In this edition of Outside In, we continue with our exploration of the Alibaba Singles Day (11.11) Sale. Part I of the series - https://outsideinlens.substack.com/p/alibaba-singles-day-preparations - covered the Preparations for the 2020 Edition
Part-II article of this series will deep dive into Unilever’s strategy and approach to prepare for this Sales extravaganza – which can be seen as a beacon for other CPG players looking to align with Alibaba
Unilever’s Strategy to Win 11.11
A) Expectations
Strategic lever to access/penetrate new users – close to 70% of users every year are new users
33% of their (annual) penetration growth comes from just this event
New Products, New Entries – (Hope) 50% of their Sales will come through Innovation
And, of course, Engage with their Existing Users
Brand doing extremely well in the market, but looking at exact ways to Expand in the Market
B) Initiatives
Category Extension: Looked beyond general body care to body parts – like, Hand & Foot Masks
Gift Packs: Created special gifts packs, in collaboration with the Alibaba Team – for each of Unilever’s Top 10 Brands (apart from Vaseline) – that are integrated with Marketing Promotions
Brand Crossovers: Aligned Omo (Cleaning Brand) with Feiyue (Shoe Brand) with a proposition to keep a customer’s sneakers really white
Brand Connect, via Live Streaming: Top 10 Brand Ambassadors & 100 KOLs – to engage and entertain the Shoppers – for more than 10 Hours on their Store-front – using UGC (User-generated Content) as well as PGC (Professional-generated Content)
Access to Lower-Tier Cities (where most the new penetration opportunity exists): With Omo and Clear, they are driving sales with precision targeting and special customized offerings via Juhuasan – Alibaba’s Sales, Marketing and Group Buying Platform – focused on Lower-tier Cities
B2B Partnership with Ling Shou Tong (LST): Unilever tied with LST – Alibaba’s B2B Retail Platform which reaches 1+ million mom-and-pop Stores – and added few hundred thousand outlets that they did not serve before – with 80% of them in Lower-tier Cities
Integration with ‘New Retail’ Spectrum: They have partnered with RT-Mart Hypermarkets, Home Delivery Platform Tao Xian Da, Payments Platform Alipay (to connect with Consumers at the Point of Purchase), Cainiao for Logistics and Content Management on Ali Cloud
Outcomes from the Singles Day Alignment with Alibaba
Vaseline Hand and Foot Masks did extremely well in 2019, generating valuable new opportunities for Unilever
Strategic Partnership with Alibaba – under the umbrella of A100 – a strategic program that offers a holistic one-stop solution to accelerate digital transformations for Corporations
Connection across various parts of the Alibaba Ecosystem – leading to an extension across the ‘New Retail’ spectrum
In Conclusion
When it comes to planning for the Alibaba Singles Day (11.11) Sale (and to maintain an ongoing relationship) with Alibaba, the Wired Magazine had captured this nicely in a 2019 article referenced below: As a digital shelf supplier, Alibaba is not out to pick favorites. Rather, it is willing, for a price, to significantly upgrade and outfit those shelves for brands that are seeking access to China’s huge consumer market. As a data company hooked into so many aspects of the Chinese digital economy, Alibaba is able to offer the kind of granular consumer data that brands are so desperate for. Aside from integrating payments and logistics, brands that choose to partner with Alibaba can get access to Tmall’s Innovation Centre. It was clear, therefore, that part of the overall strategy isn’t just selling huge quantities of stuff; it was to develop completely new stuff, targeted at select consumers based on Alibaba’s vast datasets. Aha!
References and Sources
Unilever Strategy for 11.11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRMKbZAx-5w
Ling Shou Tong (LST) – B2B Retail Platform: https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/29770/ling-shou-tong-2019/
Selling to China via Juhuasuan: https://www.wpic.co/blog/alibabas-juhuasuan/
Alibaba A100 Program: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190110005806/en/Alibaba-Launches-A100-Strategic-Partnership-Program
Wired Article on Alibaba Singles Day: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/alibaba-singles-day-china-ecommerce