It’s been six years since Alibaba landed in Italy. milanofinanza.it interviewed Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, General Manager Alibaba Group Country Manager Alipay South Europe. 1. In the most difficult months of the pandemic, how many Italian companies have opened on your platform and with which you have recently made agreements
What kind
It was 2015 when the first Alibaba Group headquarters in Continental Europe was opened in Milan, a fundamental step to support brands and SMEs in their digitalization and internationalization path in China and in the world thanks to our platforms and ecosystem of services. This is what we have continued to do over the last 18 months and, despite the difficulties and uncertainties caused by the pandemic, companies have realized that the digital tool has become even more indispensable and that survival itself depends on a strong online presence. of business. There are numerous companies that we have supported and that have recently joined our digital platforms: from major luxury and sports brands such as Gucci, Pomellato, Piquadro and Max Mara, Prada and Juventus (present on Tmall,
Even in the most difficult months of lockdown, online commerce has not stopped: to give a snapshot of what we have witnessed, I can say that in the first months of 2021 the overall GMV (gross merchandise volume) created by the Italian companies present with the its flagship stores on the B2C marketplaces Tmall and Tmall Global grew significantly, with a peak of 400% recorded during 6.18, the Meta Year Shopping Festival, one of the most important shopping events in China, together with 11.11 (known also as Singles Day). Our ecosystem, as it is known, also has a strong focus on the business to business market, through Alibaba.com, our B2B platform that serves over 26 million buyers in 190 countries.
Also for this market it has been a very important year and all this has been made possible thanks to some strategic partnerships. In November 2020, for example, we extended the collaboration with ICE by signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during a virtual ceremony in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which specifically envisaged the creation of the “Made in Italy Pavilion ”within Alibaba.com and support for 950 Italian companies. It is a unique project of its kind and the first in Europe that Alibaba launches together with a government partner. It is certainly an important milestone that sees Italy as the only country in the world to have a dedicated pavilion. I sincerely hope that more and more companies will want to seize the opportunities of2. There is a strong demand for made in Italy in China, but Italians still export only about 3%. How can you break into the Chinese market
In a competitive market like the Chinese one, made in Italy has managed to build a good positioning and some representative categories, including fashion and luxury, agri-food, cosmetics and design are appreciated and sought after by millions of consumers. in particular by the new generations such as Millennials and Gen Z. This does not mean that companies and brands can live on an income but on the contrary, to be successful in China it is necessary to have a clear long-term strategy and learn to read the trends and preferences of consumers Chinese. We must start from the assumption that it is a very young target that expects the products to adapt to them, following not only their tastes, but also their evolution.
It is a dynamic market that grows and evolves quickly and it is therefore important that Italian companies follow the pace if they want to be successful. When it comes to China, we must plan for the medium and long term and remember that it is an important test bed for what could be the future of the digital shopping experience in Europe and globally. Being familiar with the digital medium, starting from online commerce channels up to communication and marketing techniques, is essential for building a solid positioning and brand equity, which will then be reflected in sales and volumes. Compared to Western consumers, in China the shopping experience is closely linked to elements of socializing and sharing.
In addition to providing our digital infrastructure, we know how important it is for companies to access adequate tools and knowledge to understand and navigate this complex market: and for this reason, among the various initiatives, in April this year we launched the first Alibaba European Netpreneur Masterclass. The training initiative, unique of its kind and which has met with considerable success, has seen over 200 Italian and Spanish entrepreneurs participate in online courses and workshops focused on digital transformation, and digital and platform economy in China. The participants thus returned to the classroom facing various tests and a final test.
Those who successfully complete the program have received a certification and have access to Alibaba Business School’s global community of alumni. In addition, when it is possible to return to travel, entrepreneurs with the best results will have the opportunity to travel to the Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou to complete the offline portion of the program. The training of the next generation of digital entrepreneurs and the creation of a community that connects not only company founders but also other professional figures such as exports and digital managers, is crucial for increasing competitiveness and resilience in the face of unexpected events and major economic transformations. we are witnessing. And as a global technology and e-commerce company,3. The Alibaba team in Italy how much has grown
And the latest data on sales in our country have exceeded what ceiling
With how many packages sold per day
What return for Italian companies
Over the past six years, we have almost fivefold our staff of specialists and experts based in Milan, representing various business units of the Group, from Tmall and Tmall Global, to Alibaba.com, Alipay, and AliExpress. We are very proud of the results achieved by Italian companies on our marketplaces, and to give some significant numbers: during the Global Shopping Festival 11.11 of 2020, the over 400 Italian companies that participated totaled approximately 449 million dollars in sales. Italy was also positioned in the ranking of the 10 countries that sold the most during the festival. Another important growth was recorded in the B2B sector, which also in this case sees Italy in a unique position thanks to a dedicated team and presence, the only country in Europe. Small businesses especially benefited from this, because they were able to have complete support to make the most of a platform that works like a fair open 365 a year, 24 hours a day, giving access to the whole world. We have already seen, for example, companies selling their products in new markets from Norway to Peru, from Canada to the Middle East.
The growth of our Italian team goes hand in hand with the consolidation of our network of local partners. We are proud to have created our own real ecosystem in Italy with more than 40 partners who help us to reach companies everywhere in Italy, especially SMEs. Because this is also an important point, exports made through Alibaba platforms cover all Italian regions and companies of all sizes, and must be a point of pride, because it is the complete country that works every day to bring Made in. Italy in the world. 4. A new major e-commerce and mobility operator was born in Indonesia: GoTo Group. How are you facing the increasingly fierce competition
As we always say, we consider ourselves our main competitor, and it is not a paradox if we think of our constant commitment to improve and innovate, surpassing the results and goals previously achieved. In Southeast Asia, for example, we are present with our Lazada marketplace, the region’s leading e-commerce platform with a presence in six countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. By 2030, we aim to serve 300 million customers. In general, we see the presence of several operators in a market as very positive, for ourselves because it is stimulating, but especially for the benefits in terms of offer and service to end consumers, which in the end is what matters most.5. Beijing’s recent tightening on the tech sector is complicating Alibaba’s attempts to maintain the virtual barriers built over the years. This can mark a big change for the Chinese Consumer IoT.We
continue to remain focused on our mission to make it easy to do business anywhere and on innovating our services to continue to keep the consumer at the center, offering them, as well as brands and merchants, in China and elsewhere, the best and most efficient experience possible. 6. How does Alipay fit together in this context
Alipay is an affiliate of Alibaba Group which is the leading digital payment application and platform in China with more than one billion users. While we wait for foreign tourists to return to explore Italy (2019 more than three million Chinese), we are helping Italian companies that do e-commerce with our application to offer an electronic payment system known to the Chinese consumer. This year we have done even more for Chinese users in Italy by signing an agreement with Poste Italiane: in fact, Chinese citizens who own the Alipay wallet will be able to pay for services through the platform in some post offices in Northern and Central Italy thanks to the pilot project of PostePay. For the moment it is operational in 4 post offices in Italy and soon it will be in 12,800. (All rights reserved)
