TRADE TALK Mike Hu,
TRADE TALK Mike Hu, President, FMCG BU, Tmall, Alibaba group and Stuart Barclay, General Manager, Marketing, Wine Australia Wine Australia Signs Chinese E-commerce MoU with Alibaba During Vinexpo 2018, Wine Australia and Alibaba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to better showcase Australian wine via Tmall. The MoU complements Wine Australia’s investment in China’s e-commerce sector as part of the Australian Government’s AU million Export and Regional Wine Support Package. Australia’s Country of Honour role is one of the major activities supported by the package that aims to further drive demand for Australian wine and to build premium cues and consumer engagement. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Anne Ruston, said this strategic partnership is an important and significant development for the Australian wine sector: “With the changing face of online retail in China, it’s critical for our wineries to significantly improve their online presence, and to do so in the right way.” Wine Australia Chief Executive Andreas Clark said the signing of this MoU recognised the strong engagement of Chinese consumers in online retail and their growing interest in Australian wine. “Working with Tmall will significantly enhance the ultimate consumer engagement. By partnering with Tmall, we can collaborate on many aspects and activities that further promote genuine Australian wine and do so in a way that supports the integrity of the brands.” “It’s also an opportunity to educate Alibaba staff about the quality and diversity of Australia’s premium wines through education and awareness development”, he added CHINA SETS RETAIL TREND The future of retail revealed by Alibaba at Vinexpo Hong Kong For wine producers from around the world, the Chinese market represents new opportunities with great potential. But the question always remains as to how to enter the market. At Vinexpo Hong Kong, Alibaba demonstrated the most up-to-the-minute techniques for reaching the end consumer, including the “store of the future”. China is systematically and rapidly doing away with paper money and coins, and people in major Chinese cities are using their smartphones to pay for just about everything — to pay rent, buy groceries, and even donate to charity. Even buskers playing on the streets of a number of Chinese cities have put up boards with QR codes, so that passers-by can easily transfer them tips directly. Tmall.com is China’s premier online branded shopping platform and the most visited businessto-consumer (B2C) online retail website in China. Today, Tmall is leveraging the power of big data to achieve integration between offline stores, merchandise, logistics and payment tools with the ultimate aim of elevating efficiency and overall consumer experience. Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group said, “New retail reimagines the relationship between consumers, merchandise and retail space by leveraging mobile Internet and big data. It will upend the traditional manufacturing and supply chain, the connection between merchant and consumer, as well as the overall consumer experience. Businesses will increasingly embrace big data and new innovations to better identify, reach, analyse and serve their customers, and their digital transformation will be empowered by Alibaba’s ecosystem.” The Tmall system works by scanning labels at a distance in order to calculate the total amount to be paid, the store “recognises” the client, and automatically debits his or her Alipay account as they step outside. In Tmall, an increasing number of flagship stores of this kind are emerging each year. Also interacting with all of Alibaba’s retail venues, Tmall also cooperates with offline hypermarkets. No matter where consumers are, they can always access product information, purchase goods, place orders online, and get fast delivery. It’s all powered by Alibaba’s data platform, which integrates big data and the largest cloud computing technologies to provide business empowerment for overseas businesses. New retail business elements are enhanced, including traffic flow, products and logistics, enabling the accurate identification of consumers and direct communication 12 VINEXPO DAILY / REVIEW / TUESDAY 12 TH JUNE 2018
PRESS CORNER The Kiwi Connection @ Vinexpo Simon Nash MW, Director of MN Consultancy, gives his thoughts and opinions on this year’s Vinexpo Hong Kong Simon Nash is not your normal kind of wine writer. His articles appear in Wine NZ magazine – New Zealand’s premium quarterly independent wine journal, but he also judges wines as a Master of Wine. We asked him what his key tasks were at Vinexpo Hong Kong. I came up to Vinexpo Hong Kong partly to report back to our readers in New Zealand as to what’s going on, especially in the Asia region, and there is no other window like this. I do a lot of work in the trade in New Zealand, and I keep wondering why are there not a lot more people from New Zealand in the retail channels and also distributors, importers and so on, coming to Vinexpo Hong Kong. It’s a unique once every two-year window. I am a huge fan of the show. The other half of what you do is commercial. Tell us a little more about that. I do quite a bit of matchmaking between producers and importers from around the world. It goes both ways – either New Zealand out to the world, or other brands into New Zealand. that’s not quite where the Chinese market is at. They still stay safe with red wines, but you won’t see too many Chinese men drinking Rosé now… But they will, once Rosé gets more critical acclaim in its own right here. What do you like most about this show? I regularly go to Vinexpo Hong Kong and also Vinexpo Bordeaux, and I find the Bordeaux event is more oriented towards even versus the last one two years ago. There are more and more routes into the market being developed, we don’t need bricks and mortar, obviously. But it’s gone beyond that; it’s wine clubs, and all kinds of other routes to the market, and I think that’s where this show is really cutting edge. That’s why I encourage all the people I work with and know in New Zealand to come here, because this is where things are happening. It’s just happening so fast. Thoughts on Vinexpo Daily? It’s great. I love it. I’ve got my three copies – day one, day two, day three, and I just think it’s brilliant I ENCOURAGE ALL THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH AND KNOW IN NEW ZEALAND TO COME HERE, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THINGS ARE HAPPENING What have your thoughts been about this show? The ongoing growth of interest by China in the world of wine is the most important factor of course. At the last show, China was just huge, but at this show we can see a deepening of the understanding. I think that’s what is coming through with me. More and more of the Asian attendees I’m seeing here are beyond the point of “This is red and this is white, or who are you?”, and now it’s “I know this brand, and I like it, but I wonder what the new vintage is like?”. It’s very encouraging for the future. The attendance at the workshops and master classes is incredible. People were queuing down the corridors to get into them. I think that’s phenomenal. Rosés still have a way to go here though… Indeed. Neither do people here know sparkling wine very well, if you think about it. In the third issue of Vinexpo Daily, you talked about Provence Rosés selling like crazy. I think you have to have the confidence in your palate to understand Rosé and really get it, and the traditional channel, with a brand, an importer, who has a retailer, and it gets to the consumer. Here at Vinexpo Hong Kong I love the dynamic, with Alibaba showing their future retail concept, and all the discussions on developing new channels to the market. There are so many ways into the Asian markets, and they’re so much more tech-savvy, and I believe that’s a key differentiating factor that makes this show so exciting, Simon Nash MW Director of MN Consultancy vinexpodaily.com VINEXPO DAILY / REVIEW / TUESDAY 12 TH JUNE 2018 13
