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~ Pattern ~

Pattern polled Chinese shoppers who buy from Tmall Global to better understand what
drives them to purchase from the cross-border marketplace and how Western brands can
meet their needs.

ith Alibaba announcing that its cross-border platform, with 30% of users born after 1995.
marketplace Tmall Global has more than 100
W million active users in 2022, Pattern decided They are most likely to live in Tier 1 and new Tier 1 cities,
to commission research to better understand the wants such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu
and needs of this potentially lucrative audience. and Hangzhou. This is important as this concentration means
that you can focus your demand generation marketing efforts,
In May 2022, we polled 1,000 Chinese consumers who had for example, with digital or physical marketing campaigns
purchased cross-border from Tmall Global in the previous focused on key cities and using more cost-effective influencers
year. It was a difficult time for many consumers in China, who are well-known locally rather than nationally famous.
with localised lockdowns due to COVID outbreaks. However,
China’s cross-border shoppers have proved remarkably What are they buying?
resilient, and their responses showed that they expected life to The top category that shoppers reported buying was apparel,
return to normal relatively quickly. footwear and accessories; 78% of shoppers surveyed had
bought products from this category from Tmall Global.
We conducted the research to provide insight to our brand
partners, such as Fortnum & Mason (pictures), as we operate Second was beauty and personal care, at 71%. And the third
its Tmall Global store. Below, we highlight 20 findings from most purchased category was food and beverages. This should
the research that will be of interest to Western consumer come as little surprise, as there are many globally recognised
brands who want to target this lucrative customer base. premium brands in these categories selling on Tmall Global
that will appeal to Chinese consumers.
Who shops cross-border?
First, we should address who Tmall’s cross-border shoppers What is more surprising is that even in categories where
are. Anyone who had purchased cross-border in the previous domestic Chinese brands have a strong product offer—such
12 months was eligible to complete the research, and so as consumer electronics—there is still a strong cross-border
the demographic breakdown of the participants gives us a market on Tmall Global. 64% of Tmall Global shoppers said
snapshot of Tmall Global’s customer base. they bought computers, phones and accessories in the past
year, and 46% had bought household appliances.
Tmall Global customers are slightly more likely to be female
than male, and most are aged between 25 and 44. Tmall says Just over half predicted that they would buy more Western
that younger shoppers are now driving the growth of the goods in the next year than previously (51%). Tmall Global

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