Tmall announces global free delivery promotion

HANGZHOU - Tmall International, Alibaba's platform that provides commodities produced or sold in overseas markets, announced on Monday that it will offer free delivery worldwide for products ordered on Nov 11, an annual day of online shopping promotions in China.

The move is part of Alibaba's strategy of developing business abroad after its historic New York IPO on Sept 19 raised $25 billion and made Alibaba the world's second-largest Internet company in market value.

The only goods not included in the free delivery deal for the "Double 11 Shopping Festival" will be very large items.

"When Alibaba held roadshows [for the IPO], everybody asked when the Double 11 festival would go global," said Wang Yulei, president of Tmall.

"The first step to go global is to make everyone able to buy things from Britain, Germany, United States or Japan at home," he said.

Tmall International, launched on Feb 19, has attracted thousands of global brands to set up stores on Tmall, China's largest business-to-consumer platform.

Online marketplaces Tmall and Taobao, both owned by Alibaba, saw transactions totaling 35 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) during last year's Double-11 Shopping Spree, the Chinese equivalent of Cyber Monday.

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