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Founded in 1999, Alibaba Group enables businesses to transform the way they market, sell, operate and improve their efficiencies. Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere and to build the future infrastructure of ecommerce.
Well-known as the origin of high-quality organic goods, such as dairy, honey, beverages, cereals, skincare, and health supplements, New Zealand products are trusted and in high demand from sophisticated Chinese consumers.
In April 2016, Alibaba Group and the New Zealand Government established a strategic alliance with a MoU signed between Alibaba and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).
This then led to the announcement by Alibaba President Mike Evans and Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Maggie Zhou, made in July that year, that Alibaba would open an office in Melbourne to support the ANZ region.
In 2022, Pier Smulders was appointed General Manager, New Zealand and Australia. Pier previously led the New Zealand operations for five years.
Partnerships are an integral part of Alibaba’s ecosystem, and New Zealand is no exception. In 2017, Alibaba announced that it would engage PwC firms in New Zealand, Australia and China to provide services and advice relating to Alibaba’s intention to build greater trust in food through a pilot program with New Zealand Post, Australia Post, Fonterra and Blackmores that uses blockchain technology to curb supply chain fraud.
In April 2017, Christchurch Airport signed an MOU with Alibaba to roll out Alipay capabilities across its network. This enabled direct communication with the 400,000 Chinese tourists who visited New Zealand each year. Three thousand businesses expressed interest in Alipay, allowing them to gain access to the 520 million Chinese users who use the app (often in lieu of credit cards) to book activities, pay for accommodation and meals and find great shopping deals when travelling.
Enabling business growth across New Zealand has been a key focus for Alibaba. In 2018, Fonterra and Alibaba’s Hema Fresh stores announced they would offer Chinese consumers daily fresh milk via unique product labels that match each day of the week. Through joining forces, Alibaba and The New Zealand Food Basket, a coalition of 18 of New Zealand’s most respected food and beverage brands, launched in Shanghai to jointly sell premium products to China, through the creation of NZ Food Basket Ltd. The company launched Alibaba’s first Country Pavilion flagship store on Tmall Fresh.
Through their annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, Alibaba has created opportunities for New Zealand businesses to reach a global market. In 2016, New Zealand broke their previous sales record in just over nine hours and have continued to see enormously successful 11.11 Global Shop.