By Andy Young
An Australian wine online shop has launched today on Alibaba’s business to consumer platform Tmall.com.
The venture is supported by Wine Australia and helps provide a further avenue for Chinese consumers to purchase Australian wine. Earlier this year TheShout revealed that the China and Hong Kong market was now bigger than the US for Australian wine.
Andreas Clark, CEO of Wine Australia said: “The opening of the store is a landmark moment that builds on a year of strong growth for Australian wine in the Chinese export market. It opens up another commercial opportunity for Australian wineries to tap into China’s growing appreciation for our fine wines.”
Clark added that some of the Australian wine growth in the region is a result of China’s expanding middle class and the positive impact of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which came into force in late 2015.
“The food and wine culture in China continues to evolve, and there is increased demand from Chinese consumers for premium quality products online. Our support of Tmall’s flagship Australian wine store helps us capitalise on this growing interest in Australian wine and gives us the opportunity to further reinforce the message with consumers that wines of Australian provenance are of the highest quality,” he said.
Commenting on the store opening, Maggie Zhou, Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand markets for Alibaba said: “The partnership between Tmall and Wine Australia will allow local winemakers to access the 434 million active consumers across our China retail marketplaces. As the domestic wine sector in China is yet to reach maturity and Australian wines are considered world-class and come at varied price points, the opportunity to sell to China’s burgeoning middle class is significant,” Zhou said.
“Beyond established, well-recognised Australian wine brands, there is also strong potential for smaller producers to gain traction internationally. With the opening of Alibaba’s Australian office in late 2016, our local team will be helping winemakers of all sizes effectively market their products, navigate distribution channels and align to overseas preferences,” she added.
Alibaba Group accounts for half of China’s online wine sales and earlier this year, Alibaba Group’s Founder and Chairman, Jack Ma, announced he expects “triple-digit growth” in its wine business in the next three years.