks of placing an order, Tmall Global really has made the world smaller for Chinese consumers. “The world is as small as the streets around me. Buy globally, and sell globally”

This Chinese study embarks the importance of virtual marketing and platforms to be streamlined to act and enter around the global. Our nation is bestowed with immense talent that such ideas could be easily replicated in our economy. The financial economic model used by China to ease the accessibility and mobility of local is a role model to be followed by nations like Pakistan where millions of unemployed population can actually start-up their ventures from homes.

Master Trainer/ Advisor (Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Center, Lahore operated under Federal Ministry of Industries and Production, Islamabad) Foreign Research Associate (Centre of Excellence, China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamabad)

Published in Daily Times, October 1, 2018.