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Find here the Daxue Talks episode 5. Learn in 2-5 minutes the latest updates about the domestic e-commerce on Tmall.

Full transcript below:

I am  Olivier Vérot, the founder of the Gentleman Marketing Agency (GMA). We are a digital marketing agency focused on performance, and we are based in Shanghai.

1. What are the costs of using Tmall for businesses in China?

It is also the same, it depends on the industry. So Tmall has a clear list on their website to give all the requirements. First, you need to pay a deposit, the same between $ 5k – $ 15k, you need also pay entry fees, moreover, Alipay fees, that are usually … because it is on the Alipay account, it’s 1%. And after the risk commission, between 0,5% to 5%. So let’s remember the example about diamonds if you are dealing with diamonds and luxury it is around 0,5%; while most of the mass perception products are around 4 to 5% commission.

2. Is all this information public or it is something you need to get from the team at Alibaba? Does the fees depend on who you are, where are you from?

The part of this information is public, so they give ruffly information. But many times the information is already a bit updated and every time you need to apply and after when you speak and you apply and you worked directly to the team, the conditions may change. It doesn’t change by the size of your company but it changes by the industry mainly and the trend of the industry, and sometimes also Tmall will like to make a partnership with some brands they think are very attractive. So, they will give them very good conditions with lower commissions or with basically free traffic and free stuff. I just give you an example, last year we worked with one Spanish brand, called MARTIDERM, and MARTIDERM made a very good partnership with Tmall and they got an exclusive sales agreement on Tmall Global. So, MARTIDERM is a Spanish cosmetics brand, more mass market and they deal mainly with ampuls. And with this special agreement, Tmall put them, highlight them a lot of free influencers, free advertising and it allowed them to bring a lot of traffic. Even they are highlights in the top position, top features, it is actually a very good deal with them but most of the brands don’t have this.

3. What can be negotiable with Tmall when it comes to lowering fees, getting a good space or advertisement?

Tmall recently likes exclusive sales agreement, so they don’t want you to sell on their competitor JD. So, if you are willing to exclusively sell on Tmall and not sell on JD and other platforms they will give you special conditions most of the time.

Daxue Talks is a show powered by Daxue Consulting, a china-based strategic market research company founded in 2010! With Daxue Talks, you will stay up to date with all the latest business updates in China.